The University of Wisconsin's Why Files (first mentioned in the August 9, 1996 Scout Report) has a recent in-depth feature that explores issues surrounding the creation of new agricultural plant varieties, with an emphasis on genetic engineering. The Web site consists of straightforward pages of text and photographs that relate the past, present, and possible future of plant breeding and genetic...

The US Department of Agriculture offers this report relating to international food production and demand. The Economic Research Service (ERS) of the USDA produced this report, which provides baseline projections for international supply, demand, and trade for major agricultural commodities to the year 2007. The report is offered in .pdf format only and includes an introduction and separate...

Price of rice continues record surge http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/bustech/story.html?id=c97f90bd-a2f5-40ac-a13c-b1816d7ef63e US government ready to export rice to Philippines http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/apr/10/yehey/top_stories/20080410top2.html Poor Thai farmers guard their fields as rice prices...

J.I. Rodale was into organic farming for many decades before it became a bit more "hip". The Rodale Institute has been doing research on organic farming versus conventional farming for over 60 years, and their website is aimed at farmers, gardeners, and the general public alike. The "New Farm" link is the online incarnation of their print publication that has been providing "farmer-to-farmer...

Amidst the backdrop of climate change and staggering world population growth, many agronomists, scientists, and government leaders are concerned about both food security and availability. The Global Crop Diversity Trust is intimately concerned with such matters, and their primary goal is to maintain and preserve crop diversity through a variety of creative and innovative techniques. Visitors can...

This excellent report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, The State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI), found that, in 1999, 790 million people in the Third World are undernourished, and 34 million in First and Second World nations also do not have enough to eat. Although the number of undernourished people has dropped by 40 million since 1996, a decline of 8...

The Food and Environment program was developed by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) to help "create a food system that encourages innovative and environmentally sustainable ways to produce high-quality, safe, and affordable food, while ensuring that citizens have a voice in how their food is grown." The Food and Environment website provides information about three UCS focus areas: Antibiotic...

This Executive Summary produced by Jules Pretty and Rachel Hine of the University of Essex in February 2001 provides a summary of evidence from the SAFE-World Research Project. This extensive report includes background reasons for the study such as global food security challenges, information about sustainable agriculture, project methodology, summary of projects and evidence, and conclusions. A...

A food bill for San Francisco http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=3831&catid=4&volume_id=254&issue_id=301&volume_num=41&issue_num=37 Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Development http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-95297-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html Food for the Cities [pdf] http://www.fao.org/fcit/index_en.asp Urban Agriculture...