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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Global deep freeze threatens 2010 food supply
  • Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:57:27 -0700


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.




  • [Livingontheland] Global deep freeze threatens 2010 food supply, Tradingpost, 01/12/2010

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