Are You Getting Your 33 Pounds of Cheese?
In 2009, U.S. cheese availability (a proxy for consumption) stood at 32.8 pounds per person. Mozzarella edged out cheddar as America’s favorite cheese, with the two cheeses together accounting for 63...
View ArticleFood Price Inflation and Energy Costs
Gas ~ Edward Hopper ~ 1940I’d like to point readers here towards an article I wrote for Seeking Alpha about food price inflation and how it intertwines with corn prices, ethanol mandates, farmland...
View ArticleDo Food Commodity Prices Follow Oil Prices?
People always seem to be interested in the comparison of food commodity prices with oil prices and many have proclaimed that food equals oil. This next graph going back to the 1950′s, taken from this...
View ArticleHot 5: Subsurface Irrigation. Food Price Infographic. Ethanol Mandate. Crop...
1. Is Subsurface Irrigation the Way of the Future? Just because you don’t see a center pivot on a corn or soybean field doesn’t mean that it’s not being irrigated. Subsurface irrigation has been around...
View ArticleWhat Did the Average U.S. Household Spend for Food and Transportation in 2011?
My Friend the Cow by Lois Lenski. National Dairy Council, 1946. The BLS has reported average U.S. expenditure rates for 2011. As compared to 2010: Average incomes went up 1.9% Food at home expenditures...
View ArticleJulian Cribb on the Future of Agricultural Innovation and Changing Human Diets
Australian food and agricultural futurist, Julian Cribb, has been in the news again lately following some very forward thinking presented in his recent public speaking. He wrote the popular book The...
View ArticleFood Prices Have Been Less Volatile than Fuel Prices
Rising fuel prices can raise questions about the implications for food prices. Motor fuel prices for the first eight months of 2012 were 3 percent higher than those from the same time in 2011, which in...
View ArticleLongevity and Diet and Lifestyle
Island of Ikaria. Photo source: Flickr CC via ForsterFoto From time to time, we’ve all read and marveled at those reports of isolated pockets around the globe where people tend to have greater than...
View ArticleUSDA and BLS Reports on Food and Energy Price Changes for 2012
Today I am featuring USDA and BLS reports recapping food price increases of 2012 (in the U.S.). Part 1 is from the USDA and part 2 is from the BLS. Overall food-at-home prices rose 2.6 percent in 2012,...
View ArticlePotato Chip Efficiency
Readers here are well-acquainted with the factory efficiency story of today. Though it eliminates jobs, automation helps increase the output and profits of businesses. This video which tells the story...
View Article3 Picks: Southwest Drought, Food Inflation, Gliadin Protein
Eastern Colorado wheat scene. July 2013. Below, are today’s three chosen agricultural-related news picks. 1) Dust Bowl Blues: Sasha Abramsky writes about drought conditions in the Southwestern U.S....
View ArticleThe Importance of Vitamin K2
See the rich gold yolk color in this farm raised egg. Photo: Flickr CC via snowpea&bokchoi. Have you ever noticed that farm fresh eggs from free ranging chickens have a deep golden-orange yolk...
View ArticleThe Editors of Scientific American Take a Stance Against GMO Food Labeling
The September issue of Scientific American is all about food. I’m a subscriber, but unfortunately my issue hasn’t arrived, yet. With article titles like Processed Food: A 2-Million-Year History, Return...
View ArticleCanning Season c.1915
World War I poster. “Waste not, want not. Prepare for winter. Save perishable foods by preserving now.” Date: 1914–1918. Canada Food Board. Digitally altered. Wikimedia. (Note that Thursday is Luddite...
View ArticleSince 2006, Food Prices Have Risen 20 Percent
Food prices grew by 35 percent from 1993 to 2005, or about 2-3 percent each year. But since 2006, the all-food CPI (Consumer Price Index) is up 20 percent, more than the 14 percent average for all...
View ArticleWorld Food Day: Eat and Act Like a Coloradan
Today is named “World Food Day” and numerous online and hard copy publishers have their version of a story about wiping out hunger, what is wrong with the food and agriculture system, and how to fix...
View ArticleWhat Did the Average U.S. Household Spend for Food and Transportation in 2012?
The BLS has reported average U.S. expenditure rates (per consumer unit*) for 2012. From the report, as compared to 2011: • Average before-tax incomes went up 3.0 percent to $65,596 • Average annual...
View ArticleBananas, Apples, Potatoes, and Tomatoes are the most Popular Fruits and...
• According to USDA data, 383.2 pounds of vegetables per person were available for Americans to eat in 2011, down from a peak of 424.7 pounds per person in 1996. • The decline was largest for potatoes...
View ArticleInfographic Contrasting Food Regulations in U.S. to E.U.
I found the infographic below over at Yes magazine. Most people are aware that the E.U.’s food regulations are much more conservative than ours here in the U.S. It is fairly amazing to note the...
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