New york times Niger Food crisis Adam Nossiter Jane Hahn

A TEXT POST

Food Crisis in Niger

NY Times Article Article by Adam Nossiter. Photos by Jane Hahn Click here to see the slide show

Niger is facing a food crisis, a grimly familiar predicament in a vast desert country with an explosive birthrate and rudimentary agriculture. Rains and crops failed last year — rainfall was about 70 percent below normal in the region — and now half the population of 15 million faces food shortages, officials say. Thus it was in 2005, 1985 and 1974.

Is the US giving them food as we speak? I want to know.

I just found this article online. The World Food Program (United Nations) is providing aid to Niger.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63Q3GX20100427

“Holmes responded: “We do not have a miracle solution but we’ll do our best.” The U.N. is running a food-for-work program for villagers who remain, paying them for clearing the main road threatened by the encroaching desert.

Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said less than a third of the $190 million it is seeking from international donors to respond to the crisis has been raised.”

 

vikas bajaj sri lanka tea knika new york times

A TEXT POST

A Sri Lankan Underdog Battles Global Tea Giants

NY TIMES
by Vikas Bajaj

“All the brands without exception sell as white tea either 99 percent black tea or green tea with one piece of white tea,” Mr. Fernando, 79, said ruefully. “This is what we are up against. This is what the consumer is up against. But this is part of normal trade, and I have begun to accept it.”

Twinings said it used a Chinese white tea variety known as Bai Mudan in its tea bags and the more exclusive silver needle variety, which is similar to Dilmah’s white tea, in its loose leaf tea.

Mr. Fernando has relished his role as the underdog battling the giants of the global tea business. In the last two decades, he has built Dilmah into one of the world’s largest independent tea companies and one of the best-known Sri Lankan brands by selling tea that is critically acclaimed and more expensive than the competition.

His company’s story symbolizes the path that other Sri Lankan businesses and industries have had to follow to compete with the likes of China and India, which have lower costs of production and the advantage of size. To attract business, Sri Lankan companies have become specialists and producers of affordable yet exclusive products. In apparel, for instance, producers here have established themselves as a go-to source for lingerie and sportswear so they do not have to compete on cheaper clothes directly with low-cost mass producers like Bangladesh and China.

Read entire article here

New york times damien cave strawberries knika

A TEXT POST

Not the Strawberries!

January 7, 2010

In Cold Snap, Floridians Shiver, and Pray for the Strawberries

By DAMIEN CAVE

DOVER, Fla. — Icicles hang from the thermometer: 25 degrees, at dawn, and the strawberries that should be on cereal sit suspended beneath hard ice, shiny and clear as lacquer.

Michelle Williamson smiles. The ice, she says, did its job of keeping all but the ripest berries safe, and the worst has been averted. Again. For now.

Tuesday brought the fourth consecutive night of freezing temperatures and all-night watering to the nation’s winter strawberry capital, and with another cold front on its way, nearly everyone here expects the frenzy and fatigue to continue.

“You work as hard as you can for the best outcome you can,” said Ms. Williamson, 46, as a handful of workers sucked down coffee. “Then you pray.”

Read the entire article here!

knika michael pollan apple new york times

A QUOTE

If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you are not hungry. – Emma Fogt

knika michael pollan new york times nutrition

A QUOTE

Make and take your lunch to work. My father has always done this and so have I. It saves money and you know what you are eating. – Hope Donovan Rider

sheep eye balls knika food rules michael pollan new york times

A PHOTO

# 7 Food Rule: I always say “Don’t yuck someone’s yum” Not a diet strategy but an important food lesson.There is someone out there who likes deep fried sheep eyeballs, and, well, more power to them.

- Rachael Narins

I personally will yuck some deep fried sheep eyeballs. The person should understand why I yucked it. lol.

***Update. I said the above in jest. If I see someone eating sheep eyeballs I will not yuck it. I promise. I will look in admiration and then I will try it! No yucks here!

Clcik here for more food rules !

new york times knika coconut Lynsey Addario

A VIDEO

Coconut Pluckers in Short Supply

A scarcity of coconut pluckers in Kerala, India, threatens to undermine one of its most important industries. India produces 15 billion coconuts a year, and just about every one is plucked by hand. S. Mohan prepared a coconut for drinking in the neighborhood of Kera in Trivandrum, Kerala, India.

Plucking coconuts is a dangerous job that requires experience and judgment. The nuts ripen at different times, and trained climbers have to decide whether a nut is ready to be plucked. K. Rameshan prayed before climbing a coconut tree in a grove along the beach in the village of Mararikulam North, in Kerala.

The climber must climb tall trees, carrying a heavy blade to slice the nuts from their stems. One misstep and he would surely fall, as much as 100 feet to the ground.

Hindus use coconuts as an offering at a shrine and temple in Trivandrum.

Mr. Rameshan climbed a coconut tree in Mararikulam North in Kerala. Solutions such as using mechanical platforms that raise pluckers to the top of trees and using trained monkeys have proved unworkable because of expense and due to animal cruelty laws Because coconuts are essential to the economy, Kerala’s state government is sponsoring an international design competition to develop coconut-picking machines.

More info here.

eco dorm new york times samantha contis knika

A TEXT POST

The Ecodorm

Sari Bellmer picks almonds in the permaculture garden.

Photo by Samantha Contis, Slide show here!

“In recent years, colleges like Warren Wilson took a leading role in the sustainability movement, which seeks to foster a durable human relationship with the environment. More than 600 U.S. colleges and universities are signatories of a pledge to become carbon neutral. Ninety dorms are now LEED certified, the most widely accepted national standard for green design. The EcoDorm is one of only two student residences that have LEED’s platinum rating, its highest.”

Read the entire article here

Michael pollan new york times nutrition knika weight loss food

A QUOTE

You don’t get fat on food you pray over. This is from a friend who points out that meals prepared at home served at the table and given thanks for are more appreciated and more healthful than food eaten on the run!

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