Miscellaneous food related links, 16th MAY,08

Food crisis spurs research spendingsays Nature on May 1:
"For example, last week the United Kingdom announced an $800 million, five-year package for agricultural research in developing countries....Overall, public spending on research such as pest and disease control and high-yielding crop varieties is growing in developing countries. However, this growth is largely accounted for by just four countries: China, India, Brazil and South Africa, according to the report. In many other developing countries, home to hundreds of millions of people, the report finds that spending is “stagnating or slipping”."
The article needs subscrption but the comments, some of them by Indians, can be read. The editorial in the same issue is free and says "One might assume that such cutbacks in research reflected poor results. Not so; the pay-offs to agricultural research are massive."

Low Calorie Diet :
"A study investigating aging in mice has found that hormonal changes that occur when mice eat significantly less may help explain an already established phenomenon: a low calorie diet can extend the lifespan of rodents, a benefit that even regular exercise does not achieve.

“We know that being lean rather than obese is protective from many diseases, but key rodent studies tell us that being lean from eating less, as opposed to exercising more, has greater benefit for living longer. This study was designed to understand better why that is,” said Derek M. Huffman, the study’s lead author.

The study applies only to rodents, which are different in some key ways from humans, cautions Huffman. However, at least two studies which examined people who engage in high-volume exercise versus people who restricted their calorie intake, had a similar outcome: caloric restriction has physiological benefits that exercise alone does not. Researchers expect that clues to the physiology of longevity in mice will eventually be applied to people, Huffman said." (via Evo. Psychology Discusion Group)

Ed Yardeni's forecasts:
"Market strategist Ed Yardeni, who made a name for himself with accurate calls on the U.S. stock market's bull runs of recent decades, says that soaring food prices won't last because farmers are rushing to plant more crops and agricultural productivity is increasing with new investment...“I do think that food prices will come down, but energy is a whole ‘nother story,” Mr. Yardeni said. “The [oil] price mechanism is distorted by subsidies and national oil companies that have political issues, they are not behaving competitively.

For that reason, Mr. Yardeni recommended investing in a trinity of sectors: materials, energy and industrials.

“That's where the growth is,” he said. “These are the growth stocks and they're still trading like cyclicals.”

Notwithstanding his outlook for food prices, his recommendations still include fertilizer stocks after their big run because of the role that fertilizer will play in increasing crop yields and dropping prices." (Via 'The Automatic Earth')

OECD warning:
"The OECD's early warning signal is flashing clear signs of economic weakness across the world, with mounting evidence that China, India, and Brazil may soon succumb to the downturn.
The closely-watched gauge -- known as the Composite Leading Indicators (CLI) -- has picked up a sharp deterioration in the eurozone in March, notably in Italy and France where the advance signals are falling even faster than in Britain. The measure tends to anticipate the industrial cycle by about six months.

While growth continues to power ahead in most emerging markets, rampant inflation is starting to damage business confidence. "The latest data point to a potential downturn in Brazil, China, and India," said the OECD, the club of rich nations.

Russia is the only country still in full boom among the so-called BRIC quartet of rising powers, but the country's inflation rate reached 14.3pc in April as oil and gas wealth the flooded the economy." (Via 'The Automatic Earth')


Politics of Beef, a very interesting discussion at 'Angry Bear':
"The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere.

Less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows are currently tested for the disease under Agriculture Department guidelines. The agency argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers.

"They want to create false assurances," Justice Department attorney Eric Flesig-Greene told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

But Creekstone attorney Russell Frye contended the Agriculture Department's regulations covering the treatment of domestic animals contain no prohibition against an individual company testing for mad cow disease, since the test is conducted only after a cow is slaughtered. He said the agency has no authority to prevent companies from using the test to reassure customers." The discussion gets in to comments about leftists, rightists etc and a very fine comment by Noni Mausa towards the end.