Good morning Qcity! It's Hump Day, and it's going to be a rainy one in Charlotte. Today, the weatherman is calling for overcast with showers at times and a high around 69°. Overnight lows will be in the mid 40s. 

Here's what's brewing in the news:

Concern growing over the rising cost of food

All over the world, from China to India to the Middle East, people are worried about the price of food and for good reason. According to data from the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, or the FAO, the price of basic food staples - wheat, rice, sugar, meat - has reached an all-time high this year, and experts say it’s going to get worse.

In poor countries, the price for basic food products increased by 20 percent in 2010 from the previous year. Here in the United States, even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich costs more. Peanut prices doubled this year.

The FAO published a report this week called Food Insecurity in the World. It warns that "high and volatile food prices are widely expected to continue in the future." 

As part of the solution, the FAO report suggests policies geared at reducing food prices through increasing productivity. Other suggestions include improving market information systems and investing in agro-research, which can produce more genetically modified
foods.
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Study: vitamin linked to cancer risk

Vitamin E was once thought to reduce the risk of prostate cancer in men, but it may actually have the adverse effect, according to a recent study. Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer in American men. They have a 16 percent risk of being diagnosed with the disease during their lifetime. NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) recently helped to fund the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) to investigate early research suggesting that selenium or vitamin E might reduce a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer. The national study, which began in 2001 and included over 35,000 men, found that men who took 400 international units (I.U.) of vitamin E daily had more prostate cancers than men who took a placebo. Researchers don’t know why. (Read more)
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Elder porn is in demand in Japan

Japan has one of the most sexless societies in the industrialized world, according to surveys conducted by organizations ranging from the World Health Organization to the condom maker Durex. A WHO report released earlier this year, found that 25 percent of married couples in Japan had not made love in the previous year, while 38 percent of couples in their 50s no longer had sex at all. Meanwhile, the country’s demand for pornography is surging, and Time Magazines is reporting that one of the fastest-growing segments in the billion-dollar adult video industry is “elder porn.” In a recent article, the magazine profiled the double life of Shigeo Tokudo - a 74 year old who says his wife and daughter have no idea that he has appeared in about 350 adult films in the past 14 years. (Read more)

*** What's brewing on your mind this morning? Speak out in the comment section below.

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