Contents

- Cultivating Food Security: State of the World 2005 October Feature

- Live Online Discussion: "Towards Happier Meals: The Problem of Factory Farming in a Globalized World"

- Vital Signs Fact of the Week: Grain Yields Rise, But No Respite for the Hungry

Cultivating Food Security

State of the World 2005 October Feature

Visit the Worldwatch Insitute Online Feature: Global Security to read the Trends & Facts and Discussion Questions for this month's featured chapter, "Cultivating Food Security".

"At both the national and local level, the most important determinants of food security in the future may be quite different from those of the past."

Despite technological advancements, the number of hungry people in developing countries increased by 18 million in the second half of the 1990s, to some 800 million today. Worldwide, nearly 2 billion people suffer from hunger and chronic nutrient deficiencies. Behind the tragic photographs of these desperate individuals, however, are the less visible problems that threaten the global food supply.

State of the World 2005 and all other Worldwatch Institute publications can be purchased in Print and PDF versions through our secure online bookstore.

Live Online Discussion

"Towards Happier Meals: The Problem of Factory Farming in a Globalized World"

Thursday, October 6, 2005, 2:00 PM EST
[ http://www.worldwatch.org/live/discussion/114/ ]

With Danielle Nierenberg, Worldwatch Research Associate and author of just-released Happier Meals: Rethinking the Global Meat Industry.

The emergence of diseases that can jump from animals to humans—such as avian flu and mad cow disease—has been treated as a "natural" disaster by public health officials, veterinarians, government officials, and the media. Mounting evidence, however, shows these are actually symptoms of a larger change taking place in agriculture: the spread of factory farming. The greatest rise in industrial animal operations is occurring near the urban centers of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where high population densities and weak public health, occupational, and environmental standards are exacerbating the impacts of these farms. The cycle between small farmers, their animals, and the environment is being broken, causing collateral damage to human health and local communities. What are the causes of this dangerous trend and what can be done to reverse it?

Submit your questions now and return on Thursday, October 6, 2005 at 2:00 PM EST for the discussion.

Grain Yields Rise, But No Respite for the Hungry

Vital Signs Fact of the Week

In 2004, global grain production broke 2 billion tons for the first time in history, marking a 9-percent increase from the 2003 level. Also in 2004, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the number of hungry people around the world increased for the first time since 1970. Starvation now kills more than 5 million children each year.

Read the full summary, download a free PDF of this Vital Sign, or purchase Vital Signs 2005 in our Vital Signs Facts Online Feature.

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