hunger games

“World's most expensive hot dog: $2,300.00" — Daily Mail

“[…] we dive out of need, in the light of day, and we are not alone. Since even seasoned scrappers and dumpster divers are often reluctant to pick up food, I never thought I would see the day when there was great competition for discarded food in the United States, but that is exactly what we have observed.
     Last year we joked about eating out of dumpsters and about how much we hate it when people actually put garbage into a dumpster. We asked ourselves why we had waited so long. This year, it is no longer a joke. Our competition is varied, clean and extremely thorough. We have directly observed people picking up food in the middle of the day, and we have varied our routine and reduced our food choices accordingly.”
— Crane-Station,  firedoglake
Read more…

“A flight on Jet Edge International costs $67,000 on average, and the company also charges a $2,000 refundable pet deposit in case of accidents on board. The average net worth of the company’s customers is $1 billion, according to Chief Executive Officer Bill Papariella.
     Letting animals tag along is ‘one of the main reasons why people will fly private,’ Papariella said in an interview. ‘They don’t want to go to Aspen or their holiday or to their second home without their pets being on board.’
     For those with means, a charter flight or a jet with fractional ownership is an attractive alternative to airlines’ limits on carry-on kennels or the risks of sending a crated pet in the hold. It’s a niche market that can include handmade dog snacks — a $1,000 Kobe beef snack or rice pilaf with salmon — special attendants and even solo flights without an animal’s owner.”
— Joanna Rothkopf, Salon
Read more…

“Facing what it described as a severe cash shortfall, the United Nations food aid organization said Monday that it had been forced to suspend a voucher program that was helping to feed 1.7 million Syrian refugees in neighboring countries.
     The suspension by the organization, the World Food Program, was one of the most drastic cutbacks ever by an emergency relief provider in the nearly 4-year-old Syrian crisis, raising the prospect of widespread hunger at the onset of winter.”
— Nick Cumming-Bruce and Rick Gadstone, The Globe and Mail
Read more…