A variety of factors have been blamed for the global food crisis, including the rise in fuel and energy prices and increased demand in countries with suddenly booming economies, like India and China, as well as climate changes wreaking havoc on crops. A lot of farmers have changed their crops from food to fuel, speculating on the interest in alternative fuels. The solution, then would be a crop that is not being used as an alternative fuel, like the potato. To focus attention on this, the United Nations named 2008 the International Year of the Potato, calling the vegetable a "hidden treasure."
Potatoes are native to Peru, and can be grown at almost any elevation or climate: from the slopes of the Andes Mountains to the tropical flatlands of Asia. They require very little water, mature in as little as 50 days, and can yield between two and four times more food per hectare than wheat or rice. The potato is less expensive than wheat or rice and provides excellent nutrition in the hungry world.
Some discount potatoes for being carb-heavy, but they have a lot of nutrition, including being just 110 calories. Potatoes have nearly half of the Daily Value of vitamin C and are one of the best sources of potassium and fiber. Potatoes also have more protein than corn and nearly twice the calcium when boiled.
Interest in alternative fuel sources has led many of the world's farmers to speculate on their crops, using their fields for biofuel crops like corn and wheat, rather than food crops, which has been part of the food crisis. The potato is now being investigated to help with food security.
In Peru, the government has implemented a program encouraging bakers to use potato flour, rather than wheat flour in an effort to bypass the high cost of wheat. Potato bread is being used to feed everyone from school children to prisoners and the military in the hope the trend will catch on.
Although potatoes originated in Peru, Peruvians eat significantly fewerless potatoes than European countries. The developing world is where most new potato crops are being planted, and as consumption rises, poor farmers have a chance to earn more money.
Potatoes do not have a lot of speculative interest in the global economy because they are difficult to transport without getting blight. But thanks to experiments in German engineering, virus-free potatoes are on the way, making transport and selling of potatoes on the global food market a real possibility and a potential solution to the problems the food crisis has brought about.
If you're a pet owner, you probably heard about it. In February and March of this year, news organizations reported a sudden and alarming epidemic of kidney failure among cats and dogs. Though the numbers weren't and aren't officially known, some sources reported thousands of cat deaths across the country, plus many thousands of pets becoming seriously ill.
Soon after the outbreak began, the culprit was identified. A pet food manufacturer, whose wet pet foods are sold under dozens of familiar brand names, had allowed a lethal substance known as melamine to enter their products. This error wasn't discovered until over 60 million potentially contaminated units had already hit store shelves.
The ensuing pet food recall caught the attention of pet owners nationwide. Media-provided lists of affected products seemed to grow by the hour. Soon, huge voids appeared on the shelves of supermarket pet food aisles.
The symptoms of melamine poisoning provide little comfort. Even for animals who survive, symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, depression, kidney stones, loss of appetite, and permanent kidney damage. To those of us who think of our pets as children, the thought of our cats or dogs suffering these symptoms is unbearable.
Also of little comfort, and exacerbating many pet owners' unwillingness to re-introduce wet foods into our pets' diets, is the current lack of official government oversight over pet food products. Of course, this doesn't have to be a terrible thing. After all, most pet food makers understand that not to self-regulate is simply bad business. To allow an outbreak like the one that occurred this year is the quickest way to go out of business.
Even so, as this case has illustrated, lack of government oversight leaves our pets vulnerable to accidents and mistakes. Most pet food makers receive their raw materials from a variety of sources. In fact, it's been suggested that the melamine-contaminated material in these products came from China. So, with materials coming from all over, what can be done to ensure that pet foods will not be contaminated in the future?
Obviously, we can do little to ensure that products made in China are not contaminated, but on our side, there is plenty we can do. The key isn't to prevent contamination where prevention is impossible, but rather to detect contamination before it reaches our pets' food bowls. Specifically, before a batch of food lands on store shelves, we can perform melamine testing.
Many companies, along all steps of the pet food manufacturing process, already perform melamine testing. Testing can be done not only on the finished food product, but also on the product's ingredients, which, again, tend to come from all over. For example, if you're an importer of materials that go into pet food products, to invest in a melamine testing service could potentially save your company from this type of embarrassment and disgrace.
In other words, though there is no official FDA of pet food, it is in the best interests of pets, pet owners, and pet food makers to make the entire process as safe and carefully-watched as possible. Thus, from a business perspective, melamine testing is both smart and ethical. Not only will it keep pet food manufacturers in business, but it will also keep our beloved pets safe from harm.
Both Robert D. Thomson & Andrew Stratton are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Robert D. Thomson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Dog Care, Real Estate and Dental Practice. The WeEarth Network is enabling us to explore our connectedness with each other and with our changing world. Find more articles about socially. Robert D. Thomson's top article generates over 2240000 views. to your Favourites.
Andrew Stratton has sinced written about articles on various topics from Motorola Cell Phone, Tummy Tucks Before and After and Political and Social. If you're an importer of materials that go into pet food products, investing in a melamine testing service from Midwest Laboratories could potentially save your company from embarrassment and disgrace and keep our pets safe from harm.. Andrew Stratton's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.