Initiatives to expand regulation of the food industries with the overall goal of increasing competition and commodity prices farmers receive often have the unintended consequence of raising consumer prices and lowering farmers’ prices while reducing the quality and variety of food products available to consumers.

The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 introduced many of the Farm Bill provisions that remain present today, including precursors to the current food and nutrition programs (FANPs). This policy served multiple purposes, including enhanced demand for farm products to alleviate low farm income and reduce agricultural surpluses, and enhanced food security and improved nutrition for the poor.

Philip G. Pardey of the University of Minnesota will explain why investment in R&D is so important for increasing agricultural productivity and keeping food prices low.

February and March were bad months for the Western presence in Afghanistan. First the accidental burning of the Quran and then a lone soldier’s massacre of Afghan civilians undercut U.S. efforts to win Afghan hearts and minds.

The average American would believe that the nation's need for substantial nuclear fuel, oil, natural gas, and coal will soon be a distant memory, based on the Obama administration's strident emphasis on developing "alternative" energy sources. The reality, however, is quite different.

Sadly, 43 years after CBS News ran a documentary called "Hunger in America" it could do a new version coming to the same, if not more dire and depressing, conclusions. Hunger is here, in a real and palpable way, exacerbated by our tough economic conditions and persistent unemployment, but worsened as well by the high cost of food, especially nutritious food.

By delaying retail foreign direct investment, the Indian government has protected the intermediary status quo, and ignored the plight of 500 million desperately poor Indians living on farms who have publicly voiced their support of allowing retail giants to enter the Indian market.

Knowing where all our ingredients come from is the first step toward improving drug quality.