My Errant Mind

Global food shortages are just around the corner if something doesn’t change soon. Some people suggest we’re already in the midst of just such a crisis, while others are optimistic that any such crisis can be averted.

One thing is sure: whether global warming is naturally occurring, the result of human activity, or a combination of both—it is going to exacerbate the situation as weather patterns become increasingly unpredictable.

An additional consideration is that increasing deforestation and widespread adoption of industrial scale agriculture will lead to more desertification and loss of valuable micro-habitat that certain species need to survive. Here in America, species that thrive in edge-growth, such as quail for example, are finding their habitat shrinking. Similar things are happening on a global scale. These things, coupled with the water shortage that the world is predicted to face beginning at the middle of the century bodes ill for everyone.

However, steps are being taken to address these issues. In many developing nations, there are efforts underway to educate and train farmers in improved agriculture methods. Reducing and eventually eliminating slash and burn agriculture will help in some respects, yet much more needs to be done. In some nations, staple foods are undergoing substitution as food costs, population growth and exports outstrip the capacity for production.

The UN recently set up a food crisis task force to address the needs of the world’s starving at the direction of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. An estimated 100 million are going without food right now and as the global population jumps from around 6.5 billion to an estimated 9 billion before the end of the century, a dire situation faces the world’s population if aggressive measures aren’t taken.

Wheat and rice prices are soaring. The price of rice in some places has doubled in the last six months. Wheat has risen by as much as 130%. Around the globe, labor unions and workers are protesting current global economic situations and the rising price of food.

Even here in America, land of plenty and amber waves of grain, there are concerns as people in the northeast part of the country have begun hoarding staples and other foods. Cooking oil, flour, rice and even grain stocks are being horded across the country. Rising gasoline prices aren’t helping things either.