The Coming Food Shortage

I read the NY Times' editorial this morning about the problem of food shortage created by farming land for biofuel rather than for food consumption. The editorial discusses the impending impact on supplies for the poor in developing countries. There will be shortfalls. There will be increased hunger and less food aid. After reading the editorial I read the comment section. While there were several informed and astute comments, I thought that Steve in Virginia's was absolutely right on target. Like Steve, I too think that America is in for a rude awakening as we are leveled by circumstance to our proper station in life, as it were. We've been living an elevated, unparalleled lifestyle for the past forty or fifty years, but the E ticket ride is about to be over. Get ready...

Here is Steve in Virginia's commentary:

2008 7:20 am

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Unsurprisingly, inhabitants of this country want to have their cake ... their monstrously inefficient SUV's and pick- up trucks. giant houses and other energy wasting conveniences ... and eat, too.

Eat cheaply, that is.

For too long, this country has been in a state of denial about energy use and the environment. It's hard to point a finger of blame since just about everyone here has made a decision at some point to participate in the sprawl - automobile - development - subsidy game. Why not? For a long time, it was extremely profitable ... at least for some people. For a time .. back in the '50's and '60's ... it was fun, too!

"Little Deuce Coupe" "Rocket Eighty-eight" Rock and roll!

Now, the ground rules have changed. Basic food items are becoming extraordinarily expensive, at the same time the credit system that has financed the sprawl - through - subsidy extravaganza is becoming unwound with almost sadistic deliberation. All individual economic actions are part of a whole; they are not separate from each other. There are stresses that are manifesting themselves throughout the entire global economy; world wide inflation, currency devaluation, deflation of assets and the collapse of banks and investment companies. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke - and his counterparts in the World's other central banks - use the term 'recession' but the actions of the Fed actually spell out 'Depression'. The country has painted itself into an energy consumption corner. 'Peak Oil' has come and brought with it 'Peak Food'.

Americans need to look in the mirror and prepare themselves for hard choices. Either the choices will be made collectively and with some sense of management and shared sacrifice ... or changes will be imposed by circumstance. In the latter case, the sacrifices will be profound and destabilizing.

America is at a crossroads. The 'way of life' that was invented in the period after World War Two is obsolete. All that runs in train ... the automobiles, suburbs, wasteful consumption, wasteful 'development' and the government policies that support these activities is obsolete as well. In the end, all will go into the 'ash can of history', regardless of our denial or the silly actions of government agencies.

Getting rid of the cars and the sprawl will be hard. Seeing McMansions and Walmarts leveled with bulldozers on TV to create farmland will be shocking, but anyone who thinks that we the people can have a decent country without making these sacrifices is fooling themselves. Yes, Virginia, there are limits ... and we are there, already!

— steve, Virginia