Food Price Increases Are Changing Global Diets

Image via WikipediaAlmost two-fifths of consumers surveyed in 17 countries said high food prices have changed their diets, with people in poorer nations hit hardest by increased costs.

More than half said they eat different food than two years ago, mainly for cost and health reasons, according to the survey of more than 16,000 people by Globescan Inc., a Toronto-based researcher, for Oxfam International. Global food prices have increased 37 percent in the past year, the United Nations says.

“Huge numbers of people, especially in the world’s poorest countries, are cutting back on the quantity or quality of the food they eat because of rising food prices,” Raymond Offenheiser, the president of the U.S. affiliate of Oxford, UK- based Oxfam, said in a news release. The results of the survey were released today.

The world’s population is forecast to jump to 9.3 billion in 2050 from an estimated 6.9 billion in 2010, requiring a 70 percent increase in food production, according to the UN. In February, when the rise in food prices peaked, the World Bank said the increased costs had pushed 44 people into “extreme poverty” in a little over half a year. More...

Sales of Pandemic Body Bags Skyrocket

Demand for pandemic body bags have been streaming in to a small Toronto based company known as Trevor Owen Ltd, from as far away as the Sultanate of Oman on the Arabian Peninsula, according to thestar.com. "There are state and provincial governments that are starting to stockpile pandemic body bags ... It's a bad pun, but (the business) is growing," said Trevor Owen president Pierre Barcik.

Trevor Owen is not the only supplier who's seen a dramatic increase in sales. Richard Miller's ToDieFor.Biz, has seen his business double this year. Miller offers a large online catalog of Body Bags.

But Barcik's pandemic body bag differs from the bags typically used to transport and temporarily store the dead. As thestar's Dave Feschuk points out, "Morgues and hospitals mostly use bags made of light-duty plastic – glorified garbage bags with a zipper down the middle – the pandemic body bag's material is thicker and stronger, comparable to a light tarp. It is coated on both sides with polyurethane for imperviousness and can be outfitted with six carry handles, an option that allows for the possibility of inexperienced personnel hastily hauling bodies at a time of crisis."