[blam]

"Less than 20% of the world’s population has managed to stockpile more than half of the globe’s maize and other grains"

Well...they have a collective memory of repeated mass starvations. They're taking things seriously.

The last time I can think of that westerners died of starvation was the Ukranians in the 1930's caused by Russia and Ireland in the 1840's caused by a potato (blight) famine.(The Irish population today is still less than it was in 1840 because of that famine)

When the Spanish brought the potato to the new world from Peru/Bolivia, the European population exploded and famines were essentially eliminated. Now, remove the potato from Ireland and see what happened. There are approximately 2500 different kinds of potatoes in Peru and Bolivia. Ireland's downfall was they were dependent on the potato that had the blight...many other potatoes did not.

[Ellendra]

There are approximately 2500 different kinds of potatoes in Peru and Bolivia. Ireland's downfall was they were dependent on the potato that had the blight...many other potatoes did not.

This is one of the many reasons I've started experimenting with true potato seed (TPS). Each seed will produce a plant with slightly different traits, which means the chance of some plants being resistant or immune to a certain disease is far higher than it would be with a monoculture. The downside is, each plant is a little different, and thus there's a chance of undesirable traits showing up as well. But, I'm a plant breeder, and this is the kind of gamble I enjoy :)