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| Food Shortages Soon Come – What To Do? |
| 2022-03-18 |
| [American Thinker] A concatenation of events is dropping on us like an imploding building and there’s not much we can do to stop it. However, we can mitigate some of the potential damage through our individual efforts and need to get started now. But first, one bit of good news. H. Douglas Lightfoot and Gerald Ratzer have published a paper, "The Sun Versus CO2 as the Cause of Climate Change Projected to 2050," that thrashes the IPCC’s global warming model. However, the paper also kicks off this food shortage discussion. The authors say the earth "is now in the early stages of cooling that might be similar to the Dalton Minimum and last for three or four decades. Average temperatures can drop by up to 1.5 degrees C and increase the rate of crop failures that have already started. It won’t be easy to maintain the benefits of the recent warm phase of the Sun during the upcoming solar minimum." That’s 2.7 degrees F, and significant. Lightfoot and Ratzer confirm that we’ve already entered the Modern Grand Solar Minimum (GSM) and that negative impacts on crops are already occurring. We’ve seen harvest shortfalls in a variety of crops around the world over the past couple of seasons. Coupled with these shortfalls, a few countries have limited or halted exports of staple products, mostly grains and legumes. For two years and continuing until today, there have been interruptions in commodities for sale. A number of factors contribute to this stuttering availability of commercial goods. Labor shortages in picking, packing, processing, and transportation led to gaps on some grocery shelves. Delayed imports of raw materials for canning, bottling, and bagging due to shutdowns in countries of origin will likely continue, especially now that China is locking down whole cities again. Because of recent crop failures and lackluster harvests, many regional grocery warehouses, which usually have about 18 months’ worth of packaged and frozen food in stock, are practically empty according to a friend whose family owns a large chain of stores. Low stocks of livestock feed and hay due to drought are reducing meat, poultry, milk, and egg production in some areas. Monica Showalter’s excellent article the other day—Biden is about to get caught flat-footed on another crisis: Ukraine war—generated global food shortages— examines the impact that Russia’s war on Ukraine is having and is expected to have on global grain and fertilizer availability, as well as food production. Besides the drought hitting the mid-plains and potentially causing the abandonment of this year’s winter wheat (that’s for flour) crop, the La Niña system is expected to bring above-average rains to the eastern and southeastern parts of the US, potentially delaying planting and harvest. If California continues to value a practically nonexistent smelt over its people, there will be little water for the Sacramento-area rice farmers. They’ve already pulled down avocado and almond orchards due to restricted water allocations elsewhere in the state. Farmers are being hit hard by shortages and skyrocketing inflation, just like the rest of us. Anhydrous ammonia, used to fertilize most grain and many row crops, has had a massive jump in price from $487 per ton in 2020, to $746 in 2021, to a record-breaking $1,492 per ton the first week of February this year. Demand for fertilizer is expected to grow, but high prices in Europe for natural gas (from which the fertilizer is made) caused a slowdown in manufacturing last winter. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #15 Recycled liposuction waste. Yum! |
| Posted by: Anomalous Sources 2022-03-18 16:58 |
| #14 That attitude must end. The Chinese are deep in farmland ownership as well as food processing and production (Smithfield for example) and that kind of acquisition must stop. I would agree. The food supply must be seen as a strategic resource. We need to keep it stable as the US withdraws from being the world police. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2022-03-18 15:12 |
| #13 Well, obesity is sorta hard to hide. Treat overeaters like Liewatha's profiteering hoarder corporate swine and the food situation improves immediately. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2022-03-18 13:21 |
| #12 Food sovereignty must be a real consideration for the US. We have been a source of food for much fo the world and have been blessed with such abundance that it has ceased to even be a thought in public policy. That attitude must end. The Chinese are deep in farmland ownership as well as food processing and production (Smithfield for example) and that kind of acquisition must stop. Consider the OPEC model and the power it provides, as well as our moral obligation to our fellow citizens and our children. |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2022-03-18 12:47 |
| #11 There would have been continual food distribution problems this year regardless due to the same issues we had late last year. This is new and above with this war. Fertilizer will either be very pricy or just not available, wheat from Russia and Ukraine that normally goes to the middle east will be in very short supply, energy disruption will cause transport costs to go up for everything and China will continue to hoover up all the food it can to rebuild its swine herd and feed its people as it has a food shortage from the floods last year. Global famine for most 3rd world countries that import their food is guaranteed with much higher costs everywhere else. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2022-03-18 11:33 |
| #10 am also finding more and more items on shelves with closely approaching Best By or Use By dates. While strangely, I have the same item already home with further out dates? Hypothesis: In the past wholesale warehouses culled product that was close to expiration or Best By date, eating the loss, selling to dollar stores, or donating to nearby food banks. But now that supply is so tight, they’re selling that stock to retailers, giving the supply chain a little breathing room. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2022-03-18 10:50 |
| #9 If you know anyone with livestock, especially horses, they owners are very happy to have you come help muck out stalls in return for manure. It's great fertilizer. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2022-03-18 09:11 |
| #8 Ration cards will come "Do your duty by doing without. Send your sons (not ours) to die in our overseas war" |
| Posted by: Clem Angerelet5801 2022-03-18 08:43 |
| #7 TO COME? While documenting large price increases and hidden reduced package size adjustments. I have been also noting and taking Cell Ph. pic's of empty food shelves and freezers in too many Big Box stores. I am also finding more and more items on shelves with closely approaching Best By or Use By dates. While strangely, I have the same item already home with further out dates? But either way, we have seen various item shortages since the start of the Pandemic (TP, Masks, Hand cleaners and etc.) Now stores cannot get rid of their stock of these even with drastic price cuts. HOWEVER FOOD Was not a major problem for our neck of the woods until around early Aug./Sept. of 2021. Then we started noticing longer outages of more and more items with large price increases when found in stock. BTW: From the "SEEING IS BELIEVING" world versus media hype. The Pepsico owned & WOKEN Pearl Milling Company brand is in plentiful supply???? Either they have ramped up extra production, or a lot of consumers are avoiding it because of the way they played Political WOKE with the people that once purchased their products. |
| Posted by: NN2N1 2022-03-18 08:41 |
| #6 Good to see these ideas presented. Seeing a garden in sandy area I asked owner to show me. He pulled a six inch carrot out of the soil with ease. No digging. Why? Soil is so sandy he had to add sawdust to hold moisture. I did the same in my patch by adding coffee grounds and several bags of sand. Lose soil helps roots to grow and soil is spongy not compacted as was previously with clay soil. Cinders from coal ash does the same and blackens the soil and crops do marvelously well. Worms love these light soils as well. |
| Posted by: Dale 2022-03-18 08:34 |
| #5 Fears of 'massive' supply chain problems and shortages of cheese and croissants [Britain] |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2022-03-18 07:14 |
| #4 https://www.thespruce.com/make-your-own-fertilizer-1388159 |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2022-03-18 06:21 |
| #3 For you gardeners out there, here are some cheap alternatives to store bought fertilizers for your flowers and veggies. Way better than buying bags at Home Depot. Time to resurrect the Victory Garden concept. https://www.thespruce.com/make-your-own-fertilizer-1388159 |
| Posted by: Warthog 2022-03-18 06:14 |
| #2 "A concatenation of events is dropping on us like an imploding building and there’s not much we can do to stop it." Not events but deliberate policies. The sanctions are causing fertilizer and food shortages already and need to be stopped |
| Posted by: Vernal Hupineter2623 2022-03-18 03:32 |
| #1 Jenny Craig deliveries, don't fail me now. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2022-03-18 02:25 |