World food stocks dwindling rapidly, UN warns »
Posted By JamesMarcus 1 year, 10 months ago in NewsIn an "unforeseen and unprecedented" shift, the world food supply is dwindling rapidly and food prices are soaring to historic levels, the top food and agriculture official of the United Nations warned Monday. The changes created "a very serious risk that fewer people will be able to get food," particularly in the developing world, warned Jacques Diouf of the UN's FAO.
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JamesMarcus
James Marcus is a writer, translator, critic, and editor. He is the author of Amazonia: Five Years at the Epicenter of the Dot-Com Juggernaut and ...
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crespi1 year, 10 months ago
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Not unforeseen to everyone.
(But when I mentioned this possibility back on the old Netscape I was called a "paranoid commie libtard" by the conservatives...)
Anyway this is a problem since food production is slowly being owned and controlled by the multi-national corporations who will use food to hold us hostage to their malfeasance and disastrous political schemes that benefit ONLY THEM while literally destroying our world.
Hopefully, todays youth can fight this trend by farming, among other things.
If we have to fight over food civilization is over.
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joeblowe1 year, 10 months ago
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Let me ask, since no one else wants to: Just exactly WHY do the multi-national corps want to literally destroy our world? Is it your position that they are too stupid to know that killing their customers is NOT the way to get uber-wealthy?
I wouldn't worry too much about fighting over food. Water, maybe.
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bill29361 year, 10 months ago
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of course it was not unforseen. I remember back in the late 70s when they were talking about pending food shortages. Of course back then the claims were based on 'global cooling hysteria', now some will claim it is now caused by 'manmade global warming'.
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rwrnae1 year, 10 months ago
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I think you need one of those tin foil beanies to protect yourself from evil thoughts. How about we are simply overpopulated and have been for quite some time? We WILL be fighting over food and the die off will be dramatic. We have several billion people too many on the planet. Several billion will die. Then we will probably repeat the process. Mankind doesn't seem to ever get smarter.
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Commodore11 year, 10 months ago
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crespi1 year, 10 months ago
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Dionys1 year, 10 months ago
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Well.. First you'd have to make sure the Bread and Butter companies were previously run by the president or one of his cronies. Then you'd have to make sure they charged ten times as much for the bread and butter to feed the poor. Then you'd have to assure that some of that money was still waiting for "consulting fees" once the current administration is out of office.
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1-2-Oscar1 year, 10 months ago
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"U.S. wheat futures broke $10 a bushel for the first time Monday, the agricultural equivalent of $100 a barrel oil."
Why is anyone surprised at this? It is exactly what was predicted when we decided to convert food grains to ethanol. Ten bushels are not merely "equivalent to $100 a barrel oil," they can REPLACE a barrel of oil.
But the opposite is NOT true. Eating a barrel of oil is not equivalent to consuming ten bushels of wheat.
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saintetienne1 year, 10 months ago
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"It is exactly what was predicted when we decided to convert food grains to ethanol."
You can thank the Liberal enviro-nazis for that one. In their zeal to create alternative fuel, they're now starving the rest of the world.
Leave it to a screwy Liberal to throw yet another monkey wrench in the system. AND charge us for it.
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greenmac1 year, 10 months ago
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joeblowe1 year, 10 months ago
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Too many people, and more all the time. It isn't really very hard to figure out what the end result of that is going to eventually be. This planet can only carry so many people, regardless of improvements in agriculture etc. There IS a final limit. Don't kid yourself.
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saintetienne1 year, 10 months ago
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Excellent point, joeblowe, but one I'm afraid our Liberal loonys don't want to believe.
Starvation, disease and mass death WILL be the order of the day real soon, and each and every person will have nothing to thank but our own lack of personal responsibility for it. That's MY doomsday, mopey, negative, Liberal lulu statement.
Control the idiot population. Get yourself spayed or neutered.
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willottica1 year, 10 months ago
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Your solutions, on the other hand, would benefit all mankind, wouldn't they Saint?
Oh wait, you don't offer solutions, you just criticize liberals then preach about how selfishness is the only way to success.
Is Al Gore trying to make mega-bucks of a cockamamie scheme? You bet! I don't support carbon credits any more than I support overconsumption. Keep your hands over your ears and your eyes, because heaven forbid you should observe the world around you and what it might be doing to the future.
--
Change your name, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! Or at least for the love of St. Stephen, because you do him a great disservice!
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saintetienne1 year, 10 months ago
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brain-rottica,
I DO offer solutions: Wear a condom. Take the bus. Eat less. Don't waste energy. Pick up after yourself and recycle what you can.
I don't need Al Gore telling me this - I've been doing it since I was a kid. Anyone who has read my posts knows that I use public transportation daily, I recycle, etc. etc. I don't need to be preached to by the U.N., by Al Gore, or by any other Liberal idiot or media outlet.
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canadianrancher571 year, 10 months ago
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I want to start a new conspiracy theory right now. There is no shortage of food, The oil companies are buying futures and pushing up the price of grain so that the ethanol plants can't make money producing cheap fuel. The oil companies don't want competition and are flush with cash so they can buy up grain and as a new market they cause the price top go up and then they can just sell it back to the market. Now how's that for a crazy idea.
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willottica1 year, 10 months ago
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aintetienne:(("Anyone who has read my posts knows that I use public transportation daily, I recycle, etc. etc."))
Actually, no. Most people who read your posts just see your self-righteousness: "I look after myself, everyone else can do the same."
Your so-called 'solutions' obviously aren't working. Despite the fact that you do all those things, the world still has problems. How can that be? Wait, maybe it's because the world doesn't revolve around you.
If you could somehow convince everyone in the world to adopt those solutions, it might make a difference. (Hell, if you could convince 20% it'd make a huge difference!)
crespi covered the rest rather well, I think.
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saintetienne1 year, 10 months ago
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"If you could somehow convince everyone in the world to adopt those solutions, it might make a difference."
No kidding, REALLY?
That's exactly my point, willnot-takeoff. It's up to EVERYONE to do a small part. Do they? NO. Do YOU? I would venture to guess NO.
The information is out there on how everyone can help conserve a bit and pick up after themselves. Now it's up to everyone to ACT. But don't hold your breath. And I find some of the worst offenders are loudmouth Liberals who think that rallying behind Al Gore is all they have to do. Then they roar off in their SUV, content that they made a difference simply by voicing their opinion and telling everyone to listen to Al Gore.
What DO you do, willsnottica? Do you ride the bus? Walk? Carpool? Curb your use of plastic and petroleum products? What? You talk a good game, but I'd really like to know what you're actually DOING to cut your consumption of oil.
(crickets)
I thought so.
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willottica1 year, 10 months ago
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(("Why do libs think they are the only ones who know how to conserve? It is more economical and that is one thing that draws everybody. I wish I could get away from a minivan but I have to haul around seven or eight people a lot of the time."))
Endo, we don't. We just echo that conservation is important, and hope that those that just don't seem to understand that will eventually clue in. Obviously, if you're already conserving, then it's not you to whom we speak. Why would you argue when you agree with the message?
As for minivans, I agree. They are definitely utility vehicles, and are much more environmentally friendly than your 7-8 people driving around in 3-4 separate cars.
But what use is an SUV or a Pickup Truck in the city? Those are vehicles I take issue with.
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acdnc1 year, 10 months ago
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i agree willottica, nice rebuttal.
i would like to submit further that in reading the posts of saintetienne the strongest message that comes through is of aggressive personal attacks with a degree of viciousness that lies beyond the usual neocon diatribes.
while they could be interpreted as irreverent and witty, the tone of anger and disdain uncovers a core in which a series of insults substitute for arguments in this forum.
of course i would never go so far as to distort someones name into, for example, SaintButt-In or something of that caliber of which they may so richly deserving.
name calling, name distortion, and gratuitious disrespectful derogatory comments are by far the strongest association i have w the posts of saintetienne.
sorry if this comes across as a bit strong but it is my viewpoint. nice to hear that we all are interested in saving our planet though. here, we find our common ground. and that is a begining. peace.
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ibstilyn1 year, 10 months ago
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I personally dispise the SUVs but do own a pickup truck--it's a 4 cylinder and I use it for hauling stuff for the property management I do on the side. I have rentals of my own & also look after a friends property who lives out of state.It's so handy for hauling out crap left behind by tenants , bringing in paint & cleaning supplies. Great for grocery shopping and the dogs like to ride in the back (on lanyards where they can't jump out of course). I live in an outlying area where roads wash out and I need the extra clearance at times. it gets the same mileage as my wife's little coupe
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saintetienne1 year, 10 months ago
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"We just echo that conservation is important, and hope that those that just don't seem to understand that will eventually clue in."
YOU JUST MADE MY POINT.
You sanctimonious Liberals are good at "echoing" and preaching, but you're the WORST - the absolute WORST - at following up and actually DOING what you squawk about. You feel that just by "enlightening" us, you've done your part. How completely POMPOUS of you.
Limousine Liberals are the HEIGHT of hypocrisy, and Al Bore is your ringleader. Oh, but he won an OSCAR and a NOBEL PUTZ prize, he MUST know what he's talking about.
NOT!
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cushi1 year, 10 months ago
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I drive an SUV, a small, inexpensive one because it is best suited to my physical challenges. I am not able to bend beyond a certain degree, so most cars are too low for me, and I cannot step up to high, so the larger SUV's and vans are out also. The height of the Sportage is just right for me to be able to get in and out without straining myself too much in either direction. However, I do try to conserve in other ways such as recycling, turning off lights. Have to have my house warm, so don't conserve as much as I could with the heat. Sorry.
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legghold1 year, 10 months ago
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Its high time we become isolationistic not only in regard to food production.Were not sliding down a slippery slope we've fallen off the mountain.America has virtually shut itself down in all areas relying on importation of everything.Were dying fast people...The big sucking sound coming from china,ross saw it coming.Its here and the worse is yet to come.Under our noses,farms,orchards,industry all swept away.Once were totaly dependent on imports its over.So either stand on our own two feet ,Or become servants of the red dragon.
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jdhatl1 year, 10 months ago
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"Part of the current problem is an outgrowth of prosperity. More people in the world now eat meat, diverting grain from humans to livestock."
don't eat so much meat. Two or three times a week is all the protein your body can use unless you're a teenager. Vegetables aren't just for vegetarians.
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immaculatebrnwsh1 year, 10 months ago
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It's not necessarily a case of "multi-nationals"..you need to look deeper at the guidance and origination of these monolithic empires then broaden your view to how they got this way and who actually dictates their motives.We're being told there's a significant shortage of food a significant number of times by a very insignificant number of people who have the ultimate power.Ask yourself why is there a very large and seemingly ugly rock under the Queen of Englands throne.Begin there and go back.This may frighten you much more than the newly installed fear of a shortage of food.
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walden31 year, 10 months ago
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"It seemed incredible. A corporation in Alvin, Texas, just an hour and a half by car from Casa Juan Diego, was trying to patent seeds that rice farmers had developed over centuries in India and Pakistan. Actually, they had already done so and were in the process of renewing the patent. Farmers in India and other poor countries would have to pay Rice-Tec in order to plant their own rice. Rice-Tec was claiming the seeds as their private property. The Houston Catholic Worker has been publishing articles for a number of years about policies of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization which make food more and more expensive throughout the Third World. The result has been that the poor of the world, no longer able to grow their own food, cannot afford to eat."
http://www.cjd.org/paper/shiva.html
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canadianrancher571 year, 10 months ago
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Walden3- May I add a extra comment to yours, When Monsanto introduced a Roundup Ready variety of canola up here You had to sign a contract saying you would not use the crop to provide the next years seed, if you stored the seed for 3 years it became your and you could do with it what you wanted, now the new contracts have no time frame in them so you have to buy new seed every year. Another point that concerns me about GMO seeds is that many conventional seeds are disappearing so we are at the mercy of a very large company that cares very little about us or you.
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driller811 year, 10 months ago
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Well I'm not much at reading this type of material, but I must say it is very entertaining. The main reason the big corporations are able to do the things that they do is because the majority of Americans are to lazy to stand up and do anything about it. Most people are so self absorbed that they want to just sit at home and blame someone else. We have raised a bunch of children that are lazy, undisciplinded and unable to join the workforce in a benificial manner. This is why we have a flood of illegal immigrants, they are willing to work and they will start in the traditional way, at the bottom. Our kids want to have Trump's job when they graduate. We are a society of excess with no real value. So I say, keep buying the Suburbans and Expeditions, and DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE. I'll keep the oil coming until you are all broke and disenchanted! By the way, have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS.....
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crghss1 year, 10 months ago
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Where does the article say "American". It's an article about the WORLD! So are you to "lazy" to read the article? "are so self absorbed" that you twist everything so you can spew your self-righteous egotistical attitude towards everyone else?
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Espiritwater1 year, 10 months ago
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Actually, food production isn't "slowly" being taken over by big corporations. It's ALREADY been taken over by corporations. Only about one percent of farms are privately owned now days; the rest are corporate farms. Furthermore, food shortages WILL be a big problem in the days ahead for us Americans (and the rest of the world) because of 1.Global warming and 2.Global peak in oil production. Unfortunately, corporate farms depend on cheap oil for running the farms (and in transporting the food)and in the near future, it will be no more.
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canadianrancher571 year, 10 months ago
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Espirirwater- Welcome to propeller, I will agree that much of farming has come under the control of large companies but corporate farms are still in many cases family farms that are trying to take advantage of tax breaks. I believe that you underestimate these large companies when you say that they will have no cheap energy, because of vertical intigration within these companies they will always have afordable energy it will only be you and I that don't. Just my opinion.
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Charlson1 year, 10 months ago
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To all you neocons: As the world crumbles around you nay sayers, you'll still have what's yours and the hell with everyone else! The classic Nero Complex. Blame someone else for the ills of the world and even your own country but don't participate in maybe doing something nationally or globally to help cure the disease.
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jumpmaster1 year, 10 months ago
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The United States should limit food production. As anyone who grew up in farm country or has even seen a picture of a farm knows, food production requires the consumption of massive amounts of gas and diesel fuel. The burning of these fuels produces greenhouse gases, contributes to global warming, and depletes the world supply of oil.
The US has always been criticized for being a huge oil consumer and for meddling in the affairs of other countries. If we reduce food production we can accomplish two things in one sweep. We can help the environment by using less oil and we can stop shipping food overseas (meddling in other countries' affairs).
Rome wasn't built in a day but this could get us on the road to becoming a better global citizen.
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Ratskii1 year, 10 months ago
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The bee die-off is a recent issue that is contributing to food scarcity. Using corn and soybeans to produce fuel is another. Not only is it a bad idea in terms of reducing our food resources, but it isn't necessary. Both saw grass and a relative of the canola plant produce as much or more oil and they don't require significant cultivation. Human overpopulation continues to complicate matters. If more insects that are contributors to our food crops begin to die off, the sh** is really going to hit the fan.
Incidentally, global warming will not make more cropland available. It actually reduces the amount of land that can be cultivated (expanding deserts, changing rain patterns, more unpredictable weather) overall.
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