World food crisis

[The Johnny]

How nice it would be if science was really a cornucopia.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

this is all very interesting. I'm still forming an opinion, & digging around for articles on food production. I came across this: http://fabiusmaximus.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/food-3/

The gist of the article is that no nations are at "peak food production" yet. The US's production rate has been climbing steadily. Corn yields, for example, have risen linearly (with no slowing) since WWII.

Yeah, and the runoff of pesiticides and fertilizer from farmland into the Mississippi River has created a dead spot the size of Louisiana in the ocean, starting at the mouth of the river.  That spot is growing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_zone_(ecology)

You can do anything you want, for a certain period of time.

[Adios]

One billion people in developing countries will face shortages of fish, their main source of protein, within 20 years because of the world's growing population and overfishing, a study says. According to the Malaysia-based WorldFish Center and the International Food Policy Research Institute, only strong growth in fish farms will prevent an even more critical situation. They said that some fish species would disappear from markets.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/01/world/world-briefing-world-fish-shortage-would-hurt-poor.html

It's not just farming.

[Adios]

Fuck, that was an old article. Still, google will present some more current results.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

The problem, as I see it, is this.  There is only so much land on this earth.  As well, only so much of it is open land that can be farmed.  This is not something that is open for negotiation, it just is.

We can only add so many hormones and other chemical boosts to the seeds we plant and the animals we raise for food.  

At some point, either a global law of population control is going to have to be put in place or they are going to have to invent those food replicator things.  As I don't see food replicators being a prime goal, people are going to have to stop popping out kids.  

We can't make more land and no matter how well you farm it, everything has a limit of production.

[LMNO]

If you just wait long enough, the people popping out kids will be the food replicator.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

If you just wait long enough, the people popping out kids will be the food replicator.

Which will open up whole new meanings to "Is this locallly grown?"

[AFK]

This just means we all need to get into the Jenkem business. 

[Phox]

Too many people.

Too many problems and not enough love to go around?

[Adios]

It seems that right now it's more about affordable food.

[Cramulus]

The land space issue might potentially be solved through vertical farming. There are plans to start building prototypes to see how viable they are.

[Phox]

It seems that right now it's more about affordable food.

But I love people. Especially on a nice pita, with lettuce and mayo, maybe some dijon mustard. Maybe you're right, though. Finding a nice rack of man for an affordable price is getting a bit ridiculous.


(I kid 'cause I love. Rack of man would be terrible on a pita.) 


On a serious note, I think that the issue here is a little bit of all of the above. Viable solutions I ain't got.

[Cain]

It's not just the rise in demand, it's a hit in the ass on supply.  Here's a little nightmare fuel:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12252

Now, I'm NOT arguing the point that speculators are driving the crisis faster than necessary, and I don't doubt your information.  But even without the speculators, there's a really, really nasty series of events on the way.

I'm sorry but this guy doesn't know what he's talking about.  First of all, he's a gold nut writing for a conspiracy website, which automatically makes him wrong.  And secondly, the FAO's own data shows that in 2008-9 there was a massive food surplus produced on the wheat and cereal front, with minor, but still noticeable gains in meat and fish yields as well.  Yeah, 2010's production was not great, partly as a result of what he talked about, but it was still above the production rate of the previous five years (thanks at least in part to parts of the world he didn't talk about having massive booms in production) and meant, with the surplus from the previous year, this is probably the best position we've been in with regards to global food stockpiles in almost a decade.

I have no doubt that, eventually and as a background factor over the long term, population pressures will drive the price of food up.  But, at the moment, it does not appear to be a factor.  Demand is stable and production is above the required.  If anything, the collapse of the international freight market worries me more since, historically speaking, famines have been more of a problem of distribution than they have of production.

[Disco Pickle]

I think Cain's on the correct motorcycle here and I've been telling my friends to watch the price of oil pretty closely as well if they want to see the real damage being done by Ben Bernanke and crew.  Even with unemployment still hovering around 9% in places (and that's not counting people who've stopped looking or no longer qualify for unemployment insurance) the CPI is still rising, and that's because of the inflation of the money supply.

There was a decent article on CNN last month about this:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/14/news/economy/cpi_inflation/index.htm

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- American consumers saw prices rise on everything from rent to food to gas last month, as inflation pressures around the world creep higher.

The U.S. Consumer Price Index, a key measure of inflation, increased 1.5% over the past 12 months ending in December, up from 1.1% in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

On a monthly basis, CPI rose 0.5% in December, from 0.1% growth the previous month -- the largest monthly move since June 2009. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected a 0.4% rise in December.

Most of that increase was due to gasoline prices, which surged 8.5% in December alone, as commodities rallied.


While the increase is a sign that the economy is picking up steam, higher prices can eat into the purchasing power of Americans at a time when unemployment is still high and wages are barely growing.

"It is disconcerting that inflation is starting to accelerate, and you have to wonder, with gas prices moving above $3 a gallon, whether the rate of inflation will continue to escalate," said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist with The Economic Outlook Group.

Even though American consumers are beginning to feel the pain of surging commodity prices at the gas station, they're still not feeling it at the grocery store, where prices ticked up a mere 0.1% during the month.

Sooner or later, economists argue, producers will have to pass on the cost of rapidly rising agricultural prices, which surged more than 60% in the second half of 2010.

Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, is still at a historic low, after rising a mere 0.8% for the entire year, and only 0.1% for the month.
Rising prices around the globe

While prices are increasing worldwide, U.S. inflation still lags behind that of its major trading partners.

The euro zone recently reported its CPI rose 2.2% in 2010, while China's CPI rose 5.1% in the 12 months ending in November.

Stripping out some of the volatile components, the three are much closer in line, with Europe reporting a 1.1% increase in core inflation for the year, and China reporting a 1.9% increase in inflation, minus food prices.

"In general, what you're seeing is the U.S. has the lowest rate of inflation, although not way out of line," said Jay Bryson, global economist with Wells Fargo.

Meanwhile, central banks around the world are pursing different policies to combat inflation.

In November, fears of sluggish inflation led the U.S. Federal Reserve to initiate a controversial $600 billion bond-buying program to stimulate the economy. Critics have argued that the move, referred to as quantitative easing, may cause inflation to rise too rapidly.

"If the economy is growing on its own, is it really a good idea for the Fed to continue to pursue quantitative easing?" Baumohl said. "The concern is now, the Fed may be behind the curve, as far as controlling inflation down the road."

China's economy, on the other hand, is hurling ahead so rapidly that its central bank is trying to ease on the brakes. After hiking interest rates twice last year, the People's Bank of China raised the level of reserves banks are required to hold to a record high on Friday.

It marked the seventh time in the last year that the bank has used higher reserve standards to try to pull money out of the economy and tame rising prices.

The Fed's inflation hawk

Europe, on the other hand, is struggling with a debt crisis and a much slower economy than the emerging markets. But its inflation numbers came in greater than expected in 2010, leading European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet to turn slightly more hawkish on global inflation on Thursday.

Noting the rapid growth in emerging markets, he indicated rising inflation could be a worldwide threat going forward.

"Inflationary threats present some kind of general feature in the emerging world; it's something you don't see necessarily in advanced economies," Trichet said. "It's clear that it is extremely important that we all keep control of inflation expectations, and that calls for appropriate decisions."

The comments led some traders to forecast an ECB interest rate hike sooner than originally expected.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I'm sorry but this guy doesn't know what he's talking about.  First of all, he's a gold nut writing for a conspiracy website, which automatically makes him wrong.  

As always, Cain cuts to the chase. 

Teach me to post a source without access to sourcewatch (lol, nannywall).  I couldn't even see the whole website.

TGRR,
Eating his ownage with a smile.