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Food security and the coming storm

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Re: Food security and the coming storm

#421

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

lotusmars wrote: post #184
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have an 18.5% interest rate compared to 0% in EU, and compared to ~5% in Russia pre-war. If not for an absurdly high interest rate and capital controls - the Ruble would not be doing well.

11%. Slashed three days ago from 14%. It will be back to single-digits pretty soon. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/26/business/russia-economy-r...

We'll see how that goes when their oil exports drop from 7.8M to 4.3M - and their natural gas exports decline similarly.

That's ~15% of the economy.

Russia itself is predicting that the unemployment rate will double to 9%. That's about the highest unemployment has gone in Western countries at the absolute peak of recessions.

The idea that the Russian economy is doing well or better than pre-war is absurd.

There's more to an economy than the value of your currency which governments and central banks have a lot of power to easily manipulate.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#422

Post by oneoff786 »

IncRnd wrote: post #420
oneoff786 wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For a place better than tiktok, there is a ton of information on WebMD showing how to quickly and safely make baby food. > google.com/search?q=webmd+baby+food+recipes Extremely likely that the first hit will be: https://www.webmd.com/baby/how-to-make-baby-food Even if you’re going to pretend this isn’t what you meant, the claim that web md has a ton of information on how to make baby food is false, in the context o…

> Even if you’re going to pretend this isn’t what you meant, the claim that web md has a ton of information on how to make baby food is false, in the context of formula. I'm not pretending anything. Look at what I wrote (which you actually quoted). "For a place better than tiktok, there is a ton of information on WebMD showing how to quickly and safely make baby food." I put the link for a google search and reference…

No, I think you’re full of shit and trying to change your story. Show me the web md link that’s shows you how to quickly and safely make baby food that you intended to demonstrate with your link. Explain how it makes sense contextually for the shortage of formula, which you yourself pointed out was the issue at hand.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#423

Post by tedajax »

leetcrew wrote: post #135
tedajax wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoy cooking but it's pretty silly to suggest everyone do it. Beyond the time commitment there's also equipment and space concerns and also some people just aren't good at it.

it's not silly; you can't take ownership of your own health without having at least basic cooking skills. the "time commitment" is just another BS excuse. there are plenty of recipes that can be prepped, cooked, and served in the time it takes to order and pickup takeout. there are tons of youtube videos on this exact topic. search "but faster". the equipment and space concerns I'll give you. there are some people wh…

When you order food you can do other things while you wait for the food to get to you ya dingus.

Shit a microwaved meal takes 5 minutes and requires almost zero work.

It's just unreasonable to expect everyone to do everything for themselves all the time.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#424

Post by RustyConsul »

c_o_n_v_e_x wrote: post #329
RustyConsul wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that was my initial thought as well, but you are limited by the availability of financial instruments as you move up the chain to inputs. Outputs are easy to craft instruments around, but inputs are what a business is.

There are futures to hedge inputs, especially for farming: - Diesel for tractors - Fertilizers - The weather itself - interest rates - real estate AFAIK the only inputs without derivatives are labor cost and pesticides.

A.) you are expecting farmers to be quants, B.) There are 10000 more inputs to farming than what you described. Labor being a major one.

Financier: "Well Jim, I know you were focused on digging the irrigation for your farm but with 'Free Money' in the economy, valuations for real estate and other commodities were going to rise. The Delta's on your futures were all out of wack!" Jim: "What's a delta?"

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#425

Post by deamanto »

biztos wrote: post #308
deamanto wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually have a very specific story on this one from a friend. In Australia, there's this stereotype of the "hard working Aussie battler farmer" and that we should all support our farmers. My friend's family business was one of these growing a type of nut. It was common for neighbouring farmers to make a good living selling their produce and using it for their own purposes and expect the government to bail them out…

> expect the government to bail them out … > A lot of other businesses did not prepare for this So did the government bail them out?

I didn't follow up with them on that. But the discussion was initially sparked because we were watching the news and the story was about how hard the farmers are doing due to the drought and were looking for government assistance.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#426

Post by sammalloy »

GekkePrutser wrote: post #354
sammalloy wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s what meal prep is for. You cook once or twice a week and meal prep batches for easy eating.

Understood but that doesn't solve the problem that I hate cooking :) Whether it's one big batch or not, it's still a super annoying chore. It's just something that I'd love to outsource just like I don't do my own laundry either. Just for food there's not many healthy takeaway options.

I get it. One way you can speed things up is to have hot water on tap (either installed, or a cheap, separate hot water appliance) and then use it for dried items like miso soup packets or oatmeal. Then you can add items to it, like pre-chopped vegetables or fruit.

The time it takes to prepare the chopped veggies and fruit in advance is one thing, but think about the amount of time you are now saving for soups and breakfast items.

This is how I think about things like meal plan tacos and burritos. I spend twenty minutes preparing all the items in containers, pack them in the fridge, and then I have fresh veggie tacos and burritos for four days. All I do is microwave the tortillas.

The salsa and the beans will go bad before anything else, so I make sure to use those up in higher quantities than the other ingredients.

I also like to cook a huge pot of basmati rice, Spanish rice, and rice pilaf in advance, so I can make all sorts of dishes for about three days just by adding the other items listed above. When you get in the habit of this, you’re only really cooking for one hour every four days using the same pre-made ingredients. It’s a huge time saver, so it doesn’t feel like cooking at all.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#427

Post by ALittleLight »

oneoff786 wrote: post #417
ALittleLight wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and the claim that there are no safe DIY formula instructions is an assertion of fact. The question of whether incorrectly produced formula could be dangerous was never at issue.

Well we’ve demonstrated that the requirements are very strict, that manufacture standards are precise and include steps not available to laypeople such as ph testing, and that the outcome of a bad creation is potentially fatal. So it seems reasonable to say it follows that there are no safe DIY formula instructions because DIY implies lack of expertise which is required to understand the points listed above.

You haven't demonstrated any of that. You've asserted it, as I mentioned, without evidence.
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