London's biggest Asian cultural festival kicks off in Brentford. Gunnersbury Park once again play host to the seventh London Mela, one of Europe's largest outdoor Asian festivals.
Last year the festival attracted over 70,000 people and organisers predict this year's will be equally as successful with seven zones of urban, classical and experimental music, DJs, dance, outdoor arts, comedy and food.
The Pakistan Food Association (PFA) and Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote local food industry Monday. President PFA, Rafiq Rangoonwala said the objective of PFA was to provide one platform to all the stakeholders in the local food industry to experience and share problems. He said PFA was keen to disseminate information about the chain process in the food industry and to show that Pakistan food industry was well equipped with the state of the art world-class standards. staff report
We tend to forget that the worldwide plunge into recession last year was the result of three separate phenomena that combined to breed disaster. The financial crisis was joined by a food crisis and a fuel crisis as the prices of food and energy soared, triggering food riots across the world.
And now there are ominous signs of another food crisis in the making this year, spurred in part by the ongoing credit crunch that has made it difficult for farmers to get loans. "I think the world would like to focus on one crisis at a time, but we really can't afford to," warned Josette Sheeran, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program.
Food supplies are tight and prices still high, she said, and more people in poor countries are unable to afford what they need because of the recession. "These are not separate crises. The food crisis and the financial one are linking and compounding," she noted, adding that food shortages often trigger political instability. "I'm really putting out the warning that we're in an era now where supplies are still very tight, very low and very expensive."
While much of the publicity surrounding the global recession has focused on people losing their jobs or retirement savings, the nightmare is even more immediate for hundreds of millions of others who live at the edge of survival.
They go to bed hungry. Food relief agencies say 2008 was among the toughest for the world's less fortunate because food prices for much of the year were so high. The price of food is just one problem preventing people from getting enough to eat.
From people braving floods in Bangladesh to receive emergency food shipments, to children in North Korea with little more than a biscuit to eat, to Afghans lining up for sacks of flour - the world's hungry continue to face a difficult future.The United Nations says nearly one billion people - one person in six - go to bed hungry each night.
Minister of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries People often ask me why ``hansik,'' or Korean food, is so important. I reply, ``Because it is the face of our country.''There are many things that represent Korea. Along with hanbok (traditional constume), Hangeul (Korean alphabet), gugak (old Korean music) and taekwondo.
The Korean martial art that is part of Olympic official competition, hansik is one of the ``Korean brands.'' Some may disagree that our everyday food can be labeled as such. But ask foreigners and they tell just how big a Korean brand hansik is.
Some seven million foreign tourists visited Korea last year, and local food proved to be the biggest attraction for them. In a survey by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) of foreign visitors, 49 percent of respondents said they came to Korea to try Korean food.
Organisers of Dubai Airshow 2009 - the Middle East’s foremost aerospace event and the third largest in the world - have re-affirmed their commitment to the United Nation’s humanitarian relief World Food Programme (UNWFP) by more than doubling its free-of-charge exhibition space for this year.
Held every two years, Dubai Airshow, organised by F&E Aerospace, set a precedent in corporate social responsibility in 2007 by being the first exhibition to donate space to the UNWFP, which charters aircraft and sources logistical assistance from hundreds of contractors to deliver aid in times of disaster and crisis.
As a result of this high-profile exposure, which gave them access to more than 850 exhibitors and 45,000 trade visitors from 131 countries, the UNWFP recorded an increase in the number of air service providers used for aid programmes in 2008/9, which includes the current major aid schemes in Gaza.
China has banned food imports from 11 United States-based companies whose products have been tainted with peanut butter or paste that contain salmonella bacteria, China's quality regulator has said.The 11 food manufacturers listed by the General Administration of Quality Supervision.
Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) include the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), considered the source of the contamination, and breakfast cereal maker Kellogg. All companies have peanut butter or peanut paste products.
Which were recently recalled by US authorities because the items were contaminated with Salmonella Typhimurium while being processed at a Georgia plant of the PCA, causing an outbreak of the bacteria. Symptoms of salmonella poisoning are said to usually appear within 12 to 72 hours of eating.
Adverts for unhealthy foods are still appearing during TV programmes seen by children, despite curbs introduced in January, a consumer watchdog has said.
Which? said the five programmes with the most child viewers and only four of the top 20 most popular children's shows were covered by Ofcom's rules. These state that ads for "less healthy” foods are not allowed in or around programmes which "appeal" to under-16s.
But advertisers said Which's list included shows "not aimed" at children. A programme is defined as being of particular appeal to children if the proportion of those under 16 watching a programme is 20% higher than the general viewing population.
A moratorium on the opening of new fast food restaurants in one of the poorest areas of Los Angeles moved one step closer to reality on Tuesday in a measure aimed at countering obesity.A Los Angeles city council planning committee unanimously approved a one-year ban, which could be extended for a further year, on new fast food outlets in a 32-square-mile (82-sq-km) area of Los Angeles.
The measure, the latest in efforts by U.S. cities to promote healthier eating, will go to the full council for a vote next month.If passed, it would affect about half a million Angelenos living in an area that supporters say already has about 400 fast-food eateries and few grocery stores.
The proposed moratorium follows a report last year which found that 30 about percent of children living in the South Los Angeles, West Adams, Baldwin Hills and Leimert Park areas are obese compared to about 21 percent in the rest of the city.It will be accompanied by moves to encourage more grocery chains and fresh food stores to open for business.
New York City restaurant chains must now post calorie counts on their menus, or should expect to pay some hefty fines.
The New York City Health Department installed the law in May, requiring restaurant chains to post calorie counts on their menus. A grace period lasted until now though, allowing restaurants to take their time implementing the new rule.
Since the period has ended, chains such as McDonalds, Burger King, and others need to add calorie counts to their menu boards.As of this past Friday, all chains need to post the information in a visible place.Restaurant chains impacted need to have 15 or more locations around the U.S. to be forced to follow the rule.If they do not comply, they will face fines of up to $2,000 per store.
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