Can America Ever Be Short of Food?

Economics
#1

Quote:
There could be trouble on the near horizon for the United States food supply as multiple factors could lead to scarcity at the grocery store.
Agricultural experts are sounding the alarm for 2023 as inflation, uncooperative weather, and federal regulations are set to strain American farmers and other producers.
In November, the food-focused website Mashed, citing a variety of news sources, food experts and research institutes, listed food and food products that may become much harder to find next year.
They include bread, vegetable oil, corn, butter, tomatoes and even champagne and beer.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine — a country with an agricultural output that makes it a bread basket to the world — is expected to reduce Ukraine’s crop production by between “35 and 45 percent".
All these factors, both natural and man-made, could spell major problems — for American agriculture, and American consumers.

We need your comment, Jeanne.

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#2

I agree. We produced fewer bushels of corn and soybeans, because of two factors; fertilizer cost and weather. Our gardens failed or produced less, because of weather.

The costs of new machinery and replacement parts (if you can get them) is starting to become prohibitive…and large ticket items are beginning to pile up on the sellers, yet they are not willing to reduce the prices, yet.

The cost of groceries is still high, and if supply chain or crop failures catch up to the stores, will probably go higher. Diesel fuel remains high, even when regular unleaded gas drops. I was wondering about the diesel fuel shortage, so:

I don’t think America will be short of food. But, it might not get to where it needs to go, and it might cost more. And, there might not be all the various types of food we have now. Our food is tied to energy availability and cost. It seems this past year or two that there have been food items which suddenly became very scarce, but then came back gradually. Why is there still a formula shortage problem?

How far behind are supplies getting? Have all the factors mentioned in the article caught up with food supplies, yet, and when will they? The author says what we have been hearing and reading; that 2023 will bring in a worsening for supply and prices.

Combine that with rising costs of everything else, tax increases, and with property assessments going much higher, and the family budgets get tighter and tighter.

We have plenty of brews, but the costs to produce are going up, as is the cost of buying for the restaurant. So, you decrease serving size, cut menu items, and raise prices…but not so as to run off the customers. And…hope things don’t get too bad, before they will, hopefully, get better.

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#3

Of course the infuriating thing about it is that it’s a created crisis - created deliberately by the scumbags who now run our government who are quite happy to see us all hurtling over the cliff in a handbasket. Cloward - Piven is a success!

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#4

Thanks, Jeanne.

I deduce from what you say, and the article, that the shortages and high prices are the result of the bad government we have been enduring for the past two years.

How likely is it that it would have happened - in equally bad weather - in a Trump presidency? Very unlikely, I would say.

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#5

I call it warfare by government capture.

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#6

Yes, it is bad governing…or governing with an evil agenda. Commercial fertilizer comes from petroleum products. Petroleum products move supplies. A war with Russia in Ukraine screwed up multiple supply processes, while putting us farther in debt during difficult times at home. The Obama/Biden agenda crippled the country on top of the economic disaster of Covid Lockdown.

The environmental agenda has reached its highest peak so far in regulations, including some that came back when Trump was not re-elected. They are itching to do further damage to agriculture, while selling US land to foreigners and federalizing all private property that they can.

They want change NOW! And for the sake of humanity, we can’t do change now, but they don’t care, and are willing to plunge developed nations into third world status, destroy capitalism and the world markets, devalue our dollar and allow the global oligarchy to rule and/or China, whichever works best to limit humans and pro-human activity. It may be a hundred years before we can safely do the change that they want now. Unless an alien species appears and bestows upon the Earth cheap, clean energy that works like “fossil fuels” and “peace, peace, peace” or some such scenario. Cold fusion where are you?

So, I don’t expect things to get better, but I do hope the US can hang on by its teeth until a regime change destroys the Obama/Biden agenda and truly builds back better under a revitalized Congress and a conservative republican WH.

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#7

The change they want is not to be desired even100 years from now.

It is misery, poverty, want, fear, oppression.

Peace? Impossible.

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#8

I mean the change they want to force agriculture and other stuff that makes the world work now into.

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#9

Is it desirable change if it could be brought about?

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#10

Exactly - it’s not a desirable change - it never was and never will be. No one should ever have even accepted the premise to begin with.

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#11

The change I am writing about is concerning farming practices, EV vehicles, more crops on less land, better fertilizers, better ways of eliminating pests and weeds, eliminating the “fossil fuels” for something better and cheaper (cold fusion actually working), hydroponics replacing much dirt-grown crops, sky-scrapers of fields, artificial meats and dairy products. Stuff of science fiction.

The “Peace” I was writing about came from those “benevolent aliens” who also brought the Earth cheap and clean energy.

I am not referring to the political, social and economic change that they want to force upon us. My whole post was about food, which is what the topic is.

There is no way NOW to put these plans for change into reality. I don’t believe that the rice and wheat needed to feed the world can be grown in a sky-scraper. I don’t believe that farming practices can alter as much as they want…ever, maybe. Robotic planting and harvesting…sure, but dirt and lots of it is still needed. Fertilizer of some sort is still needed, as are pesticides and herbicides. And reliable and heavy duty fuel for energy is still needed. The PTB think they can just demand that it all change and then everything will work out just fine. It can’t be done, now.

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#12

The thing is, the PTB don’t want to improve it - they want to destroy it - and us. We’re the Kulaks now.
(I’m sure a few of the things you mention would be helpful, but they can’t help without the use of fossil fuels, which are cheap, and actually cleaner than the electric crap.)

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#13

You are correct, Liz, the PTB are happy that everything will turn out rotten. That is what they want, but that is not what they tell the people, whose lives they will affect.

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