Posted on 04/14/2017 9:21:42 AM PDT by Lorianne
Almost 2 billion people now rely on imported food, new research shows.
The study, conducted by scientists at Aalto University in the Netherlands, is one of the first to analyze the connections between resource scarcity, population growth and food imports. It was published this week in the journal Earth's Future.
"Although this has been a topic of global discussion for a long time, previous research has not been able to demonstrate a clear connection between resource scarcity and food imports," postdoctoral researcher Miina Porkka said in a news release. "We performed a global analysis focusing on regions where water availability restricts production, and examined them from 1961 until 2009, evaluating the extent to which the growing population pressure was met by increasing food imports."
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
Environmentalists want us to buy locally whenever possible, to reduce energy consumption when getting foodstuffs to market. In my home town is a health food store that proudly tells everyone that most of their products are grown or made within the same state. But here you can see why it isn’t feasible on a national scale.
Its because the Population Control crowd doesn’t want the third world to become self-sufficient.
They don’t want them developing the energy sources or agricultural capacity.
They are afraid of them demanding control over their own natural resources.
They are RACIST and don’t want to compete with these populations.
The planet can handle the growth just fine, its the elitists who have the problem.
I’m not sure about that.
Egypt for example used to be called the breadbasket of the Roman empire, but today they cannot feed their population (which is rapidly growing). They also don’t have enough other resources to trade for food, so they are dependent on food aid. There is a point at which a population can outstrip its food production capacity.
Interesting that California is on the brink of local insufficiency - the only US state so crippled.
And is that Germany that’s in trouble in Europe?
That may be true, but the Population Control crowd isn’t omnipotent. Either the resources can/can’t support the local population, or the culture won’t sufficiently pursue productivity. The PC crowd may meddle, but I don’t think they’re _that_ influential.
I always had a garden, learned how to bottle and can my harvest...
Now that I live in an apartment complex, I learned how to grow my garden in flower pots in the house...
The West side of my apartment has nothing but windows, and the sun shines at least 6 hours a day with flower pots on plant stands and growing my garden...
On my ‘cross over’ bar from the kitchen to the hallway, I have little pots with herbs...
You can grow enough vegetables to bottle and can to get through the winter...if you want to take the time and the know how to do it...
I don't worry about what ‘chemicals’ are being sprayed on my garden because it's grown inside the home...amazing what you can grow...and it's safe...
Go on line and learn how to do it...teach your children all of this, there is going to come a time when this is what your going to have to do...relying on one’s self and the sun to help you live...
Some of it may be true but look at the fact they included California. That is just plain nuts. If California kept all of its food resources in state they have more than enough. California is a food exporter...to the entire world
Something in the analysis is off
Gee, folks are discovering the history of agriculture and the development from where there was mainly subsistence farming by individual families to the development of technology that has permitted farmers to produce enough food to feed more than their own family. For a microcosm of this, look at the development of the McCormick reaper, steel plows, the tractor, & etc that occurred in the US in the 1800s as one example.
The map shows California is “approaching scarcity”?
What sort of study would conclude that? California grows a huge amount of food of all kinds and exports most of it.
Or maybe that’s blue blob on the Western part of the US is meant to be covering the western desert states of NV, AZ, and NM?
Amen, HarleyLady! Growing food -even in a small garden - is becoming a lost art. This should be taught to all children, I think especially in the inner cities —use some of that “bombed out” space to build gardens. Learn a life long skill —education can never be taken away from you....
“If California kept all of its food resources in state they have more than enough. California is a food exporter...to the entire world.”
That’s surely true! And in nearly 77 years, I have always had the best food in the world to consume here in CA. The fact of the matter is that California is the sole source for a long list of fresh fruits and vegetables for the entire country. Just fly over California’s Central Valley and you can see for yourself, millions of acres of these products being grown year round. I drive through the Salinas Valley quite often. No matter the time of year, if you are trying to drive from Salinas to Monterey at 6 a.m. you get caught in the “field hands commute.” They do rotate the crops, but something is always being grown on every acre of land there.
If kept our California-grown food in-state, we would be buried under a mountain of rotting food. You have to drive around the state to really appreciate how big ag I see here. Every time I travel a new back-country road here, I find more ag I didn’t know existed. You don’t have to travel but a few miles out of the SF Bay Area in any direction to find local ag of all kinds.
Germany was never self-sufficient in food. That’s why the British blockade was so successful in World War 1. While all populations suffered, the Germans were already on reduced caloric intake as early as 1915, and the winter of 1916-1917 was called the “Turnip Winter.” By 1918, Germany was starving.
It was the failure to feed the home front that ultimately caused her internal collapse.
While the article says 2 billion people are dependent on imported food, the other side of the coin is that 5 billion people are not. World food supplies per capita are probably higher now than they ever have been.
Hitler used that as justification for Germany acquiring Lebensraum.
It is one of the only things I miss about California
The Germans were somewhat better fed in World War 2.
The Russian and Polish peasants starved to death so the Germans could eat.
Also politics and other factors also take a toll.
All cultures, races and political systems aren't equally proficient at food production for various reasons.
Look at Rhodesia vs. Zimbabwe.
The country went from Rhodesian Bread Basket to Zimbabwean Beggar Basket.
The land now known as Zimbabwe contains the most fertile farmland on the African continent.
As Rhodesia it was known as the breadbasket of Africa, exporting wheat, corn and other crops to the rest of Africa and to other continents.
Then white rule was forcefully ended in Rhodesia by touchy-feely whites in Britain the USA and elsewhere.
Blacks basically confiscated most of the farms; many whites were killed in the process and others were driven off the land without compensation.
Then agricultural production plummeted and within a very short time the country couldn't even produce enough to feed itself.
.
Sure, a place like Hong Kong is not able to grow food but there is no reason for people to be hungry in Egypt or in the Middle East.
The land, if cultivated properly, is well able to support them.
A couple points:
1- Helping to develop the energy resources goes a long way toward improving agricultural productivity.
2- Providing food directly, discourages motivation for self-sufficiency.
3- Oppressive governments also benefit by minimizing self-sufficiency and mobility among the populace.
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