Food, in brief

A UN-backed report on Wednesday found 5.94 million people in Haiti facing severe hunger. [1][38]

Almost 2 million of them face hunger at emergency level, the report says. [2]

The report comes from the IPC, a UN-backed group that measures hunger around the world. [1]

Haiti has nearly 12 million people, and about 1 in 2 cannot always get enough food. [1]

The report says aid must be urgently scaled up to meet people's immediate needs. [1]

The UN's World Food Programme needs $78 million to keep its Haiti work going to March. [1]

In 2014 only 2% of Haitians were short of secure food, and now about half are, because gangs chase farmers off their land and block the roads to the capital while prices rise and a dry El Nino ruins crops. [1][2]

A total as large as 5.94 million is hard to picture, so one farmer who planted and harvested nothing is the line that sticks.

They move from one makeshift shelter to the next, which makes them hard for aid groups to follow. [1]

How many hungry Haitians aid groups can actually reach.

Talks with gangs for access can take 1 to 3 days, and some families travel up to 15 kilometres to a food handout. [1]

Whether the World Food Programme gets the $78 million it needs to keep working in Haiti to March.

The report calls for aid to be urgently scaled up, and no new pledge is reported. [1]

The World Bank expects world food prices to rise just over 10% in 2026. [3]

It expects food prices to rise by more than 7% again in 2027. [3]

It blames fighting in the Black Sea, which disrupts grain ships from Russia and Ukraine. [4]

Fertiliser prices are forecast to rise 14% in 2026, after a jump in urea prices. [5]

In a bad case with a record El Nino, food would cost 12% above the forecast. [5]

In the early 2010s, a food crisis pushed over 40 million more people into extreme poverty. [3]

Outside Haiti, the World Bank expects world food prices to rise just over 10% in 2026 and fertiliser 14%. [3][5]

Opium poppy fields in Afghanistan grew more than fourfold in 2026, the UN said on Thursday. [36]

Farmers planted 43,000 hectares, up from 10,000 in 2025, says the UN's drugs office. [36]

The Taliban government banned the crop in 2022, when fields covered over 200,000 hectares. [36]

In 2023 a hectare of poppy earned $10,000, and a hectare of wheat just over $770. [36]

'If we grow wheat, it is not enough to sustain our lives,' one farmer told AFP. [36]

The UN says farmers also need roads, irrigation and markets to give up poppies. [36]

Only 10% of the $500 million that plan needs has been paid for. [36]

In 2023 a hectare of poppy earned about $10,000, against just over $770 for wheat. [36]

How much opium poppy the Taliban government really destroyed.

It claims more than 22,000 hectares, but the UN says many plots are hidden among cereal crops or behind walls. [36]

Dolores Huerta, a leader of the US farmworkers' movement, died on Wednesday aged 96. [7]

In 1962 she and Cesar Chavez started the union that became the United Farm Workers. [6]

In 1965 the union joined Filipino farmworkers in a boycott of table grapes. [8]

Millions of Americans stopped buying grapes, and five years later the growers agreed to talks. [8]

She helped win contracts with pay rises, health care and safety rules for farmworkers. [8]

In March she said Chavez, who died in 1993, had sexually assaulted her twice. [6]

Her boycotts helped California pass the first US state law on farmworkers' right to bargain. [9]

The union's president said its best tribute to her is to keep organising workers. [10]

A vaccine protected milking cows from bird flu in a small test, a new study reports. [11]

It is an mRNA vaccine, which teaches the body to spot one part of the virus. [11]

8 cows were split in two: one group got two doses, the other salt water. [11]

Then the researchers put the virus straight into every cow's udder. [11]

At the peak, vaccinated cows had about 1,000 times less virus in their milk. [11]

They also had less mastitis, an infection that swells the udder. [11]

The virus grows mostly in a cow's udder and is thought to spread through milk. [11]

The study tested the vaccine on just 8 cows. [11]

Whether the bird flu vaccine protects cows on a real farm.

It was tested on 8 cows, with the virus put straight into the udder. [11]

In a test, milking cows given a new bird flu vaccine had about 1,000 times less virus in their milk than cows that were not vaccinated.

The FDA, the US food regulator, cleared casein made without cows on Wednesday. [12]

Casein is the main protein in milk, and it helps cheese melt and stretch. [12]

Two firms, Those Vegan Cowboys and Formo, make it with microbes instead of cows. [12]

The FDA replied to their safety file with a 'no questions' letter about 5 months later. [12]

It is the first such letter for casein made this way. [12]

Those Vegan Cowboys has already made mozzarella, feta and camembert with it. [12]

Selling widely needs cheap production, cheap feed and cheap energy, its technical chief said. [12]

The firm says 95% of supermarket cheese already uses rennet, a curdling enzyme, made by microbes. [12]

The FDA's letter opens the US market to the casein they make with microbes instead of cows. [12]

Whether shoppers will buy casein made without cows.

The maker says it must still show demand and cut costs, and in an EU poll 54% said they would not buy food made with microbes. [12][31]

The UK's finance minister, John Healey, offered farmers little in his first Budget on Wednesday. [13]

A 3.7p a litre tax cut on farm red diesel now runs to July 2027. [13]

The NFU farmers' union says fuel now costs 65% more than a year ago. [14]

Inheritance tax, paid on what a person leaves at death, stays unchanged on farms. [15]

Full relief for farm land is capped at 2.5 million pounds, with half relief above. [15]

NFU president Tom Bradshaw said farmers are left 'feeling abandoned'. [14]

Jeremy Moody of a land valuers' group counted 3 farming mentions in 166 Budget pages. [13]

Fuel costs 65% more than a year ago, and the Budget kept only a 3.7p a litre tax cut on red diesel. [13]

The US is weighing extra import taxes on palm fats from Indonesia and Malaysia. [17]

US dairy farmers feed these fats to cows to raise the fat in their milk. [17]

Half a pound a day lifts a cow's milk fat from 3.5% to 3.7% or 3.8%. [17]

The case was brought in January by Vantage, a chemicals maker in Illinois. [17]

Early duties of about 23% and 16% already hit Musim Mas, a big Indonesian palm firm. [17]

Feed is over 40% of dairy farm costs, the US milk producers' federation says. [17]

It says dairy farmers cannot pass rising costs on, so they come out of thin margins. [17]

Its case has already put early duties of about 23% and 16% on imported fatty acids from Musim Mas. [17]

If palm fats are taxed, their feed gets dearer, feed is already over 40% of their costs, and they cannot pass it on. [17]

Whether US import taxes on palm fats will cover cow feed.

The US Commerce Department is still weighing an exemption, and a final decision is due around 5 February 2027. [17]

Algeria has closed its market to cattle imports for now, Agriland reported this week. [16]

That could put pressure on a $635 million contract for Baladna, a Qatari dairy company. [16]

Baladna is building a $3.5 billion dairy venture with Algeria's government. [16]

Baladna planned 109 flights to carry more than 30,000 Holstein dairy cows from 9 US states. [16]

The first of the cows were due to land in Algeria in November 2026. [16]

Its milk powder plant is meant to supply up to 50% of Algeria's powdered milk. [16]

Baladna chose to fly the cows, despite the cost, for more control over their health. [16]

The report gives no reason for the closure, saying only the market is 'temporarily closed'. [16]

A $635 million contract in its Algerian dairy project rests on flying in 30,000 US cows, and the market is now closed. [16]

Why Algeria closed its market to imported cattle, and for how long.

Agriland reports only that the market is temporarily closed, with no reason given. [16]

Scotland's government is consulting on a cap on what big supermarkets charge for staples. [18]

It would cover essentials such as bread, milk and eggs, to help poorer households. [18]

NFU Scotland, the farmers' union, warns shops could swap Scottish food for cheaper imports. [18]

Its audit of 73 stores found 26% of own-brand products were Scottish, up from 19%. [18]

Aldi led at 68% Scottish, while Tesco stood at 23%. [18]

Milk and eggs also showed high levels of Scottish sourcing, the audit says. [19]

The union says pressure on shops could be passed back through processors to farmers. [18]

The consultation runs until 24 November. [18]

Whether a cap on staple prices would push Scottish food off Scottish shelves.

NFU Scotland says it could, and the Scottish government's own consultation accepts that costs could land elsewhere in the supply chain. [18]

Scottish food made up 26% of own-brand products in Scotland's supermarkets, up from 19% a year earlier.

The FDA declared over an E. coli outbreak from chicken wraps that sickened 50 people. [22]

The USDA confirmed to USA Today that the wraps came from Trader Joe's, a grocery chain. [22]

The FDA says naming them would not help, as the wraps were past their dates. [22]

The CDC, the US disease agency, estimates 26 unseen cases per 1 confirmed E. coli case. [22]

The FDA is now looking into a new Salmonella outbreak with 59 confirmed patients. [22]

A Listeria outbreak grew from 46 to 50 patients in a week. [22]

No food has been named in either new outbreak so far. [22]

Which foods caused the new Salmonella and Listeria outbreaks in the US.

No food has been named in either outbreak so far. [22]

A UN report on Thursday found 252 million hectares being restored across 149 countries. [20]

The FAO and UNEP, the UN's environment agency, helped publish it at a UN nature summit. [20]

The work has created more than 1 million green jobs, the report says. [20]

Asia holds 192.2 million hectares of it, Africa 36.3 million and Europe 9.1 million. [20]

Rivers and lakes have just 11 million hectares under repair, and seas and coasts 5.7 million. [20]

To meet the 2030 goals, yearly spending on restoration must more than quadruple, it says. [20]

A UN report found 252 million hectares of land and water being restored across 149 countries, work that has created more than a million green jobs.

Lactalis of France is still the world's biggest dairy company, with $40.2 billion in sales. [21]

Nestle is second, on $23.7 billion in dairy sales. [21]

Dairy Farmers of America, the biggest US dairy co-op, is third on $23.1 billion. [21]

The ranking comes from RaboResearch, which uses each firm's 2025 dairy sales. [21]

Arla, a Danish dairy company, rose to fourth after merging with Germany's DMK. [21]

Lactalis bought the consumer business of Fonterra, from New Zealand, adding about $3.4 billion. [21]

An analyst says one small purchase could lift Dairy Farmers of America past Nestle. [21]

Dairy is a shrinking share of Nestle's business, and it is shedding its ice cream. [21]

Buying Fonterra's consumer business added about $3.4 billion of sales and kept it the world's biggest dairy firm. [21]

The FDA launched a pilot on 27 October to speed approvals of drugs for food animals. [23]

Drug makers must prove tests can find drug traces in meat, milk, eggs and honey. [23]

Until now that proof usually needed trials across several labs, taking about 2 years. [23]

The pilot sorts test methods into 3 tiers by how risky they are. [23]

Methods close to ones the FDA and USDA already trust face fewer steps. [23]

The FDA says this could cut about 2 years from the food safety review. [23]

Joining the pilot is voluntary for drug makers. [23]

Why hunger is counted by how bad it is, not only by how many

Nearly 6 million Haitians face severe hunger, but not all equally

The IPC sorts people by how bad their hunger is

One count gives the size: 5.94 million in severe hunger

A smaller count gives the worst: 2 million at emergency level

Aid groups use the worst count to decide where to go first

Haiti's 5.94 million shows how big its hunger is. The 2 million at emergency level shows where help has to arrive first.

Two counts from the same Haiti report. The smaller bar is the group in the worst danger.

The FDA sorts test methods into three tiers by risk, so the ones like methods it already trusts get fewer checks and its reviewers spend their time on the risky ones.

A grade sorts people by need, but it does not bring food. In Haiti the World Food Programme still needs $78 million to keep going to March.

A farmer with nothing to harvest, an aid worker waiting days to get past a gang, and a donor deciding on $78 million each see only their own part of Haiti's hunger.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has set out a new strategy against PFAS. [24]

PFAS are man-made 'forever chemicals' that do not break down easily in soil and water. [24]

Sewage sludge spread as fertiliser has been linked to PFAS in US farm soil. [24]

From soil and water, the chemicals can get into crops and grazing animals, the USDA says. [24]

The plan funds research, including whether heating sludge into gas can deal with PFAS. [24]

The EPA gave no price for the plan. [24]

That risk falls on farmers whose fields got sludge, and on their crops and herds. [24]

US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed an order on Tuesday about livestock grazing on federal land. [25]

His agencies must put grazing first when handling requests for empty grazing plots. [25]

Grazing permits are to be renewed for full 10-year terms. [25]

The order also asks for a public map of land open to grazing. [25]

Offices must suggest changes to rules that limit grazing or protection from predators. [25]

Ranchers with federal permits are to get the full 10-year term when they renew. [25]

Burgum's order tells agencies to renew permits for full 10-year terms and to put grazing first on empty plots. [25]

A North Dakota judge struck down part of the law behind the state's beef promotion board. [25]

The law let 4 livestock groups alone name candidates for 6 of the board's 9 seats. [25]

Judge Jackson Lofgren said it 'singles out certain organizations' for a special right. [25]

The case was brought by the Ranchers Rights Initiative and 3 ranchers. [25]

He upheld a second rule on board members, saying it treats every producer alike. [25]

The 4 groups lose their sole right to put forward names for those 6 seats. [25]

The Green Climate Fund approved 2 projects worth $184.8 million in Algeria and Mexico. [26]

Its board approved them at a meeting in Songdo, South Korea. [26]

Algeria's project, the fund's first there, covers 6 provinces home to over half its nomads. [26]

Algeria's government pays 57% of the cost of that project. [26]

In Mexico, the fund rewards about 13 million tonnes of emissions cuts already made. [26]

The FAO, the UN's food agency, will oversee both projects. [26]

The money is for forests, damaged land and livestock farming across the two projects. [26]

The Green Climate Fund approved $184.8 million for forests, damaged land and livestock farming in Algeria and Mexico.

About 200 scientists are studying the sea around Madeira, a group of islands in the Atlantic. [27]

They compare the south of the Desertas Islands, where fishing is banned, with the north. [27]

Baited cameras film the fish 40 to 50 metres down in both areas. [27]