Food security and the coming storm

LOL. The article says that to fix the issue we need some international efforts and blah blah blah. Bullshit. All we need is to sink down russian ships in Black sea. Even better will be to help with the liberation of both Kherson and Crimea regions. Zaporizhzhya and Donbas can be liberated later, but Bastion rockets in Crimea endanger ports in Odesa and Yuzhne.

This is the easiest way to provide food to emerging markets. By the way, there are chemical (fertilizer) plants in Ukraine. Today they are not working or occupied. One in Yuzhne is intact, but shut down temporarily. There's also Sumykhimprom plant in Sumy, that's right on the border with russia. The plant is intact, but I think it's not working as well due to war.

If we chase russians off from Ukraine, food prices will return to normal.

(I've subscribed to Factor75 and am generally pleased with them)

Yes, the food seems a bit pricy... until I head out and eat at a restaurant. Its certainly more costly than raw ingredients and making it yourself - but in terms of "the cost vs eating out" it is rather competitive.

I'm also become a fan of Tovala ( https://www.tovala.com ). Their thing is that its a "smart toaster oven" which scans a barcode or QR code and can do a complex set of instructions at programmed times. The oven is substantially discounted, the menu is competitive with other prepared meals but its cooked rather than microwaved which provides a different set of food options. The preparation is "cut bag into aluminum tin" and "add sauce or seasoning". You then scan the QR code on the recipe and it does its thing for 15 to 20 minutes.

I don't live where Amazon has this as an option, but https://www.amazon.com/fmc/m/20190165?almBrandId=QW1hem9uIEZ... is something to look at too.

The primary advantage for me with both Factor and Tovala is that they have single serving sizes. Blue Apron appears to have added microwave meals to its menu... but its not quite the range of Factor and its non-microwave is still 2 or 4 with more meal prep than Tovala.

Also check out https://www.reddit.com/r/ReadyMeals/ for various reviews.

Now imagine if they had cheap vegetables, milk and blenders.

> Whole rush on occopying south Ukraine (and levelling cities like Mariupol) was for Putin to have grains shortage as yet another leverage on European politicians.

This is an insane oversimplificaiton. There are many reasons the south is strategic, not least of which is that it's not only coastal but contains major port cities. That allows for both the strangling Ukraine, the securing of supply to Russia and the domination of the local sea, including complete control of the Sea of Azov. It also forms a land bridge between Crimea and the Donbas, which is critical for supplying and reinforcing Crimea. Then of course it was also useful in order to restore fresh water supply to Crimea, which Ukraine had cut off. It also buffers the Volgograd gap which Russia considers critical for their security. Don't forget all the other natural resources and industry that the area is rich in. Then of course, one of the best reasons which might be too obvious to even notice: It's the closest to Russia! They can accomplish their undermining of Ukraine without going as far as they would have to otherwise or having Belarus intermediate. Don't forget that the defeat of actual neo-Nazis in Mariupul (That was always Azov Battalion's stronghold.) was probably seen as a big propaganda win at home too.

Negotiating against someone with more power than you leads to bad deals.