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Chicago Council on Global Affairs report calls on agriculture, food sectors to fight global rise in NCDs

"A new report released by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, 'Bringing Agriculture to the Table: How Agriculture and Food Can Play a Role in Preventing Chronic Disease,' calls on the agriculture and food sector to play a role in mitigating the global rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and identifies new opportunities for those in health and agriculture to work together to promote better health."

7 Oct 2011

AlertNet footage shows scenes of food shortages in North Korea, says appeals for aid go unanswered

"Footage of malnourished North Korean orphans and official warnings over failed harvests have given a rare glimpse at the scale of devastating food shortages in the country following a harsh winter and widespread flooding," the Guardian reports.

7 Oct 2011

A healthy diet during pregnancy can reduce the risk of birth defects: Study

The researchers say that the birth defects like brain and spine problems, called neural tube defects, as well as cleft lip and cleft palate were less common in mothers who closely followed either a Mediterranean diet or the food guide pyramid.

6 Oct 2011

Higher maternal diet quality may reduce risk of birth defects

Healthier dietary choices by pregnant women are associated with reduced risks of birth defects, including neural tube defects and orofacial clefts, according to a study published Online First by the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Oct 2011

WSU to help develop alternatives to petroleum-based fuels and chemicals

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack yesterday announced that Washington State University (WSU) will receive a five-year, $40 million grant to help develop alternatives to petroleum-based fuels and chemicals.

3 Oct 2011

BIO: Advanced biofuels can be commercialized rapidly for military use

Advanced biofuels can be commercialized rapidly for military use, on military timelines, with adequate support and coordination of efforts by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Defense and Energy.

1 Oct 2011

Literacy Bridge launches program to improve health of women, at-risk children across rural Ghana

Literacy Bridge is responding to the need for a comprehensive solution in global health and hunger by kicking off its Health & Agriculture Communication for Women & Children Program, which is designed to improve the health of 24,000 women and at-risk children in 75 low-literate communities across rural Ghana.

1 Oct 2011

Weeds are an integral part of our ecosystem

Weeds, which are widely deemed as a nuisance plant, are vital to the existence of many farmland species according to a new University of Hull study published in the journal Biological Conservation today.

30 Sep 2011

South Sudan facing chronic food shortages, U.N. agencies say

U.N. agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), are warning that South Sudan, the world's newest nation, "will face chronic food shortages next year due to internal and border insecurity, erratic rains and a huge influx of returnees from the North," IRIN reports.

29 Sep 2011

USAID, NGO partners testing nutritional impact assessment tool

USAID is working with non-governmental organization partners to test a "nutritional impact assessment tool" that "'would be a way for organizations designing or reviewing agricultural programs to mitigate any risks or potential negative effects on nutrition -- in other words a "do no harm" approach,' said Michael Zeilinger, head of the nutrition division with USAID's office of health, infectious disease and nutrition," IRIN reports.

28 Sep 2011

High prevalence of NTDs in Central Asia after 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union

The open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases will publish an article emphasizing the rising burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Central Asia on Tuesday, Sept. 27th.

28 Sep 2011

Emissions from livestock farms cause lung patients living nearby to experience more exacerbations

Emissions from livestock farms cause asthma and COPD patients living nearby to experience more exacerbations, according to research presented today at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Amsterdam.

28 Sep 2011

Organic tomato juice contains more phenolic components than conventional crop juice

Organic tomato juice contains more phenolic components than juice from conventionally grown crops, according to a new study published in the journal Food Chemistry directed by Rosa M. Lamuela, a lecturer from the Department of Nutrition and Bromatology of the University of Barcelona (UB) and researcher for the Nutrition and Food Safety Research Institute (INSA) and the Spanish Biomedical Research Centre-Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition.

28 Sep 2011

Eating blueberries may inhibit breast cancer tumor growth

Eating blueberries may inhibit breast cancer tumor growth, according to a recent study by researchers at the City of Hope in Los Angeles that is published in the October 2011 issue of The Journal Of Nutrition and featured in the September issue of Food Nutrition & Science.

27 Sep 2011

Annual World Disasters Report focuses on hunger and malnutrition, highlights dichotomy between economic classes

This year's annual World Disasters Report, published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Thursday, focuses on hunger and malnutrition, but highlights a growing gap between economic classes, the Australian reports, noting "15 percent of the world's population is going hungry while a record 20 percent now suffer the effects of 'excess nutrition'" (Hodge, 9/23).

23 Sep 2011

AARP launches ad campaign urging debt panel to steer clear of Medicare

According to the national ad campaign's script, which urges the deficit panel to take Medicare cuts off the table, Social Security payments have been earned by a lifetime of work and Medicare, the health insurance plan for seniors, is paid for by participants.

23 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 22, 2011

In today's headlines, reports that young adults are making gains in health coverage rates.

22 Sep 2011

Indian government responds to new avian flu outbreak

"Authorities in eastern India will start culling chickens and destroying eggs to contain a new outbreak of H5 bird flu, the government said in a statement on Tuesday, as a mutant strain of the virus is spreading elsewhere in Asia," Reuters reports.

22 Sep 2011

Financial and political commitments to improve health of women and children

In only one year, more than 100 countries, foundations, multilateral organizations, the UN, the private sector, and academic and professional associations have made unprecedented financial and political commitments to greatly improve the health of women and children.

21 Sep 2011

Ad Council, USAID partner to launch FWD awareness campaign

response to the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has partnered with the Ad Council to launch a national public awareness campaign.

20 Sep 2011