I want to cover the various reasons we prepare. I originally thought I would just knock them all out back-to-back, but the Lord showed me that small spoonfuls, spread out, is a better way to approach this. With that in mind, some of the topics I will write on can be dark and may cause fear. Please remember that fear is an emotion given by God to get us to take action and to help us avoid danger. We can’t be prudent if we don’t know what the danger is. In other words, we don’t stand in fear but we do use it to motivate us.
First in the category that I’m going to call “Signs of the Times” is about Food; what, if any, impact will shortages and rising prices have globally and what might we expect here in America.
Many of you will remember hearing about the food shortages and riots in 2008. For those unaware, doing a Google search for “2008 food riots” will yield over 5.6 million results. That was three years ago, surely things have gotten better! They have actually gotten worse and I think they will either stay the same, or get far worse.
I gathered so much data for this article that I thought I would add my $.02 and list the source, instead of reinventing a bunch of tiny little wheels. Notice the date of the articles, most of them are very current.
Is There Still a Problem?
Without a doubt there is a problem with the global food supply. There are many reasons for it, ranging from drought to an emerging middle class. Instead of covering data that has been covered by better authors than I, I’ll just connect some dots.
May 6, 2011
Clinton raises alarm on rising food prices
April 21, 2011
20 Signs That Point to a Global Food Crisis
January 22, 2011
Lester Brown: Food crisis 2011 is here
January 14, 2011
Global food chain stretched to the limit
Soaring prices spark fears of social unrest in developing world
September 2, 2010
Fears grow over global food supply
Emerging Middle Class
There are many reasons for this title. I’ll list a few and list some links as well. First off we have an emerging middle class in India and China who are increasing the foods in their diet, often to include meat. This means more grain usage as food for the livestock.
May 4, 2011
Don’t Blame Goldman Sachs for the Food Crisis, Blame The Meat-Loving Middle Class
January 7, 2008
Forget oil, the new global crisis is food
Running the Aquifers Dry (world wide)
I have heard some people say the next big crisis would be fresh water. Researching this gave me a much better understanding of what they were talking about.
March 7, 2011
US farmers fear the return of the Dust Bowl
January 23, 2010
Aquifer Depletion
Water Crisis
**Look at the section called “The concept of Water Stress”
The Result: Food Riots
As I mentioned earlier, there were food riots in 2008. Many of you are aware that a large factor for the riots in Tunisia and Egypt was due to food prices and shortages. Thus far the food riots have been in Africa or parts of third world nations.
March 9, 2011
‘Warning Of ‘Food Price Riots In The UK’
January 30, 2011
Egypt and Tunisia usher in the new era of global food revolutions
January 7, 2011
Fresh rioting breaks out in Algerian capital Algiers
Fresh rioting has broken out in the Algerian capital and several other cities, after days of unrest over food price increases and unemployment.
November 26, 2010
Chinese pupils trash dinner hall in protest at cost of meals
Could We See Shortages and Inflation in America?
I think we are already seeing inflation but I think we’ll only see higher prices. Will people starve? I doubt it but we may well see shortages and people might have to give up the fast food and get back to basics.
March 24, 2011
Prices going up, but Walmart still cheapest
May 9, 2011
Food Prices Going Up As Product Sizes Shrink
February 17, 2011
The Invisible Food Crisis
Food prices are going up everywhere. Will they start rising in America, too?
November 15, 2010
Higher Corn Prices Causing Rising Grocery Prices
October 25, 2010
USDA: Food inflation to accelerate into 2011
October 8, 2010
Soaring prices threaten new food crisis
May 13, 2011 (thanks to George for the link)
Cell Phones Caused Mysterious Worldwide Bee Deaths, Study Finds
What can we do?
Inflation is a fact of life. Whether it sticks to the 4% that the USDA claims or it gets higher, is the only variable. What this might mean is that higher food prices very well (with some fluctuations) could be here to stay.
Now that we know what the danger is, what can we do to be prudent? We can look at food differently. By that I mean, instead of just looking at food as something that is in never ending supply and easily affordable, we can look at as an investment and as an insurance policy. Any type of investment is storing wealth for later use, 401k, stocks, bonds, CD’s and precious metals. Try to looking at your food storage the same way.
Having a stocked pantry now makes possible food shortages a mild inconvenience and not an emergency. Like I said, I don’t know that we will see shortages but I don’t plan on getting in an accident either and yet I still have insurance for it.
We can also take responsibility for making some of our own food. That may be through gardening, container gardening, aquaponics, raising livestock, hunting or any other means. To have a clear conscience I have to admit that we are not having a garden this year. We have decided to evaluate the yard and use some Permaculture principles to make the most of our space. Even if you live in an apartment and the only thing you can do is one small container garden, you will be learning the skill of growing food.
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