Sound Bites: Week of May 17, 2010

WORLD

While addressing the worst food crisis in Niger, Africa, the United Nations World Food Programme must now turn additional attention towards Somalia.

The World Food Program in Somalia is addressing flaws in its distribution system exposed earlier this year by a United Nations Security Council report, which concluded that half the $485 million in food aid in 2009 was diverted by corrupt contractors, Islamic militants or United Nations staff members.

Bite: Somalia’s Special Representative to the UN

POLICY

USDA Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan recently announced a new agency incentive program designed to encourage retired or retiring farmers to transition their land to beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers. How they define what constitutes socially disadvantaged was not clarified.

Bite: USDA Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan

ECONOMY

Volatility in the food economy is getting the attention of the U.S. House of Representatives. Dramatic swings in the market are having huge consequences on all areas of farming. Dr. Scott Brown of The University of Missouri testified to the situation specifically facing the livestock sector, stating that producers need more government help coping with the dramatic highs and lows of a rollercoaster market.

Bite: Dr. Scott Brown of The University of Missouri

HEALTH

A new report commissioned by the federal government, finds that many of the studies done on food allergies are riddled with misdiagnoses.

After reviewing over 12,000 articles, the paper concluded that while about 30% of the nation’s population believes they suffer from food allergies, the true numbers are closer to 8 percent for children and less than 5 percent for adults.

An expert panel is being formed with the task of defining food allergies and provide criteria to diagnose and manage patients. They hope to have a final draft by the end of June.

NATION

The Gulf of Mexico continues to see more and more oil emerging from a BP drill site that exploded 50 miles off the Louisiana coast on April 20th. An estimated 200,000 gallons of oil each day continue to fill the waters in the coastal region, with many unsure of what the ecological impacts will be.

A Mouth Full: Ed Cassano is the senior director of The Seafood Watch program at the Monterey Bay aquarium in Monterey, CA.

Listen to this week’s Sound Bites