Growing your own and the oncoming food crisis

trichrider · Feb 13, 2011

agreed. time to start producing, before it is imperative and before capitalism corrodes away your ability to depend on what you have come to depend on.
once money is no good, no grocery will accept trade or barter, they will be one of the first casualities. gasoline and oils will be the cause of the decline (linked inseperably to dollars) prompting class warfare and the collapse of all productivity.
survivors will have precursory knowledge of foraging and hunting skills and equipment, so being armed will be a massive advantage short term...armament only protects/provides as long as ammunition does (practice will be a key factor (designated gun control)), our hope lies in what one poster called 'survival of the fittest'.
don't know about you, but survival of me and mine is what concerns me.

love to stay and chat, i'm off to pickle some eggs.

paladin420 · Feb 13, 2011

meowman said:
With the rapidly declining bee populations, an oncoming food shortage is not an outlandish concept. Yes, I doubt the US supermarkets will be out of food anytime soon, but atleast the prices will rise, perhaps availability will decline as well. For most of the rest of the world things might not be so rosy though.

But who knows, perhaps genetical engineering will save us all, and keep the Americans fat and jolly, munching away on cheap and readily available food for the rest of their existance.

Conclusion: I have no idea of the future, but having a potato field of your own is always a good idea. Besides the fact your own grows always taste better, they can be stored even over winter.
I am salivating now, thinking of potato fields, wish I could have some of my own new potatoes to sample right now.

( Sort of OT, are new potatoes commonly eaten in the US and the rest of the world? Are they viewed as a delicacy? The only people I know so far that are mad for them, are Northern Europeans in general.)

New potatoes and peas in a white cream sauce one of the early treats in my Fam..

itisme · Feb 13, 2011

If China has a food shortage then the US will have one!

They will demand payment on all the money we owe them and they would take most of it in food, so there is a real chance for a food shortage. Look at all the crazy weather patterns we are having all across the world.

When the ecomomy globalized and everybody went to specailization - EX. Brazil w/ coffee, Florida w/ oranges etc.... we opened our selves up for great shortages of certain crops.

LovableHuggable · Feb 13, 2011

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/303583

Mexico loses 80-100% of crops to freeze, US prices to skyrocket
By Lynn Herrmann.
Houston - The cold weather experienced across much of the US in early February made its way deep into Mexico and early reports estimate 80-100 percent crop losses which are having an immediate impact on prices at US grocery stores with more volatility to come.
Wholesale food suppliers have already sent notices to supermarket retailers describing the produce losses in Mexico and the impact shoppers can expect. Sysco sent out a release(pdf) this week stating the early February freeze reached as far south as Los Mochis and south of Culiacan, both located in the state of Sinaloa, along the Gulf of California. The freezing temperatures were the worst the region has seen since 1957.
According to Sysco’s notice sent out this week:

“The early reports are still coming in but most are showing losses of crops in the range of 80 to 100%. Even shade house product was hit by the extremely cold temps. It will take 7-10 days to have a clearer picture from growers and field supervisors, but these growing regions haven’t had cold like this in over half a century.”

At this time of year, Mexico is a major supplier to the US and Canada for green beans, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, asparagus, peppers and round and Roma tomatoes. Compounding the problem is the freezing cold that hit Florida in December and January.

Click link for more.

Edit: You can also get some more info here. http://www.zerohedge.com/article/sysco-declares-force-majeure-raises-grocery-prices

TruthOrLie · Feb 13, 2011

All you own food growers must have plenty of land and plenty of sunshine. Which I don't have.

I still don't believe you can grow ALL your own food. I'm sure you go to town to buy some snacks. Eat a nice meal once in a while. Pick up a *few* groceries.

You make your own butter? Your own vegetable oils for cooking? Sugar? Salt? Hope you got some citrus growing. Spinach?

zenoonez · Feb 13, 2011

NOKUY said:
you guys will love this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeaYqU2SSJE&NR=1

it really shows what u can do on your own w/ out a bunch of land/property....and if u did have more just imagine.

too bad that most ppl are slaves, and they dont have to be when there is sooooo much that they can do on their own.

like that closet that no one has even seen in years could have been growin weed...lol...but just sayin.

most ppl dont like talking about this stuff tho

Inspirational, however it shows you either you have to do this in an area where there are like minded folks or you will have kids well into their 30s who don't have a family of their own. There are communities like this out there but it will be a long time before they become a viable alternative to the American culture.

FreeThePlant · Feb 13, 2011

the changes in weather happening aren't ALWAYS natural. geoengineering has been in full swing for the last decade, more so recently. these cold fronts and blizzards are almost all manufactured. there is plenty of food for all of us, but the problem is location and transportation. IE., Africa and the truckers who bring us the loads and loads of food to our supermarkets. like that dude said, if gas skyrockets (also manufactured scarcity) to something like 8, 10, 15 dollar gallons....nobody can work, so there you go. the END to our economy as we know it. and you bet your damn dollar that something will happen either militarily or with the government to either impose a new currency or something along the lines of martial law, a new government, etc.

libby · Feb 13, 2011

The reason you can't see his other hand is co's he's got a shot gun in it! :fight:

Midnight · Feb 13, 2011

TruthOrLie said:
All you own food growers must have plenty of land and plenty of sunshine. Which I don't have.

I still don't believe you can grow ALL your own food. I'm sure you go to town to buy some snacks. Eat a nice meal once in a while. Pick up a *few* groceries.

You make your own butter? Your own vegetable oils for cooking? Sugar? Salt? Hope you got some citrus growing. Spinach?

I took this:

And grew this:

Which gave me some of this:

libby · Feb 13, 2011

refferin g to the first post, sorry.

hunt4genetics · Feb 13, 2011

Great Job midnight!
Very inspiring!

Thanks for posting.

motaco · Feb 13, 2011

Yes unfortunately (or rather fortunately) we are never going to run out of food in the west for many many many years to come. That is something that happens to people who have been pushed to the fringes of the Earth.

The difference between cuban and N Korean agriculture is huge. As Lewis Black jokes all the pictures from N Korea are in black and white. But its not the camera things just look that way there. Its cold and grey. Rocky soil and a terrible climate for growing almost anything. Cuba is far better off. You can't just compare them. Its like asking why farmers in Sudan don't just grow crops like farmers in Brasil. One is the desert the other is a rain forest.

Growing food is great. And if you want to grow it to give it to homless shelters and soup kitchens that is even better. Look into "Hunters for the Hungry". A sportsmans group that gives wild game to soup kitchens. They have a sister group for farmers to do the same thing, but I forget their name. But growing to stave off an upcoming global crisis is a bit quixotic.

tennesseetoker · Feb 13, 2011

Gardening is definitely something that anyone could do to same themselves money and it's a great hobby at the same time. If you grow weed why not veggies fruits and stuff its all relative in my mind. Just my two cents. I do think it messed up though that you cant grow all you want and give it to whoever you please. There was a story in the news about a man that was supporting a small town or something with veggies and stuff and the government swept in and took him to court ruling that he couldn't supply the people with that much i think he could help but only to a certain extent. How about that!

Hank Hemp · Feb 13, 2011

Veggie garden is a great way to hide in plain sight. Good way to use up compost I make from my indoor grow soil.

Midnight · Feb 14, 2011

Hank Hemp said:
Veggie garden is a great way to hide in plain sight. Good way to use up compost I make from my indoor grow soil.

Egg Zactly!

stellblue · Feb 14, 2011

The weather really is a minor irritant regarding possible food shortages. It's pretty much a cyclical process all over the world. Even w climate change; some places are getting warmer, some getting colder.

A few people touched on the real issues about why growing your own food is important...but no one mentioned the fact that we are over populating our world compared to how much food is produced over all. So even though the US might not have food shortages, prices will still be rising, and that creates a new under-class of people who fall into the category of food-insecure. If salaries don't rise as the price of food rises more people will be unable to afford the food they're currently used to. And more people will be missing meals.

But the real problems will arise when we have any problems getting enough fuel to ship food around the world in ships, or around our country on trucks & trains; or if our infrastructure fails significantly, say water pipes burst so water service is not reliable to a large segment of a city, or electricity is unavailable for anytime over 7 days, then you're gonna have a bunch of people first looting stores for water & food and then vacating cities...because you can't live w/o a water source or electricity.

stellblue · Feb 14, 2011

Actually folks, what's going on in Egypt began due to food shortages. That's originally what got the people out into the streets to protest. Same in Tunisia, Libya, and even Algeria over this past weekend.

So growing yr own food is always something to strive for. If you live in an apartment building you can grow in containers on your terrace...or use lights, of course...or use all that empty real estate on your roof.

Midnight · Feb 14, 2011

hunt4genetics said:
Great Job midnight!
Very inspiring!

Thanks for posting.

Thank you, that is actually my small garden. I have another one that is much larger on the other side of the yard. Those pics were to show what you can pack into a limited space.

stellblue · Feb 14, 2011

There's actually an entire movement going on all over the world right now called the Transition which is a citizen movement/response to peak oil....from oil dependency to local resilience. Read more about it from links here: http://transitionla.org/Resources.htm

whodare · Feb 14, 2011

you guys who think your small garden in your back yard is gunna feed you are sorely mistaken... youd need somewhere around an acre of land per person...

and supposing it was really a fuel and weather crisis, cause thats likely what it will be, how are you gunna maintain a 4 acre garden without oil...

if the shit hits the fan for real itll be back to the basics... hunting and gathering, maybe when things settle agriculture will return...

realize that farming was the fall back, man was never able to live only off farming until the industrial revolution, before then we grew crops only as a supplement to hunting... no way a family could farm the acreage to feed them year round without anything else...

no offense :ying:

who.d

Growing your own and the oncoming food crisis

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