Live data from Hacker News

Food security and the coming storm

eurasiagroup.net

31–40 of 427 posts

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#31
Interesting quote:

Amid the mounting signs of distress, a series of policies could help to minimize human suffering. However, most would require a considerable degree of international cooperation, which might be difficult to achieve in the current environment.

I'm really wondering if Orwell's prediction from almost a century ago, that the world would devolve into three major blocks continually at war with each other, each exercising authoritarian control over their domestic populations, isn't on the verge of becoming a reality. It appears that both Russian and American political leaders view the conflict in Ukraine as beneficial to their own domestic political interests, for example - and China is not yet involved, but what if there's a war in Asia, i.e. Taiwan? The global South sits outside this picture, so maybe there's some hope there.

As far as practical matters, there are a lot of approaches to ensuring local food supplies. Victory gardens were a thing in WWII for example. Also, there are several known vegetarian mixtures that give full amino acid profiles, such as the corn-beans-squash mix of pre-Colombian agriculture in NAmerica, or rice-bean bases of SAsia, etc. Recycling nutrients via effective composting also reduces the need for fertilizer imports.

Avoiding reliance on global supply chains is going to become very important if current trends continue, in any case.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#32
post #24

This is why, in normal times, food waste is a good thing. It means there's some slack in the system for when times get worse. Not that that helps people in poorer countries, unfortunately.

Soon we might face the choice of stopping aid or starving ourselves which doesn't help them either.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm less pessimistic. People in the US, and increasingly the rest of the world are on a diet that just isn't good for them: lots of low quality carbs with cheap fat and artificial flavorings and not a whole lot of nutritional value. Arguably, a large part of the population is eating way more than is good for them and not enough good quality food. And it's not just a money issue: it's a skill and knowledge issue. Peop…

Time for me is by far the limiting factor. Short of a personal chef (too expensive) all the quick options are unhealthy. Edit: Loads of people suggesting cooking - I know how to cook, I just don’t have the time or energy. It’s not just preparation time but also the planning aspect. Meal prep delivery services suggestions are interesting. I have tried a few and found them expensive and low quality. Open to trying more…

Perhaps you should slow down.

Adam Smith warned of extreme division of labor making for humans dumber than the dumbest animal (paraphrasing).

Sticking with one career forever is an outdated story; king says someone is farmer, that’s just how it is! It would be costly to upend history, they say.

Having worked in a kitchen, built houses from foundation up, helped deliver livestock, started in tech designing power switching equipment, coding professional now since 2006; having built muscle memory for numerous “professions” comes along with living in “flow state.” I can manage structured tasks across contexts without planning, without wincing at the difficulty or time being a factor; I can make way better than packaged or fast food faster than it can be picked up or delivered.

Taking time to boot strap the habit pays off in time savings down the road.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plese don't spread Russian propaganda. Graham Philips worked a token "pro-Putin Westerner" on RT and Zvezda, which is literally Russian army's TV channel. He's as shilly as it gets.

Yeah, I guess all those ethnic Russians that live in Mariupol are all payed actors. And those concrete buildings that are all in actuality flattened. Elaborate actors, the whole lot.

Easily. I wouldn't put it past Putin to bus in the crowd from Russia just for this specific occasion. They've been doing it for years, why not again?

Just like they film Putin's meetups with "factory workers" or "wounded soldiers". If you follow the news for long enough, the faces of those "soldiers", "workers", and "miners" start repeating.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time for me is by far the limiting factor. Short of a personal chef (too expensive) all the quick options are unhealthy. Edit: Loads of people suggesting cooking - I know how to cook, I just don’t have the time or energy. It’s not just preparation time but also the planning aspect. Meal prep delivery services suggestions are interesting. I have tried a few and found them expensive and low quality. Open to trying more…

'All' is a bit of a stretch. I have a relatively healthy diet, and food preparation time is a non-issue. If you're fine with simple dishes (like chopping up vegetables in a simple salad and eating them raw), it doesn't take more than 20 minutes per day total. Growing up poor in the middle of nowhere helps here.

To add to this, preparing food for several days in advance is absolutely essential to eating healthy food regularly

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#36

Another: https://jeffreycarter.substack.com/p/no-one-is-talking-about... Few seem to want to talk about this, they want to talk about how coming shortages will best be solved by giving them power or at the least listening to their advice. For all the "Baby formula shortage" media coverage, how many stories have included a recipe for alternatives to commercial formula? Mostly I've seen admonitions to not try making ba…

> For all the "Baby formula shortage" media coverage, how many stories have included a recipe for alternatives to commercial formula? Mostly I've seen admonitions to not try making baby food at home, which is incredibly useless for people trying to feed kids. Thanks for pointing this out. It's like we've forgotten how to function as humans in some respect. Baby formula isn't some magical combination of ingredients. A…

Baby formula isn't some magical combination of ingredients.

Some of it is for those with metabolic problems. Abbott makes one type which very recently the government has taken action about, but each recipient has be vetted to get it, I believe it's from non-FDA regulated production in Europe.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#37

Another: https://jeffreycarter.substack.com/p/no-one-is-talking-about... Few seem to want to talk about this, they want to talk about how coming shortages will best be solved by giving them power or at the least listening to their advice. For all the "Baby formula shortage" media coverage, how many stories have included a recipe for alternatives to commercial formula? Mostly I've seen admonitions to not try making ba…

> For all the "Baby formula shortage" media coverage, how many stories have included a recipe for alternatives to commercial formula? Mostly I've seen admonitions to not try making baby food at home, which is incredibly useless for people trying to feed kids. Thanks for pointing this out. It's like we've forgotten how to function as humans in some respect. Baby formula isn't some magical combination of ingredients. A…

Commercial formula kinda is a magical combination of ingredients, including a substantial number of supplements that aren’t gonna be available to home cooks. It’s better to substitute homemade than water down formula, no doubt, but you can understand why newspapers don’t want to publish a recipe knowing that it will send some number of babies to the doctor with an iron deficiency.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#38
post #7
post #4

I recently had a conversation with an organic farmer. While he is able to pass on at least some of his increased costs for energy and fuel through direct sales and cooperatively organized distribution channels, his conventionally farmed colleagues have a bigger problem. They have long-term purchase contracts that fix the prices for milk, meat or vegetables. In the case of milk and meat in particular, production costs…

One should never make long term contracts for delivery without long term contracts for supply, or at least something to hedge against supply costs.

The meat packing monopoly ties the hands of many cattle farmers.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm less pessimistic. People in the US, and increasingly the rest of the world are on a diet that just isn't good for them: lots of low quality carbs with cheap fat and artificial flavorings and not a whole lot of nutritional value. Arguably, a large part of the population is eating way more than is good for them and not enough good quality food. And it's not just a money issue: it's a skill and knowledge issue. Peop…

Time for me is by far the limiting factor. Short of a personal chef (too expensive) all the quick options are unhealthy. Edit: Loads of people suggesting cooking - I know how to cook, I just don’t have the time or energy. It’s not just preparation time but also the planning aspect. Meal prep delivery services suggestions are interesting. I have tried a few and found them expensive and low quality. Open to trying more…

If you have the disposable income, you can dispose of it as you please of course. But still, there are ways to get good food prepared quickly as well. All you need is a pantry stocked with the essentials and some basic knowledge.

Mostly the issue isn't necessarily time but giving into your cravings. Junk food is designed for that. People buy junk food because they like eating it and crave it. Even if the experience isn't great, the craving still drives them to eat it. Ever felt disappointed after eating at a burger chain? That's what happened. You craved something and the marketing triggered you enough to buy a burger or whatever. In the end the food is greasy, salty, not really hot, and doesn't have a whole lot of flavor. And you munch it down and forget about it.

And particularly when people have worked a long day and just want to stuff food into their mouths. For me, going to a supermarket at the end of a working day generally leads to really bad decision making. And I actually know how to cook some food.

A good way to get into cooking is to make your own junk food but do it better. This is super easy because most junk food is absolutely terrible. If you like burgers, get some meat and make some of your own. It's hard to do worse than good old McDonald's. That stuff is just really nasty. Use that as a benchmark and strive to do better. You can't fail.

Burgers are a great example because this is historically how people made the most of their cheap and off cuts of meat. So, again, great if you are on a budget.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#40
post #30
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.” — John F. Kennedy.

He might be our most underrated president.

I don't think he was, at least based on what he actually did in life.

He only barely beat Nixon in 1960, caused Cuban crisis through his own making by bad defense policy in the middle east, gridlocked congress.

His people turned him into a legend after he was killed.

LBJ did the real work in implementing the ideas JFK wanted (but couldn't implement). Yes JFK's death may have made some of this more possible but how much can you credit someone for dying when it wasn't even for a particular cause (other than anticommunism maybe).

You may be able to tell I've read too much Robert Caro.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/06/jfk-accomplished-lit...

Post reply on HN