Italian pork strike imminent! Get your prosciutto while you can!

You heard it here first! As of June 1, the pig farmers of Italy are going on strike. That puts Parma ham, prosciutto, and Piacenza pork neck salami, as well as other Italian pork products, under threat.

Wheat Falls to 9-Month Low as U.S. Starts Harvesting More Grain

May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat fell to the lowest price since August as farmers in parts of the U.S. begin harvesting what the government predicts will be the biggest winter crop in a decade.

South Korea to Resume U.S. Beef Imports Next Week

May 29 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea, the third-biggest buyer of U.S. beef before curbs were imposed because of mad-cow disease concerns, will resume imports of the meat after announcing today terms for re-opening the market.

World Bank offers $1.2bn food aid

The World Bank is to offer immediate financial help to countries worst hit by sharp rises in food prices as part of a $1.2bn (£608m) assistance package.

Great Culinary Podcasts

Starchefs.com now features culinary podcasts you can download. Great for when your on the train going to work!
Newest podcast features Chicago Chef Takashi Yagihashi as he covers the basics of sharpening Japanese-style knives and the right way to cut tuna and salmon sashimi from both filet and whole fish.

Podcasts can be downloaded here:
http://www.starchefs.com/podcasts/

-ChefCoster

Added Toronto Star Food section to RSS News Feeds section

http://www.chefcosting.com/News/

-ChefCoster

South Koreans take to street to protest against imports of U.S. beef

SEOUL, South Korea — South Koreans spooked by fears of mad cow disease took to the streets again Monday night to protest a beef import deal with the United States.

Slow Food USA Partners with LocalHarvest

Local Harvest is an easy-to-use site that helps consumers all over the country find the sustainable food in their area–that means farmers’ markets, family farms, CSAs, retailers who sell free range poultry, grass-fed beef purveyors, etc.

The next Kobe?

Japan to probe whale meat 'theft'

Stocks slide as Fed, oil fuel inflation worries

With oil and food prices surging, Fed officials seemed to have lost their appetite for more rate cuts, the minutes revealed.

U.S.D.A. forecasts a record world wheat crop of 656 million tonnes

The U.S.D.A. projected the 2008-09 world wheat crop to be 8% larger than that harvested in 2007-08. The department cautioned its forecasts were highly tentative given spring crops were only now being seeded

Dairy co-op faces investigations

The Kansas City-based dairy cooperative, the nation's largest, also faces antitrust lawsuits by farmers and retailers for allegedly conspiring to suppress prices it paid for raw milk in the Southeast, while raising prices to the region's retailers, according to The Journal.

Lemon production slow to recover from 2007 freeze

"After the freeze in January 2007, fresh lemon prices shot up 130% between January and February, and have remained above average, in the high $30 per 76-lb box through the remainder of the season," the U.S.D.A. said. "While prices have moderated from the peak ($48.04 per box in October 2007), they still are above last year’s freeze prices and about three to four times higher than during the 2005-06 season."

Tomato Prices

Tomatoes prices have followed in the footsteps of many other foodstock commodities such as wheat and corn for many of the same reasons: increasing prices for energy, farming chemicals, water, and labor have all contributed.

French truffles are in trouble

Said to have aphrodisiac properties, this fragile species is suffering from drought on Southern European farms and will continue to suffer if predicted temperature increases come to fruition.

Winemaker Robert Mondavi Dead at 94

BERKELEY, California (AP) -- Robert Mondavi, the pioneering vintner who put California wine country on the global map,

NEW NEWS FEEDS

Now you can scan the food sections from around the usa.

http://www.chefcosting.com/News/

If there are other newsfeeds you would like to see, please send me a message via the communicator.
Also, please feel free to use the communicator to leave instant feedback about the site.
Thank you,
ChefCoster

Paul Haeberlin, 3-Star Chef, Dies at 84

Paul Haeberlin, whose restaurant, the Auberge de l’Ill, has long been a shrine to classical French cuisine and has served as a training ground for such renowned chefs as Jean-Georges Vongerichten, died Saturday at his home in Illhaeusern, France. He was 84.

Working on new videos

Food Costing videos in production. Should be up in the next week or so.
Stay tuned.
Thanks for all the support on the site
-ChefCoster

Whole Foods reality check

Shares of Whole Foods Market Inc. got crushed at the open Wednesday, down 12% as the market digested its latest quarterly results.

Soybeans unchanged; hit one-month high earlier

Soybeans futures ended unchanged Wednesday after rising to the highest price in one month on expectations that farmers in Argentina, the world's third-largest soybeans exporter, may extend their strike.

Foie-gras ban lifted in Chicago

Warm up the saute pans, ice down the Sauternes and make ready the toasted brioche: Foie gras is back.

Strawberry season is here

Last week, my local produce market devoted an entire shelf of their display space to these pint boxes of fresh, local strawberries. They were selling for $3 a basket

Another reason to hate (or love) this chef

Chef Ramsay wants to fine restaurants for using out-of-season veggies

Media Statement: How Spiking Food Prices Impact Restaurants

(Washington, D.C.) The National Restaurant Association's Senior Vice President of Research and Information Services Hudson Riehle today made the following statement about how increasing wholesale food and commodity prices impact restaurants:

World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report

This report presents USDA's initial assessment of U.S. and world
crop supply and demand prospects and U.S. prices for the 2008/09
season.

WHEAT:

The 2008/09 U.S. wheat outlook is for higher
production, lower exports, and increased domestic use.
Total production is projected at 2.4 billion bushels, up 16
percent from 2007/08.  The survey-based forecast of winter
wheat production is up 17 percent as area and yield are
higher than last year.  Spring wheat production is expected
higher with seeded area up 10 percent in the March 31
Prospective Plantings report.  Durum and other spring
wheat production is projected at 614 million bushels, up 12
percent from 2007/08, based on 10-year harvested-to-
planted ratios and trend yields.  Total wheat supplies are
projected up only 4 percent because of historically low
carryin.

Total wheat use is projected down 5 percent for 2008/09 as
lower exports more than offset increased domestic use.
Food use is projected at 960 million bushels, up 10 million
from the current year reflecting steady growth in domestic
demand.  Feed and residual use is projected at 230 million
bushels, up sharply from the 60 million projected for
2007/08.  Larger supplies of soft red winter wheat and
higher corn prices boost wheat feeding.  Exports are
projected at 975 million bushels, down 24 percent from
2007/08.  Ending stocks for 2008/09 are projected at 483
million bushels, more than double the current year's
projected 239 million.  The national average farm price for
2008/09 is projected at $6.60 to $8.10 per bushel,
compared with the current year forecast of a record $6.55
per bushel.  Wheat prices will be supported by farmer
forward sales and early season export demand.

Global wheat production for 2008/09 is projected at a record
656 million tons, up 8 percent from 2007/08, and up 5
percent from the previous record in 2004/05.  Higher
production is projected for most of the world's major
exporting countries including Australia, Canada, EU-27,
Russia, and Ukraine.  Strong world prices and favorable
weather in most of EU-27 and FSU-12 raised production for
2008.  Production is also projected higher in Brazil, China,
and India.  Partly offsetting are reductions for Argentina and
Kazahkstan.  The only significant weather problems for
winter wheat remain in drought-stricken Middle East and
North Africa countries.

World wheat imports, exports, and consumption are
projected higher for 2008/09.  Imports are generally
projected higher throughout the world with EU-27 the major
exception.  Imports are expected to fall sharply for EU-27 as
wheat production rebounds from weather-reduced crops in
the 2 previous years.  EU-27 exports and wheat feeding are
expected to rise sharply.  World wheat ending stocks are
projected at 124 million tons, up 13 percent from the current
year's projection.

U.S. Wheat Farmers Not Counting Bushels Yet; Eyes on Weather

“It all depends on June,” said the 67-year-old Shields, who has been farming near Lindsborg, Kansas, more than 40 years.

If hot and dry weather settles into the U.S. Heartland as the newly emerging hard red winter wheat crop moves into the crucial grain filling period of development, kernels will likely shrivel and yield potential could shrink. But if mild conditions continue, the new crop could be a bin buster.

Free Markets and Food Markets: The Ugly

The food crisis is bad, and getting worse. The Washington Post calls it “the worst food crisis sine the 1970’s,” and both they and the New York Times have series on the jump in food prices.

What foods are endangered?

This book offers the first ever list of foods at risk in America.
Just ordered it and looking forward to reviewing it.
Supported by slow food

Momofuku Ko NYC

Here is the link if you want to try!

https://reservations.momofuku.com/

Best of luck. Be strong. Be forewarned.

You can’t fixate on a specific night. You can’t fixate on a specific hour. You must have patience, an efficient computer and nimble, fast-moving fingers, because the way to grab one of the 12 coveted seats is to click-submit a reservation request at precisely 10 a.m. precisely six days before you aspire to dine there and then hope against hope and dream against dream and promise the cyberspace gods your firstborn male child if they speed your electronic wish to Ko before all the other electronic wishes get there.

We're Number 1! North Americans least green in world

The study, conducted for the National Geographic Society, asked people in 14 countries about their lifestyles, including questions on housing, food, and transport, and then gave them a green score on a scale of one to a hundred.

Win 2lbs of morel mushrooms - $113.50 value

Got a magnificent mushroom recipe?

Email response from King Arthur Flour about the types of wheat they use

Thank you for your email. Our Flour Sales Support team has responded as follows:

There are three main wheat boards: Minneapolis (Hard Red Spring Wheat,
which is used in our Bread, Whole Wheat), Kansas (Hard Red Winter Wheat
which is used in our All Purpose Flour) and Chicago (Soft Red Wheat,
which is used for pastry and cake flour). Our White Whole Wheat is
Hard White Spring Wheat, but for pricing purposes our contacts use the
Hard Red Spring Minneapolis Board. The two most influential boards seem
to be Chicago and Kansas, due to volume. Minneapolis is the smallest
board due to the fact that they have the smallest volume of wheat. Many
factors affect price; amount of wheat available, overall money being
poured into commodities (like wheat, corn, soybeans, oil, silver, etc.),
a weak dollar compared to the rest of the world (making our products
less expensive to other countries).

Panera Bread Company (PNRA): Share price defines bullish 'flag' consolidation

Benefiting from the price drop of flour

One of America's Leading Chefs

A Man of Taste

Rising food prices begin to impact school lunches

Some districts are cutting staff in order to make ends meet and others are foregoing pricey items like the ever-popular baby carrots and replacing fresh veggies with frozen.

Sara Lee (SLE) gets hit by volatile commodity prices

Shares of consumer goods giant Sara Lee (NYSE: SLE) have been taking a beating today after the company failed to meet analyst estimates for its fiscal third quarter.

The Lost Supermarket: A Breed in Need of Replenishment

A continuing decline in the number of neighborhood supermarkets has made it harder for millions of New Yorkers to find fresh and affordable food within walking distance of their homes, according to a recent city study.

Sara Lee raises prices. Sees profits

Sara Lee posts profit, trims full-year forecast

India may impose a ban on trading in food futures

India is reportedly considering a ban on futures trading in food commodities, as the government struggles to curb soaring inflation and the rising cost of food has become a major international concern.

India has already banned futures trading in rice and wheat.

This is the whole reason for this site. Futures trading dictates our food prices which directly affects what we pay in the restaurant. - chefcoster

Watch out for Butter

Butter trading up to 1.42 per pound.
I am currently paying 1.99 per pound.
Could butter go up soon?
Stochastics looking seriously oversold

What King Arthur Flour is doing to keep the cost of flour down

Letter from Tod Bramble regarding the rapidly increasing cost of flour

US wheat, soy, rice rally as fund buying resumes

CHICAGO, May 2 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat, soybean and rice futures rose on Friday, tracking a rally in crude oil as recession fears eased and investors returned to commodities, traders said.

Wheat, soybean futures fall on stronger dollar, crude slides

Wheat and soybean futures fell sharply Thursday, driven lower by a stronger dollar that prompted investors to sell hard assets. Corn futures rose.

Bush calls for $770 million in food aid

Asks Congress to approve package to alleviate food shortages

A Run on Rice in Asian Communities

“Thirty-three years I’ve been living here, and I’ve never seen the price like that,”