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We are facing a problem that literally has never been faced in human history. Surging population and food demand, food inflation, diminishing world food stocks, drought, flooding, cold, diminished credit, infestations, soil erosion, industrial farming, factory farm pollution, aquifers/wells going dry, relocation of produce for energy production are all slamming into a global financial and economic crisis. And in some places like the United States they don’t have enough farmers. Then on top of everything else we have desertification, which is one of the world’s most pressing environmental issues. New deserts are growing at a rate of 20,000 square miles (51,800 square kilometers) a year. Desertification leads to famine, mass starvation and human migration.
According to Eric de Carbonnel, “There is overwhelming, undeniable evidence that the world will run out of food next year. The 2010 Food Crisis is going to be different. It is the crisis that will make all doomsday scenarios come true. Early in 2009, the supply and demand in agricultural markets went badly out of balance. The world experienced a catastrophic fall in food production as a result of the financial crisis (low commodity prices and lack of credit) and adverse weather on a global scale. Normally food prices should have already shot higher months ago, leading to lower food consumption and bringing the global food supply/demand situation back into balance. This never happened because the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), instead of adjusting production estimates down to reflect decreased production, adjusted estimates upwards to match increasing demand from china. In this way, the USDA has brought supply and demand back into balance (on paper) and temporarily delayed a rise in food prices by ensuring a catastrophe in 2010
http://agriculture.imva.info/?p=12
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Their timing may be off but, what they say is still true if we have any of the things continue to happen they are saying are happening. Even if not until 2011 or when “the world will end when the Mayan Calender reaches 2012″ we are still in deep trouble with inflation that hits us every time we go to the store.
Canada had record crop failure insurance claims this last year due to cold and moisture patterns the jet stream brings with it being moved further south. How we doing this year? Too soon to say for sure but, March was colder than normal so much so that the Arctic Sea Ice coverage returned to almost normal in that month. (see following graphics for a chart and image of change).
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/index.html (click on thumbnail for larger view)
That is how fast global cooling can change things. Just a few large volcanic eruptions could also make major climate changes in a year’s time. In 1816, a volcanic eruption created the “year without a summer” where frost and snow occurred in every month for New England.
Yet, food isn’t in the core even though we could smooth out the volatility with a rolling several month average (same with energy)
For seniors, after any debt service for their home (or rent), medical copays (or the dreaded doughnut hole), food and energy, they don’t have any significant money left. For them inflation is very, very high and yet, because their S.S. check is tied to “core” inflation, they don’t get an increase. COLA wage increases? Same thing, they don’t keep up with the real world.
- JanPaul
