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The Coming Food Catastrophe

economist.com

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Re: The Coming Food Catastrophe

#71

Post by 8bitsrule »

daenz wrote: post #6

The sky is falling and we're all going to die! Get to the end of the story Subscribe today for just $19.90 $10/first month. Cancel at any time

In the past decade I've also noticed the word 'crisis' being used a lot more in less inappropriate ways. I just found, in today's DDG news stories, headlines about a US border crisis, a baby formula crisis, Sri Lanka having a fuel crisis, the Israeli govt. in crisis, a covid crisis in N. Korea, a mental health crisis in Alabama, a gun violence crisis, a cost of living crisis.... and many more.

Methinks journalists need to buy a thesaurus.

Re: The Coming Food Catastrophe

#72

Post by CamelCaseName »

SKILNER wrote: post #37
pupppet wrote: post #7

Article photo is pretty badass.

If you follow The Economist they consistently have very clever artists.

The Economist is the only news publication I pay for, I do wish they were more economics focused (as opposed to politics, though of course the two are fundamentally intertwined).

Any other publications (paid or free) I should be looking at?

Re: The Coming Food Catastrophe

#73

Post by Scoundreller »

colechristensen wrote: post #48
wavesounds wrote: post #4

We should stop growing corn for ethanol since it's worse for the climate than gasoline[1] and instead use all that land and machinery to grow wheat instead. 1. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-corn-based-e...

Corn produces 4-6 times the calories per acre as wheat, not to mention farmers and distribution networks would have to spend a whole lot to switch. Many people are suggesting eating less meat to help potential food shortages, switching corn to wheat actually loses about as much food as feeding corn to cattle. (i.e. a cornfield switched to wheat and a cornfield fed to cattle would result in a similar number of calorie…

I think it’s more like we grow wheat where corn won’t grow well.

Saskatchewan isn’t going to support a big corn crop, but wheat, pulses and oats do very well.

Re: The Coming Food Catastrophe

#74

Post by wyager »

bell-cot wrote: post #28

Tip from an old geezer: Plant Your Victory Garden Now! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden

These are part of a propaganda strategy to make people feel like they're "helping". They are not an effective or efficient way of improving food availability. If you enjoy gardening as a hobby, that's great, but these are not practical bulwarks against food shortages.

The economies of scale in industrial farming are insane. The ROI on a personal garden is abysmally low, except for herbs and other low-volume plants.

Re: The Coming Food Catastrophe

#75

Post by freeone3000 »

blowski wrote: post #13
daenz wrote: post #6

The sky is falling and we're all going to die! Get to the end of the story Subscribe today for just $19.90 $10/first month. Cancel at any time

Is there any topic on which we’re not currently facing a catastrophe? In the last few months I’ve been warned about impending doom for insects, food, nuclear weapons treaties, democracy, the economy, the internet, space, the environment, the arctic circle, abortion rights.

There once was a boy keeping watch. He cried out "Wolf! wolf!" And the villagers came, and saw the wolf was quite far away, and not a danger yet.

The next night, the boy cried out "Wolf! Wolf!" And while the wolf was at the gate, it didn't seem to be hurting anybody. After all, the boy and his village were fine still, and there could be benefits to the wolf.

The third night, the boy did not cry wolf. The villagers discovered him dead the next morning next to the village free-range wolf. A great meeting was held, and it was decided that since most people were safe and secure and able to live their lives normally, we must all adapt to the new normal and learn to live with the wolf.

Re: The Coming Food Catastrophe

#76

Post by lifeisstillgood »

alecco wrote: post #49

This article is partisan garbage, as usual lately for The Economist. Sure, the war had an impact but most of the problems were months BEFORE the war. Search for "AgInflation" articles from 2021. I know farmers who skipped this season due to razor thin profits, suppressed prices by governments and major supermarkets, and risk of water controls. Would you put $50k of your money for a 10% return with a very, very high r…

I am not sure how to do it, but some futures-plus arrangement might improve incentives - say sell your crop as a future, but with a (gov supported) price cap - so if the price goes through the roof the farmer gets a share of the overage.

Not sure how much difference it will make but agriculture is kind of important

Re: The Coming Food Catastrophe

#77

Post by usrusr »

codezero wrote: post #19
doodlebugging wrote: post #14

From doom-scrolling the Ukraine/Russia war it is pretty obvious that Ukrainian farmers have not been idle. Battles are being fought in the treelines and along rivers next to plowed and planted fields. Hopefully some of these crops are harvested and make it to market.

I don't know if it was just propaganda, but I saw several videos of grain being looted by Russian troops and supposedly brought back to Russia. Even if that's not the case, a live war has to decrease productivity immensely.

Last week Russia announced a record harvest for '22. Maybe this is completely unrelated.

Re: The Coming Food Catastrophe

#78

Post by londons_explore »

codefreeordie wrote: post #63
closedloop129 wrote: post #42

Haven't ethanol fuels been introduced to have a buffer for this situation? If we don't turn grain and corn into petrol then there should be some reserves. Additionally, if we stop rising live-stock, where roughly 10 units of plant create one unit of meat, there should be even more calories available.

Energy is having an even greater supply crunch than food (indeed part of the food shortage is that agricultural inputs can't get delivered in adequate quantities because the energy to transport them doesn't exist). The energy market is willing to outbid the food market, so I wouldn't expect the conversion of agricultural inputs into fuel outputs to decelerate.

When people run out of money, they prioritize eating over electricity for the TV.

Eventually, that effect should bring down the amount that energy companies want to pay for corn. But lots of people might starve first...

Re: The Coming Food Catastrophe

#79

Post by skeeter2020 »

EddieDante wrote: post #35
bell-cot wrote: post #28

Tip from an old geezer: Plant Your Victory Garden Now! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden

Your local zoning board might object. I live in PA, and one of the neighborhood vigilantes immediately ratted me out to the local government when I started growing corn, squash, and beans in my backyard while raising a couple of chickens for eggs.

Growing a garden and raising livestock are pretty different in practice & impact from my experience. Assuming you voluntarily moved into the zoning and "Karen" objected to you violating them, it's all on you.

Re: The Coming Food Catastrophe

#80

Post by colechristensen »

shadowgovt wrote: post #29
jeremyjh wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is like asking how fungible are calories. People with the means to mill and cook with wheat flour can probably manage with corn too if the alternative is starvation.

I don't mean on the consumption side. I mean on the production side. Do they grow in the same soil? Do they take the same nutrients? Do they have the same water / sunlight / temperature band tolerances? Looks like that rotation is pretty common but there are some details to concern oneself with. https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/considerations-whe...

Corn is a whole lot more productive, if you can grow it, you do. Wheat grows in places you can't grow corn.
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