Food Prices Could Double by 2030
The price of some food staples could double in the next 20 years because of rising demand and climate change, a British-based charity has warned.

In a report released on Tuesday, Oxfam said world hunger was already increasing due to rising food price inflation and oil price hikes, as well as environmental changes such as droughts and floods.

Charlie Angela has more.

Increasing Food Shortage in Libya's West
Food is running very low in western Libya - another knock-on effect of the conflict. James Bays reports from Nalut, where a warehouse that supplies 13 towns, has only a few days worth of rations left.

Food Supply Worries in Libya
The UN recently announced that global food prices have hit an all-time high, and nowhere is this more evident than in Libya, a country that depends on imports for more than 90 per cent of its food. 

High oil prices and the rising cost of basic food could threaten future political stability, too.

 Al Jazeera's Tim Friend reports

Goldman Denies Links with Global Food Crises
THE TELEGRAPH: Goldman Sachs has angrily defended itself against a public campaign that claims the bank is exacerbating global food crises through its commodity trading operations.

An advert from the World Development Movement's online campaign which claims banks are earning huge profits from betting on food prices in unregulated financial markets. Image: The Telegraph
The Wall Street bank has dismissed as "disingenuous and downright misleading" the conclusions by the World Development Movement that its activities have led to increased food prices, food riots, and poverty around the world.

The WDM, a London-based non-governmental organisation, on Monday started an on-line campaign to persuade the public to report Goldman to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as the biggest bank allegedly distorting commodities markets.

The organisers said they want to put pressure on authorities to limit the ability of banks and hedge funds to trade in commodity futures.

The move came as Armajaro, a hedge fund run by Anthony Ward, was accused of cornering the cocoa market and pushing up prices after buying £650m, or 240,000 tonnes, of cocoa beans.

The campaign follows the publication of a report by the WDM called The Great Hunger Lottery: how banking speculation causes food crises, in which the lobby group accuses banks and hedge funds of "gambling on hunger." The report concludes that commodity trading is "dangerous, immoral and indefensible." >>> Louise Armitstead | Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Volcanic Ash Cloud Leaves Shops Facing Shortages of Fruit, Vegetables and Medicine
THE TELEGRAPH: UK retailers face significant disruption to their supply chains due to a ban on air freight following the volcanic ash crisis.

Store groups face potential shortages of medicine, cut flowers and exotic fruit and vegetables due to the closure of British airspace, that was expected to have ended in England and Wales by 7am on Saturday.

Clothing retailers also face a backlog as their stock sits in holding pens around the world waiting to be flown from manufacturing hubs to the UK.

The ban on air freight has meant that fruits such as figs, papaya and coconuts, fresh flowers and pharmaceutical products – all of which are delivered by air – are not reaching their destinations in the UK. Air freight accounts for 25pc of the UK's international goods movements by value.

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) said yesterday that it fears the cost to business – and consumers – will escalate as the volcanic cloud casts its shadow further. >>> James Hall Retail Editor | Friday, April 16, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Volcanic ash cloud: dust falls across Britain – Volcanic ash from the Icelandic eruption has begun to fall across the country, coating surfaces with a fine layer of dust and raising fears over the danger posed to people with breathing difficulties. >>> Patrick Sawer | Saturday, April 17, 2010