Gates Foundation Donates $ 120 M Dollars To Change Paradigm for Allelviating World Hunger
I covered Keynote speaker Bill Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation today at the World Food Prize Symposium announcing his foundation will be donating $ 120 Million to support the worlds poorest farmers with new agricultural grants. He said. 'How do you help those people who live on less then $1 / day. Helping the

Food Security: Two world Outlooks, A World Apart
This week I attended two main conferences: The World Food Prize (WFP), and 'From Commodity to Community', the 13th Annual Community Food Security Conference (CFSC), with a buffer conference between them the Third Iowa Hunger Summit (IHS). (#foodprize, #csfc) I saw two movements unfortunately a WORLD APART. The first, the CFSC, was attended by 800 passionate activists. Seventy percent of them in their 20's, dungaree and tee shirt wearing, with a passion and energy level that was exhilarating. The second, the WFP, was attended by 950 gray haired, three piece suited, corporate or governmental officials. The sessions were educational, stimulating with a call to action clearly stated. Wha

Sustainable Food Conference, An Eye Opening: Hope for the Future.
I was at first shocked and surprised then encouraged by the distribution of attendees at the Food Security Conference. This week in Des Moines is a series of three international food conferences. The first one 'From Commodity to Community' the 13th Annual Community Food Security Conference, began Saturday 10/10 and will run through Tuesday 10/13. The first day was taken up with field trips to see the state of agriculture in Iowa. Today began with everyone at a breakfast plenary session setting the tone for the conference. But that is not what this first blog is about.What I noticed, and as I interviewed many people, I found I wasn't the only one to notice, was tha

IOWA BOARD OF PHARMACY LIKELY TO RECOMMEND LEGALIZING MEDICAL MARIJUANA
I didn't write this. It is from Iowapolitics.com. However, I post it as follow-up on my previous posts on this. This is the only rational move.I was at the first of the Boards public hearing and testified. The patients (none of whom I would label as Pot heads were so compelling there were times I saw tears in the eyes of the Bo9ard members.Below is the news story.Iowa is moving a step closer to legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana.The chairman of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy told IowaPolitics.com that if p

Hospitals in for $200 Billion Windfall Profits per Year from Health Reform.
I am amazed at the low profile the AHA (American Hospital Association) has been taking in the debate over health care reform. Think back you have heard and seen ads from every other sector but Hospitals, yet hospitals are 31% of the cost of medical care in the USA. Why have they been so quiet? Maybe they have a good reason to take a low profile. Maybe they don't want politicians and the public to realize they will be in for as much as $100-200 billion dollar windfall profits.When you examine a major change think about who are the biggest losers and winners both before and after the change. This will help you understand the rhetoric or lack of it. Currently the ho