While this blog isn't devoted to survival, emergency preparedness, or "Prepping" the reality is that learning the skills I'm trying to learn, as well as pass on to others, is essential for these tasks as well. Over the last few years we've seen a number of things happen that have shown us the weaknesses in our supply chains as well as our food systems. The toilet paper shortage, baby formula shortage, iceberg lettuce shortage, tinned carrot shortage, diet coke shortage, corn shortage, broccoli shortage, and many more over the last few years have demonstrated very clearly we have a problem. Unfortunately as usual politicians have all come to the wrong conclusions about how to fix these issues. For example from what I have seen there are currently 1,137,919 families signed up for food stamps. But the new budget for the SNAP program is $111,200,000,000[1]. 111.2 Billion dollars is excessive. If we gave each family $85,000 to buy land, equipment, livestock, or training on how to grow at least some of their own food we would save almost 14.5 Billion dollars just this year alone.
I'm not an investigative reporter nor do I have the desire to become one. However, I would like to present you with some information that hopefully will illustrate why its so important for everyone to start learning how to harvest the multitude of wonderful food options available in nature. Frankly I also suggest learning how to garden when possible, but there are many far better resources to learn how to do that already.
The Diesel Shortage
There is currently a global shortage of diesel fuel partially due to the war in Ukraine. However there are other reasons for it as well. As you can see from the videos below the shortage and increased cost of diesel is an ongoing issue not just for truckers and people trying to heat their homes. All of these things combine to mean higher prices for everything we buy including food. But in most of the industrialized world most of the farm equipment uses diesel fuel as well. With a global shortage as well as increase in price that means it will be more difficult for farmers to operate.
The Fertilizer Shortage
Since diesel is one of the components used in manufacturing modern fertilizer that is also one of the many reasons we are experiencing a global fertilizer shortage. In the video below Svein Tore Holsether CEO of Yara International one of the world's largest producers of fertilizer discusses many of the issues behind the shortage as well as some of the ramifications, which will certainly include smaller crop yields world wide.
Lower Crop Yields
The fact that many of the world's staple foods are having lower crop yields is a massive problem. In fact not only has the USDA shown lower yields here in the US between their September[2] projections and December harvests, they are projecting many other countries as well will have lower yields. Some of the causes are natural disasters and war, or as is the case here in the U.S. drought is wreaking havoc on crops in Argentina[3]. In addition there is also a move by many farmers in several countries to move away from grain and other food staples to more profitable crops which will lower the total amount of food grown for years to come.
The War in Ukraine
Of course we can't ignore the 800 pound gorilla in the room when talking about crops. Ukraine and Russia are 2 of the largest food exporters in the world. Since neither of them is able to export their crops due to the war that is going to lead to a massive shortage in available food not just this year but for years to come.
Holland
But there are other issues with some of the big food growers of the world, issues that again will have an immense impact on the future of food for the planet. Holland is just one example of how things are starting to play out. If the government there gets what they want it will lead to far fewer crops and far less meat available in stores. Below are just a few articles that explore this issue.
Conclusion
The Global Hunger index published by Concern World Wide in October 2022 shows that world hunger is on the rise. That will not change in the near future as long as people in general depend on current systems and supply chains. It is beyond past time for all of us to take more responsibility for providing our own food as much as possible. That means we need to be spending time in our gardens and in nature harvesting fresh wild edibles. All organic, chemical free, non GMO, sustainably sourced wild edibles, fish, and wild game must become part of our daily lives.
There is a multitude of more information available for anyone who really wants to dig into this issue, but the answer is the same. We cannot depend on any government or charity to help us. The problem is simply too big for any organization or even group of organizations to handle. There just aren't enough resources available to governments or charities to provide good nutritious meals to everyone who needs one. They do help and I for one am glad they are out there working so hard to help the people that need it, but each of us must also do our part to help ourselves.
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