Food banks - buying farms?

Here is an interesting link to a story how food banks are coping with increased demand. From AP:

The number of people going to Feeding America's food banks nationwide increased 18 percent between 1997 and 2005 to more than 25 million. A more recent figure was not available.

The nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization, Feeding America said some distribution centers in California, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio recently reported a 30 percent to 40 percent surge in demand from a year ago, Fraser said.

But supply is not keeping pace.

Over the past decade, food banks have seen a steady drop in donated packaged foods from manufacturers and grocery stores -- historically their biggest givers -- in part because industry has become better at forecasting consumer demand. The trend has been compounded by recession and higher food costs, prompting supermarkets to get more aggressive about selling any surpluses to low-cost food stores and other secondary markets

UK retail market report - USDA FAS

Here is a hot off the press USDA FAS report on the UK retail sector:

From the summary:

This report is a Market Brief providing information about the leading UK supermarket chains: Tesco, Asda/Wal-Mart, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose, Marks and Spencers, Whole Foods Market, Aldi and Lidl. This report gives an overview of the trading styles, and target customers of each retailer, as well as contact details for their head office.

This report doesn't overpromise. It delivers exactly what it describes.

Fresh Talk poll #64

Readers share several worries about the recession, the latest Fresh Talk poll reveals.


What's your biggest concern about the recession?

Changing consumer buying patterns - trading down	5 (41%)
Slow pay from buyers	3 (25%)
Finding financing for operations/innovation	4 (33%)

Votes so far: 12
Poll closed

Retail report - Dec. 12

Here is the summary of the National Retail Report of Dec. 12:

Retailers this week were once again focused on the upcoming holiday season. Generally, the most prevalent ads were seen on meat and grocery items. In fact, hams were the focal point of many front page ads and were surrounded by many holiday items – most often seen were seasonal citrus, especially Clementines, grapes, and a wide variety of nuts. Overall total produce ads were up 6% from the previous week. Fruit ads were up 12% while features for vegetables were down 2%. Major increases in ad activity were seen on imported fruit such as cantaloupes from Guatemala, Clementines from Spain and Morocco, cherries, and pineapples. Also on fruit, a seasonal switch in pears could be seen as Bartlett ads decreased and D’Anjou ads increased. Russet potato ads on 5 lb bags more than doubled compared to the previous
week.