Catastrophic Fall in 2009 Global Food Production

[bhikkhu]

Catastrophic Fall in 2009 Global Food Production
Commodities / Food Crisis Feb 09, 2009 - 07:11 AM

By: Eric_deCarbonnel

After reading about the droughts in two major agricultural countries, China and Argentina, I decided to research the extent other food producing nations were also experiencing droughts. This project ended up taking a lot longer than I thought. 2009 looks to be a humanitarian disaster around much of the world

To understand the depth of the food Catastrophe that faces the world this year, consider the graphic below depicting countries by USD value of their agricultural output, as of 2006.....

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article8768.html

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I have read here and there about the world's diminishing reserves of food commodities, and about droughts here and there, but this is a good article putting it all together. Here is one of the graphics, too, which is pretty self-explanatory:



This year my garden will be even bigger....

[Deja Q]

1. How many people are you feeding with that big garden o' yours?

How much will your water bill go up?

Cost of equipment.

How many nuances need to be said, because it probably isn't practicable in terms of COST to grow one week's worth of food.

Sorry to promote the concept of futility.

[bhikkhu]

2. Not many, but it passes the time

We did very well in lettuce and tomatoes last year, as well as cucumbers, corn, and odds and ends. Our water bill isn't bad, as I water by hand and we don't water anything else - if grass wants to grow somewhere, its on its own.

There is certainly some futility involved...but then again the "home gardens" of the Soviet Union, and of Cuba, were credited with staving off quite a bit of potential starvation when those systems collapsed. It is a good thing to know how to grow food, and to use and store the food you grow, and all of that takes some time and effort to learn.

You probably have a shovel, and a hose - give it a try this year!

[CoffeeCat]

14. I applaud you....

for growing some of your own food.

It takes a lot of knowledge and care to grow your own food. Like you said, storing it and preserving it are also
good things.

You may not solve all problems by doing this, but you're making a difference.

Plus, it's good to learn new skills and be out in the sunshine. Plus, it's nice to have fresh food from
your own garden. There's just nothing like it.

Kudos to you! :)

[The Brethren]

9. "How much will your water bill go up?"

Good question. And what happens if water becomes a very limited and controlled commodity? That issue has already become in my state vs. another state. Our state sells water rights to another state along with transportation of water outside the state. The issue has calmed down a bit as we have not been listed in a drought situation over past 2 years. However, the conflict is still there over water and land disputes. And if we enter another drought the battle heats up again.

The economic crisis can take on a whole other face as natural resources start to dwindle due to over population and/or environmental issues.



The Stimulus Plan ("American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009"): Orig. House version -- http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/RecoveryBill01-15-09.pdf , House spreadsheet -- http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pV-c6t5fOVmNorqMpHvnCMw ; Senate version -- http://appropriations.senate.gov/News/2009_02_02_The_American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act_of_2009.pdf ; and Senate compromise -- http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1 , Text and $$$ details of Senate compromise -- http://appropriations.senate.gov/News/2009_02_08_UPDATED_Appropriations_Provisions_of_American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act.pdf?CFID=4043629&CFTOKEN=40573040 in addition to -- http://readthestimulus.org/amdth1.pdf ; along with -- http://www.readthestimulus.org/ .

[eridani]

10. Victory Gardens in the 40s produced 40% of the produce consumed by city dwellers

Urban areas will never be self-sufficient in food, but they can make sizeable contributions.

[DCKit]

11. Havana, Cuba is said to be self-sufficient.

Damn Castro!11!1!!

[eridani]

17. Easier with a year-round growing season

Still, an incredible accomplishment that us nature nuts in the US could learn from.

[FedUpWithIt All]

12. We did mostly container gardening last year. The plants self watered.

The is a cost to start up but the materials are reusable for some time. This year we are extending our production so we have extra available for donation and family.

[barb162]

16. Valid points there

The water bill, ohmygod. Last year it was huge. I think with a certain size large garden it makes a lot of sense though. Once it gets really hot and the mosquitos get big and hungry, I lose all interest in maintaining the garden. :(

[HamdenRice]

19. Home gardening is extremely cost effective, even in tiny gardens. So say DU garden mavens here

It's an interesting question, but as an avid gardener, I can tell you that if you choose the right plants, gardening is extremely cost effective. You can't live off a small urban or suburban garden, but you certainly can dramatically reduce your costs.

I posed a question and some observations about the cost effectiveness of gardening in the Garden Group, and got a lot of interesting answers. You might want to check out this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=246&topic_id=10085&mesg_id=10085

[JVS]

23. It's kind of give and take on what to grow though.

There is a tradeoff between being cost effective and self sufficient.

If you want to save a lot of money by gardening currently, the best things to grow are bell peppers, tomatoes, and other fresh veggies that cost a lot at the store. But those things are not sources of calories that are suffiecient enough to make you independent from a disruption in the food supply. You'd still be depending on the grocery store for what really keeps you alive.

On the other hand if you wanted to be self sufficient, potatoes are the way to go. According to wiki "Its yield of Calories per acre (about 9.2 million) is higher than that of maize (7.5 milion), rice (7.4 million), wheat (3 million), or soybean (2.8 million)." So assuming a family of 4 needs 10,000 calories a day. They'd need .4 acres (maybe possible in a large suburban yard). But raising them requires more effort and they really don't cost much at the store, so you wouldn't save much money.

[KewlKat]

3. We're going to have a garden as well and

I'm going to have a huge one at my MIL's farm. We have some cows grazing there now.

[elocs]

4. Square Foot Gardening. Check it out:

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

Grow a lot in a small area that will feed a lot of people and is good at conserving water. Used to be a PBS tv show.

[bhikkhu]

5. The short learning curve is a good thing

From what I have heard - I haven't tried it myself. I've been doing it the hard way for awhile, and have a decent amount of space.

While I have no idea what to do or where things will go as far as money anymore, I still have a place to plant a good garden.

[elocs]

7. The great thing about Square Foot Gardening is that raised beds maybe used

and that makes it easy for people in wheelchairs or who cannot do a lot of bending. I made one for a friend once, but I could never get him to use it. A lot may be grown in a small area and the concept is to grow things closely together so the plants choke out the weeds and it also helps to conserve water. As I remember the recommendation was to have a 5 gallon bucket that is left out covered in the sun so it warms to air temperature and then to simply water each square with a cup. I recently pointed out to the friend that I had made one for years ago that in his small yard he could put as many as ten 4'x4' squares on the side of his house and another 6 in the back yard and in a season that would probably be enough to feed a family or two with a variety of veggies as well as some flowers.

[truedelphi]

13. It sounds like you know what you are doing.

I hope it's okay I keep yr name on file to PM with questions once growing sason is around.

Last summer's garden produced a whopping 2 lbs of tomatoes. One thing we were not doing correctly - we need to buy some decent soil. (To augment our composting bin) The tract home we live in had all the soil scraped away - and the wilderness surrounding our home has soil two or three feet beneath oodles of pine needles.

[GliderGuider]

6. Thanks for this.

In discussions about global warming most of the attention has been focused on rising sea levels. That has never been the true danger. Images of drowned cities may be more romantic than images of famine and refugees, but the real human tragedy from climate change is shifting weather patterns and severe weather events, of which drought is the most devastating. This is an excellent look at how widespread the damage from climate change already is. I fear the next year will see a juggernaut of famine roll around the globe.

I've been beating this drum for several years now, but it's still horrifying to see my worst fears materialize.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

8. We bought plastic rain barrels

@ $20 a piece this weekend. They'll be placed under drain spouts that will be cut in order to drain into the top. There is a metal filter and a spout to hook a hose up to when we're
ready to water the garden. There will be one placed on each corner of the house. The nice part was finding them at a salvage center that specializes in architectural recycling.

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. You made me homesick for Seattle.

With row covers, you can garden almost year round.
Takes a bit to do hot weather crops like tomatoes, but still...
And Urban gardening can be quite productive, plus you have, as you said, access to recycled/used stuff.

Here, I have to drive 90 miles one way to find the good salvage places.

Rural has its benefits, but I miss ease of scavenging in the city.

[barb162]

15. I read the article and the writer is making some rather strange claims

Like Europe is planting late , the soils are poor, etc. Uh, they still have snow in many places in Europe and is he saying the soil is poorer than last year? We never know how long la ninas will last, etc.

Saying all that, I think there are too many people in the world for the amount of arable land and there are huge drought areas and we're living on the edge of just growing enough. We have been planting in places where water tables are dropping and that don't have very reliable water sources if there isn't good snow or heavy rain, like NE, CA, NC, GA, etc. Turning land that should have only been pasture into farm land isn't very smart but we do it anyway.

[clixtox]

18. I will believe there is a "crisis" when golf courses...

are being plowed up for space to grow food crops!

Probably a good idea now though to start making some personal/family food security plans.

Buying bulk staples.

Cooking from "scratch".

Storing/investing in nutritious, long-lasting, even fungible, staples and some other foods.

Sugar, flour, salt, rice, honey, oats, corn, oils, dry milk, dried beans/legumes, yeast, etc.

[barb162]

20. Golf courses will never get plowed; rich golfers have to golf

You know that!

[Xenotime]

21. This is very terrifying news. I know Texas has a drought.

Not that I feel sorry for them.