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Global deep freeze threatens 2010 food supply
Tuesday, January 12, 2010  by Mike Adams
http://www.naturalnews.com/027924_food_supply_weather_patterns.html

(NaturalNews) The global deep freeze now striking North America, Europe, 
China and other regions may lead to severe food shortages and price hikes 
throughout 2010. Right now, rare freezing temperatures are destroying root 
crops in their ground, wiping out citrus orchards and devastating food 
producers around the world. The upshot of it all? Expect food shortages and 
rising food prices throughout 2010.

This global deep freeze is all part of the extreme weather now being 
unleashed on the planet due to human beings polluting the world and altering 
the atmosphere. Scientists can't agree on whether the trend is global warming 
or global cooling, but no one can argue that something's wrong with the 
weather.

Rainfall and temperature patterns that used to be reliable are now going 
haywire. Where there were once reliable seasonal rains, there are alternating 
periods of drought followed by floods. Where temperatures were once mild and 
predictable, they're now fluctuating out of control, becoming too hot in the 
summer and too cold in the winter.

All this adds up to escalating crop failures that are now poised to have a 
real, noticeable impact on the global food supply.

"Sub-zero temperatures have made it impossible to extract some vegetables 
from the ground. Producers of brussels sprouts and cabbages are all reporting 
problems with harvesting. Cauliflowers are said to have turned to mush in the 
sustained frost," says a story published in The Guardian 
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/j...)

It goes on to report:

"In Ireland, 6,000 acres of potatoes remains unharvested and there are claims 
that up to three-quarters of the crop may be ruined. Potato growers in 
Northern Ireland say they are facing some of the biggest losses in recent 
history because of frost damage."

The UK Press Association also reports, "Food shortages are feared as it 
emerged that farmers are struggling to harvest vegetables in the big freeze, 
which will lead to higher food prices and damage small businesses." 
(http://www.google.com/hostednews/uk...)

New is also surfacing that the world's orange juice supply may now be 
destroyed:

"Growers in the sunshine state fear an even worse arctic blast Sunday night 
will decimate their crop, which accounts for 40-percent of the world's orange 
juice supply." (http://www.necn.com/Boston/Nation/2...)

All this destruction of food is already causing prices to rise. "Greengrocers 
in some of the worst-hit areas are reporting shortages, with the price of 
carrots and parsnips reportedly rising by 30% in some small shops," reports 
The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/j...)

Similar reports are also coming out of China, which has been hit hard by 
freezing weather.

Global food supply is now threatened
The global deep freeze now devastating crops around the world leads to one 
inescapable conclusion: Food prices will rise throughout 2010. They were 
already on the rise in 2009, but thanks to the big winter freeze, they're 
headed much, much higher this year.

This may be much more than a one-time crisis, too. As reported in The 
Telegraph:

"For years, academics such as Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City 
University, gave warning that we were 'sleepwalking' into a future where our 
food security was likely to be seriously undermined, whether by natural 
disasters, rising fuel costs, climate change or the massive pressures placed 
on the global food system by a rising population." 
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodandd...)

The fact is that plentiful food depends on cheap oil, fossil water aquifers 
and predictable weather. And all three are coming to an end! Unpredictable 
weather, in particular, is upon us right now.

In the years ahead, radical weather patterns will continue to compromise food 
production around the world. Floods, freezes, hurricanes and droughts will 
all take their toll. The result will be increased food prices and decreased 
food supply.

During this crisis, more people will be forced to turn to low-cost processed 
foods that will further promote diseases like obesity, cancer and heart 
disease. Fewer and fewer citizens of the world will be able to afford fresh, 
organic produce because it is precisely the fresh produce that's more easily 
destroyed by radical weather events.

This means, of course, that food-producing land will greatly increase in 
value, especially if it can produce food year round. And that means people 
who own such parcels of land in Hawaii, California, Southern France, Mexico 
or even places like Peru or Ecuador will find their properties steadily 
increasing in value. Wherever fresh food can be reliably produced in the 
years ahead, properties will tend to increase in value.

Land in areas hit by drought, floods or fossil water shortages, on the other 
hand, will collapse in value. Some areas that used to be fertile farmland 
will turn to desert. Others will suffer severe soil erosion from rains and 
storms. The ability of the world to produce fresh food is going to be 
compromised by unpredictable weather events.

The era of easy food is over
Since the 1940's, we've lived in an age of easy food. But that food bubble is 
now collapsing, and as it does, it's going to catch most people off guard. 
Some will be able to compensate by simply paying much higher prices for the 
fresh food they need, but most people will not be able to afford to pay much 
more for food, so they'll turn to processed, long-shelf-life food instead. 
And before long, they will join the ranks of the diseased as a result.

Remember: Living food keeps you alive. Dead food makes you dead. The more 
fresh, living food you consume, the healthier you'll be. Sadly, our 
interference with the global climate is resulting in radical weather patterns 
that are destroying huge quantities of fresh produce, greatly reducing the 
supply of "living" food.

The alternative for individuals or families is to grow your own food. Grow as 
much as you can in your own gardens. Food security is the issue of the 
decade, I believe, and those who don't have the ability to grow at least some 
portion of their own diet may find themselves in an increasingly difficult 
position in 2010 and beyond.