This has no Food Processing but focusses in detail on the small scale management of cereals giving details information on spoilage, treatment, storage equipment and storage practices.
It is a well illustrated book that is aimed at the extension worker.
This is the title of a petition launched by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FA0).
I totally agree with this – it’s particularly disturbing if you think of how we “over consume” and waste food. So I have signed the petition and am suggesting you to do the same by visiting www.1billionhungry.org/digivuza/ – log in, enter a few details and click the send button (you don’t even have to watch the video) its that easy.
You are NOT going to have 20 years of bad luck if you don’t do this nor get rich if you do! Just give it a thought and do what you think is right. FAO will present the petition to governments who will hopefully take note and action!
If you are interested in some of the background on the “waste and over consumption” I refer to, have a look at some of the stuff I have posted on the issue below.
Once you sign, you will be given a personal link that you can share with friends and family, and a personal impact map that shows how your message spreads around the globe. Share your personal link with as many people as possible. Come back often to check your personal impact map and witness the power of your social network. Thanks very much for joining me in this. It’s time we let politicians know that the status quo — 1 billion hungry people — is unacceptable.
This is so simple but so powerful its sad its taken so long to happen and is the exception rather than the practice.
For years we have known and seen in reports and comments lately that the food aid is as much a mechanism for selling excess crops produced with farming subsidies and transporting it halfway around the world as feeding starving people.
In Timor-Leste the World Food Programme has worked with coffe exporter and government to modify a coffee factory into a processing facility producing corn soya blend (CSB) for the feeding of undernourished mothers and children.
The article goes through the difficulties such as introducing a quality structure, sourcing equipment, supporting farmers. However, the plant now produced 200 tons a year which meets a substantial part of the needs.
This study in the African Journal of Nutrition, Agriculture and Development (AJFAND), clearly shows, as would be expected, the loss in Vitamin A and C was the highest, while the crude protein content measured by a Kjeldahl method fell more than the minerals and fibre which one would not expect to be directly effected by drying.
I would have liked to have seen a bit more on the heat sensitive components of the three Amaranthus varieties used as feed and some mass balances to compare the degree of drying with the nutrient changes.
It is also interesting to note that AJFAND is a free online journal and that is edited by Professor Ruth Oniang’o. A few of the other articles that caught my eye were.
Professor Peter Fellows has been appointed Editor for the relaunch of Food Chain by Practical Action, previously ITDG. The journal is described as an international journal of small-scale food processing and food supply management.
What are the recent developments in small-scale food processing?
Where is small-scale food processing heading (national or regional trends)
Raw material supplies
How to ensure consistent quality and reliable deliveries of raw materials.
Processing equipment/technology transfer
The relative cost/benefits of investment in new equipment or employing additional staff.
Is it better to have equipment made by local engineers or to import it?
Research and development of low-cost or appropriate processing equipment.
Achievements and obstacles to the transfer of novel processing technologies to small-scale producers.
Packaging supplies
What can be done to improve the variety of available packaging and reduce the costs? Experiences of new packaging that have assisted marketing and improved the sales of foods from small-scale processors.
Research and development into low-cost packaging, recycling and re-use of packaging, and/or biodegradable packaging.
Development of low-cost packaging machinery.
Quality assurance/food legislation
Research and development of simple, low-cost analytical methods.
Needs of small-scale processors for further research into food analysis and quality assurance methods.
Experiences of the application of quality assurance systems, including HACCP and ISO 9000 or 22 000, in small-scale food processing.
The effect of supermarket growth on quality standards required from small-scale producers.
How can small-scale producers meet national and international quality standards, and comply with food regulations or buyer standards for food quality and food safety?
Environmental impacts
Methods or experiences of re-using of waste materials, research and development in waste disposal to reduce environmental impacts.
Research and development into reducing energy consumption in food processing, alternative low-energy equipment, experiences of reducing the total energy load of small-scale businesses.
Distribution, sales and marketing
Research or experiences of novel methods to reach customers using printed materials, radio or TV media, the Internet, exhibitions and trade fairs.
Is it better to sell locally or to export? – experiences of sales to multi-national companies, fair trade organisations, food relief operations, local wholesalers or supermarkets, and directly to local consumers.
The effect of supermarkets on suppressing or stimulating local small-scale food processing.
Research and development or experiences of novel food distribution methods that reduce energy consumption, maintain food quality or better meet customers’ needs.
Getting involved in global value chains – is there a role for small-scale producers and what are the risks and benefits?
Financial and business management
Development of simple methods for financial management or business planning, and experiences of applying the methods.
The future role of banks and other lending agencies in financing small-scale food enterprises.
Training/staff development
Developments in food processing training – new methods and novel training materials.
Experiences of retaining staff, improving staff welfare and benefits.
The role of workers in achieving a successful small enterprise.
Another different practice that adds to the concern over the fact that many go hungry while the rich indulge!
In a time when severe food shortages are threatening sub saharan Africa, this is a read desperate story.
Some 300 000 bags of aflatoxin contaminated maize are expected to be bought from farmers in Kenya. This is necessary to protect consumers from the short and longer term toxic effects of aflatoxin.
The contamination of the maize was apparently a result of insufficient drying along with poor harvesting and storage practices.
A pity that food has to go to waste when the technology to minimise the risk is simple, cheap and available, so long as on the field drying is not made impossible by the weather.
The work in the United Kindom on waste in the food system has lead to an intriguing, data rich report which is available on the WRAP website.
Taking the information of how much food is wasted from this report, with the post on excessively nutritious foods and Michele Obama’s work with the the food industry to reduce the energy content in the food they sell together surely indicates a process that should start to redistribute calories.
Maybe some more about this in future posts.
This is not an organic food processing book that aims to get businesses into Organic Production. It is however a complete book on Organic business that will give the Food Processor a very good background if they are trying to bring organic into their business.
The complete book covers a range of topics including:
A nice overview of the complete value chain of organic food which does have a small section on food processing of organic foods is presented in “From field to market”. This will give the food processor a good overview.
Two weeks after the end of the 2010 World Cup, Johannesburg hosts the annual conglomeration of Food Processing exhibitions. This minimizes transport costs and allows attendance at seven exhibitions in a week.
Last year the exhibition which displayed the wares of 401 exhibitors from 39 countries was visited by almost 12 000 visitors from 45 countries.
