Distribution & Transport
Researchers transform old coffee grounds into biofuel. Spent coffee grounds contain oil similar to other biofuel crops - rapeseed, palm, soybean oil - but high anti-oxidant levels make them more stable. Grounds could add 340 million gallons of biodiesel (which smells like coffee) to global fuel supply, make $8 million-plus a year in U.S.
By Michael Bernstein
American Chemical Society 2008-12-10 (entry)
Ohio organic food business accused of selling meat products without a license; owners maintain they're exempt from requirement, official says. Boxes of beef, lamb, turkey reportedly confiscated. Officials deny owner's account of SWAT officers accompanying state agriculture officials, sheriff's deputies to the family's home for search warrant.
By Steve Fogarty
The Chronicle-Telegram 2008-12-09 (entry)
Modern-day Works Progress Administration that restores America's crumbling infrastructure - drinking water, schools, roads, bridges, transit systems - would generate jobs and help support flagging economy. Presidential candidate Barack Obama wants infrastructure investment (click 'See also', section V); John McCain has not presented plan.
By Dave Demerjian
Wired Blog Network 2008-10-19 (entry)
See also
Cost of moving goods could transform some foods into luxuries and further promote the local food movement. 'Avocado salad in Minneapolis in January is just not going to work in this new world, because flying it in is going to make it cost as much as a rib eye,' says researcher.
By Larry Rohter
The New York Times 2008-08-02 (entry)
Coast Guard opens Mississippi River to limited traffic two days after oil spill; some nearby suburbs find another source for drinking water; fate of fish unknown. And: Between 55 percent and 65 percent of all U.S. corn, soybean and wheat exports leave from the Gulf of Mexico (click 'See also').
By Adam Nossiter
The New York Times 2008-07-25 (entry)
See also
As shipping lines shift fleets to Asia, shortage of containers and space on cargo ships leave American food - corn, soybeans, frozen pork, lentils, peas - sitting in ports. Refrigerated containers, once locally available, sometimes must be sent hundreds of miles before being loaded. Shipping rates and fuel surcharges are increasing.
By Ilan Brat and Timothy Aeppel
The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2008-05-09 (entry)
See also
Our movable feast, made possible by efficient global transport networks, cheap labor elsewhere and megamarkets including Wal-Mart, comes at a cost: pollution, from transportation, packaging and refrigeration. Many say shippers and shoppers should pay costs. European Commission considers toll to change perception that transporting freight is cheaper than local goods.
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
International Herald Tribune 2008-04-25 (entry)
As fuel costs, global trade rise, railroads roar back, moving coal, consumer goods and grain. Railroads enjoy about a 3-to-1 fuel efficiency advantage over 18-wheelers. Agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland sues major railroads over fuel surcharges, alleging price-fixing conspiracy (click 'See also'); lawmakers plan exam of freight-hauling rates.
By Frank Ahrens
The Washington Post 2008-04-21 (entry)
See also
With water shortages likely to grow along with pollution, climate changes, middle class and population, investors begin buying water infrastructure components. Need, and vulnerability, are greatest in rural areas, but targets are cities, analysts say. Combination of unsafe water and poor sanitation kills about 1.8 million children annually, report says.
By Gerard Wynn
Reuters 2008-03-19 (entry)
Sailboat loaded with 4,000 pounds of Central American coffee sinks in stormy weather off the coast of Galveston after all aboard were rescued. The owners, a couple who had lived aboard for 10 years, had recently remodeled the RedCloud, to hold cargo. They planned to create a green business importing coffee to the United States.
By John Ira Petty
The Galveston County Daily News 2008-01-13 (entry)
In India, farmers leave low tech to learn new ways so their produce will command good prices in markets like Metro AG and Wal-Mart. Potential of the Indian market, about $300 billion and growing, is appealing, but companies first must set up supply chains and control waste; up to 40 percent of country's produce is ruined or lost.
By Eric Bellman and Cecilie Rohwedder
The Wall Street Journal 2007-11-28 (entry)
Hawaii growers, like those in Thailand and other countries, would be allowed to import irradiated mangosteen, Korean melon, breadfruit and jack fruit to mainland U.S., under new USDA proposal. Still languishing: applications to approve shipping of Hawaii citrus and guava filed nearly a decade ago.
By Craig Gima
Honolulu Star Bulletin 2007-11-21 (entry)
In confirming adage that politics is local, Senate lines up with House to override Bush veto of waterways bill that approves but doesn't fund $23 billion projects, including Florida Everglades restoration and dam work along the Mississippi River.
By David Stout
The New York Times 2007-11-08 (entry)
See also
Bush administration wants to grant the FDA and Consumer Product Safety Commission power to mandate recalls on tainted food and products, require safety testing, oversee safety standards of producers and importers, ban imports if necessary and penalize violators. But critics say success depends on Congress, and plan doesn't go far enough.
By Jane Zhang, John D. McKinnon and Christopher Conkey
Wall Street Journal 2007-11-06 (entry)
Latest proposal to safeguard safety of food would close hundreds of ports to entry, siphoning edibles through only 13 sites; grocery industry, importers and exporters predict trade disruption and soaring grocery prices.
By Andrew Bridges
The Associated Press; Washington Post 2007-09-26 (entry)
Pending sugar beet harvest and resulting heavy traffic pushes Minnesota to close vital bridge between farms and processing plant after cracks found in span foundation; American Crystal Sugar Co.'s factory processes harvest from nearly 1,000 producers.
Stephen J. Lee
The Associated Press; West Central Tribune (MN) 2007-08-22 (entry)
Bumper crop of corn leaves farmers struggling for storage; existing facilities have more business than they can handle, and manufacturers of silos and storage equipment are stepping up production; some farmers may resort to old schoolhouses, airport hangars, caves, or even tarp-covered piles on the ground.
By Shelly Banjo
Wall Street Journal; Pantagraph.com (IL) 2007-08-18 (entry)
See also
Big water has Coke, Pepsi and Nestle behind all those bottles of all that water being marketed as preferable to the stuff that flows from the tap, with one spokesperson comparing it to French wines and iPods, both of which are shipped long distances.
By Alex Beam
The Boston Globe 2007-08-20 (entry)
CARE turns down $45 million in food aid from U.S., citing practice of selling tons of often heavily subsidized American farm products in African countries that compete with the crops of local farmers; other charities disagree.
By Celia W. Dugger
The New York Times (may require subscription) (entry)
When discount superstore partnership enters India through wholesale stores, obstacles will include supply chain made up of mostly small shopkeepers, long chains of middlemen, each of whom takes a cut, and up to 60 percent waste during food transport.
Wall Street Journal (may require subscription) (entry)
Bush administration's buy-local request for emergency food aid could help Kenyans, some of the world's poorest people, advocates say, but U.S. is mired in domestic farm subsidies and lobbies of shipping interests; aid for agricultural projects lags as well.
By Celia W. Dugger
The New York times (may require subscription) (entry)
Purdue scientist wins World Food Prize, which includes $250,000, for developing six-story, epoxy-coated steel tanks and commercially sterile storage that helps fruits, vegetables maintain nutritional integrity during long transport.
Forbes magazine 2007-06-18 (entry)
