1 April 2008
Seven Lean Years?
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: Emergency Preparation; World Affairs .
Two of our readers sent the following article to me so I thought I should pull my head out of sand, show some courage and post it. Thanks (maybe) to Edward Elsberry and Peter Anderson for keeping my feet to the fire. I have been reading about this and feeling reluctant to be gloom and doom but we do need to keep on top of personal preparations. I am only sharing a small portion of the article. The information about GMO and the wheat seed patents may be a bit much for some of our readers so for those who are interested, they can follow the link and read more.
WHY FOOD PRICES WILL GO THROUGH
THE ROOF IN COMING MONTHS
by F. William Engdahl
March 31, 2008
A deadly fungus, known as Ug99, which kills wheat, has likely spread to Pakistan from Africa according to reports. If true, that threatens the vital Asian Bread Basket including the Punjab region. The spread of the deadly virus, stem rust, against which an effective fungicide does not exist, comes as world grain stocks reach the lowest in four decades and government subsidized bio-ethanol production, especially in the USA, Brazil and EU are taking land out of food production at alarming rates. The deadly fungus is being used by Monsanto and the US Government to spread patented GMO seeds.
Stem rust is the worst of three rusts that afflict wheat plants. The fungus grows primarily in the stems, plugging the vascular system so carbohydrates can’t get from the leaves to the grain, which shrivels. Ug99 is a race of stem rust that blocks the vascular tissues in cereal grains including wheat, oats and barley. Unlike other rusts that may reduce crop yields, Ug99-infected plants may suffer up to 100 percent loss.
In the 1950s, the last major outbreak destroyed 40% of the spring wheat crop in North America. At that time governments started a major effort to breed resistant wheat plants, led by Norman Borlaug of the Rockefeller Foundation. That was the misnamed Green Revolution. The result today is far fewer varieties of wheat that might resist such a new fungus outbreak…
The FAO warns that the explosive growth in acreage used to grow fuels and not food in the past three years is dramatically changing the outlook for food supply globally and forcing food prices sharply higher for all foods from cereals to sugar to meat and dairy products. The use of cereals, sugar, oilseeds and vegetable oils to satisfy the needs of a rapidly increasing bio-fuel industry, is one of the main drivers, most especially the large volumes of maize in the US, wheat and rapeseed in the EU and sugar in Brazil for ethanol and bio-diesel production. This is already causing dramatically higher crop prices, higher feed costs and sharply higher prices for livestock products.
Ironically, the current bio-ethanol industry is being driven by US government subsidies and a scientifically false argument in the EU and USA that bio-ethanol is less harmful to the environment than petroleum fuels and can reduce CO2 emissions. The arguments have been demonstrated in every respect to be false. The huge expansion of global acreage now planted to produce bio-fuels is creating ecological problems and demanding use of far heavier pesticide spraying while use of bio-fuels in autos releases even deadlier emissions than imagined. The political effect, however, has been a catastrophic shift down in world grain stocks at the same time the EU and USA have enacted policies which drastically cut traditional emergency grain reserves. In short, it is a scenario pre-programmed for catastrophe, one which has been clear to policymakers in the EU and USA for several years. That can only suggest that such a dramatic crisis in global food supply is intentional.
6 Comments so far...
Angela Rogin Says:
1 April 2008 at 11:09 am.
Okay now this is a very scary way to start the morning. Glad I enjoyed the April Fools cartoon first.
What is going on in the heads of our government to not plan things better so our cars are the only thing they are concerned about feeding?
I hope like crazy that this wheat disease does not spread but I have a bad feeling about it.
Jesse Says:
1 April 2008 at 11:11 am.
Angela, I think it is something about the title. It creates an image that makes me want to build a grain storage bin and start filling her up.
Cameron Says:
1 April 2008 at 12:26 pm.
This is the lead story from the L.A. Times. It made me think about the hundred dollar a week foodstamp complaint. Not many people in America understand real starvation.
A ‘perfect storm’ of hunger
The U.N.’s World Food Program is struggling as costs of food and fuel skyrocket while the numbers of people needing help surge across the globe. Millions are in danger.
KHARTOUM, SUDAN — For 15 years, he’s been a “grocer” for Africa’s destitute. But he’s never seen anything like this.
Pascal Joannes’ job is to find grains, beans and oils to fill a food basket for Sudan’s neediest people, from Darfur refugees to schoolchildren in the barren south.
Lately Joannes has spent less time shopping and more time poring over commodity price lists, usually in disbelief.
“White beans at $1,160,” the white-haired Belgian, 52, cries in despair over the price of a metric ton. “Complete madness! I bought them two years ago in Ethiopia for $235.”
Joannes is head of procurement in Sudan for the World Food Program, the United Nations agency in charge of alleviating world hunger.
Meteoric food and fuel prices, a slumping dollar, the demand for biofuels and a string of poor harvests have combined to abruptly multiply WFP’s operating costs, even as needs increase. In other words, if the number of needy people stayed constant, it would take much more money to feed them. But the number of people needing help is surging dramatically. It is what WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran calls “a perfect storm” hitting the world’s hungry.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-food1apr01,0,5185698.story
M.G. Says:
1 April 2008 at 1:48 pm.
I get the feeling I had better do something I haven’t done since I was a kid. Garden. I should probably buy a book on it and start practicing. Even if it turns out not to be important this year it probably will be a skill I need eventually.
Iffer Says:
1 April 2008 at 3:18 pm.
Good idea MG.
My dad loves to garden. Even when we lived in the city he would grow plants along the fence in the back yard.
I think everyone should learn how to garden. Especially what kind of plants grow in your climate.
Nalvy Says:
1 April 2008 at 4:20 pm.
Gardening is good fun actually. It is good for the health and for the family!
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