Prices for rice, wheat and other key foods are expected to remain volatile and possibly increase — and poor farmers and consumers particularly in Africa will be hurt most, United Nations food agencies said Monday.

In an annual report on the state of food insecurity around the world, the UN's three food agencies urged governments to make good on pledges to share information about farm forecasts and food stock levels to avoid the price swings that resulted in food riots in 2006-2008 and an eight per cent increase in the number of undernourished people in Africa.


They also urged greater long-term investment in the agriculture sectors of poor countries so farmers can bolster production to meet increasing demand and cope better when food crises hit.

Failure to do so, the agencies warned, will result in continued price fluctuations, which makes poor farmers and consumers in food-importing countries at ever greater risk for poverty in both the short and long term, it said.

"Changes in income due to price swings that lead to decreased food consumption can reduce children's intake of key nutrient during the first 1,000 days of life from conception, leading to a permanent reduction of their future earning capacity and an increased likelihood of future poverty with negative effects on entire economies," the report said.

It was produced by the Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Program and — for the first time — the UN's International Fund for Agriculture Development.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/201 ... rices.html

This is just the beginning....

Folks, its time for all of us to review our food preps....

We had to pay property taxes last paycheck, so we're giving our preps a dry run.
I've been making side dishes into main dishes by adding meat and/or veggies, it's some of the best cooking I've ever done!
I took some steaks I found in the freezer, not vacuumed sealed, they looked dried out and not very good, I marinated them all day in barbecue sauce, apple soda, water, and salt, (don't ask, I was out of marinade and just grabbed stuff!) and then cut them up tiny and cooked them in oil in the pressure cooker, and then added the steak fajita flavored rice (Lipton Rice Side Dishes) and it was sooooo incredibly good. I mean REALLY good.
I had a leftover roast chicken I added to their Buffalo Chicken Rice, it was good too! (I added the skin, cut up tiny, for flavor.)
They have a Baby Back Ribs flavored rice (it's hard to find, only Publix has it) I'm going to add cut up hot dogs to it.
The kids already like cut up hot dogs in mac & cheese with a couple of cans of chili beans (to three boxes of mac & cheese) thrown in. We've also had Mac&cheese with tuna and a can of peas and carrots, they liked it too.
Really, they like this stuff better than the actual hamburger helper. I feel a lot more confident about cooking with preps, if we can just afford hot dogs and ground beef and maybe a couple of steaks now and then, plus milk and bread and cheese and eggs, it won't be a big change.
If I have to start making bread from scratch and using my powdered eggs and milk and canned meats, that's a whole nother level of using our preps, I don't look forward to that one!
We're good for a couple of years, I think, especially if we can get a garden going.
There's a really good Pasta Roni flavor, Tomato Parmesan, tonight I'm adding ground beef to it and using it as the main dish.
I bought another interesting flavor, Sour Cream and Chives, but I haven't decided what to add to it (bacon?). Maybe I'll just use it as a side dish as the Pasta Roni people intended all along.
I'm really learning to cook cheaply, it's a big change but it's working out well. The side dishes are cheaper than actual hamburger helper and the variety is a lot better and I'm using the cheapest meats possible.
I could just use the plain pasta and plain rice and spice it all up myself, and I will, as a last resort, but using their powdered flavors and spices is not that much more expensive and we can still afford it so far. I have spices in my preps, I'm ready for the next stage when necessary. I just don't look forward to it.



It's good to see you again!