Green labelling of food to show the impact of its production on the environment could lead to major changes in consumption, Lucy Neville-Rolfe of British retailer Tesco said on Tuesday.

George Monbiot argues that “we need a five-year freeze on biofuels” in order to save the planet and to prevent a food battle between people and cars, while others think differently.

Africa’s vast arable lands have the potential to rival top agricultural nations like the United States in supplying biofuels to a world seeking cleaner energy sources.

But using land reserved for food production to supply biofuel demand could squeeze food supplies in a region vulnerable to shortages. It could also hurt poor consumers if the biofuel boom continues to push food prices higher.

The quest for biofuels is causing food prices to rise worldwide, which may cause a cataclysmic series of events that could stunt growth and cause distress in the developing world.

Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Program states:

“What President Castro points to is something the UN Food and Agriculture Organization has also raised recently: That there is significant potential and risk for competition between food production and production for a global biofuels market,” Steiner told Reuters during a environmental meeting in Havana.

“Stale sandwiches and squidgy potatoes – waste food from some of Britain’s biggest supermarkets – could be used for fuel in an experimental biomass plant being planned by Infinis, a renewable power company backed by private equity group Terra Firma.” Please click link to read full article.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s probe into Canada’s 10th case of mad cow disease concludes that infection was likely caused by eating contaminated feed.

“The agency traced 156 animals that may have eaten the same feed on the British Columbia farm. It plans to euthanize 36 cows still at the farm, while another five have been euthanized since May.”

Aflatoxin, a toxic chemical, dangerous if consumed in large quantities, is found on maize, goundnuts, sorghum and cassava. Traditional testing methods for this toxin are expensive and hence, not readily available to African farmers. However, an inexpensive kit developed by the Internationsl Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) allows these farmers to now test their crops for as low as $1 per test.