UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and U.S.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted a meeting in New York on global food security and strategies to combat ongoing food shortages in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Speaking at UN headquarters on Monday, Mr. Ban called the global food crisis “an issue that affects all of us because food security is about economic, environmental and national security for individual homelands and the world.”

For her part, Secretary Clinton argued that the crisis was ‘one of the most urgent threats facing our world,’  and pushed for the introduction of a comprehensive, coordinated approach to the problem focused as much on food production as on emergency aid to prevent famine.

With a world summit on food security set to take place in November, Mr. Ban and Ms. Clinton said new efforts to quell the crisis must assist small farmers with expertise to improve crop yields and improve infrastructure to get surplus produce to markets.

The State Department also posted this video about the causal factors, effects, and courses of action for combating the food crisis:

State Department - Global Food Security: U.S. Commitment to Action

Norman Borlaug, credited as the “Father of the Green Revolution,” passed away at age 95 on Saturday.  Borlaug, a plant pathologist, developed the use of high-yield wheat seeds  in the 1960’s, instantly impacting supply of food globally, but particularly in drought-stricken areas such as Mexico and India.

Borlaug’s contributions were cited by his many colleagues from humanitarian organizations dedicated to combating hunger.

‘No single person has contributed more to relieving world hunger than our friend, the late Norman Borlaug,’ said Rev. David Beckmann, president, Bread for the World. ‘Norman was truly the man who fed the world, saving up to a billion people from hunger and starvation.’

Reuters reported that, in recognition for his accomplishments he was “one of only five people to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal.”

The Washington Post summarized his career as “… defined on the one hand by the ability of science to increase food production at an exponential rate and on the other by the Malthusian nightmare of an exploding population outstripping its ability to feed itself.”  This sometimes led him to express the “politically incorrect view that environmentalists were hampering world food production by indiscriminately attacking the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.”

Mark Henderson reflects in the Times Online on Borlaug’s legacy and how the continuing problem of hunger might be confronted.  Read more about the World Food Prize, started by Borlaug’s foundation to advance “…human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.”

Natural phenomena are causing severe conditions in many countries around the world, causing and in some cases, exacerbating, food shortages that are affecting large populations.

The BBC reports that in Guatemala, President Alvaro Colom has sprung into action, declaring a “state of public calamity” and seeking to aid 54,000 Guatemalans whose access to food has been diminished by the effects of harsh weather on crops.  The World Food Programme is already assisting those in dire need and President Colom is opening up public funding for those affected to purchase food.

In Mexico, severe drought during the traditional “wet season,” suspected to be driven by atmospheric changes from “El Niño,” have hampered growing of corn, beans, barley and sorghum, as well as raising livestock.  According to the Los Angeles Times,

Farmers and officials say the impact, including lost earnings, unpaid debts and shortages of staple foods, could be felt well into next year.

‘Although no one wants to recognize it, there is a food crisis,’ said Cruz Lopez Aguilar, president of a national federation representing rural dwellers. He and others say increasing imports to make up for lost crops could raise food costs.

Mexican officials downplay the severity, saying lost production can be offset during the fall growing cycle, when crops are irrigated and rely less on direct rainfall. A federal government insurance program is meant to cover farmers affected by drought.

The monsoon cycle which typically irrigates India’s rice crops have appeared late this year, plunging half of India into drought and reducing crop forecasts by 20%.  The Indian government has reacted with a “stimulus package” to give farmers money for “short duration” crops, which can still take advantage of the late monsoon.

In a region where food supplies are already curtailed by conflict, East Africa has also suffered from sparse rainfall, causing drought that has affected Somalia and Kenya. According to the Toronto Star, “…7.5 million people [in Somalia]  need humanitarian aid and one in five children is malnourished.”  In Kenya, which has “suffered at least three consecutive droughts,” staple crops such as maize…are expected to shrink by 28 per cent from the yearly average.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set up a new registry for food and animal feed companies to report any instance of contamination in their facilities, reports The Wall Street Journal.  The incidence of several high profile cases of food-borne illness in the United States, especially in the last two years, have led the FDA to take a fresh look at their approach to preventing illnesses caused by contamination of food products.

The new electronic registry, which can be accessed through the FDA website, is meant to catch new instances of contamination before they enter the food supply, rather than waiting for reports of illness as the signal to inspect and recall contaminated food.  While the food industry now has an electronic registry and are required to report problems, consumers and retailers are still encouraged to call the FDA to identify instances of possible food-borne illness.