Can a Food Shortage Be In Our Future?
J. Stromsteen
Is it possible for a rich nation such as America to face a possible food shortage in the future?
In short the answer is yes.
The NY Sun recently ran a story about the surfacing of some food shortages in some areas of the US. It appears that this may be a precursor of what is to come. How can this happen? The answer is in the fact that there are several things that contribute to shortages in whole.
For the most part there has always been enough food for everyone on the planet; this is beginning to change however. The world as a whole is finding itself coming close to maximum capacity and our commodities are becoming more difficult to obtain. Oil is one of the largest commodities we are having difficulty coming by easily. It isn't that we are out of oil, but that the world has tapped out most of the easily accessible oil fields. We have much more oil it is just more expensive than its worth to extract it which puts it out of reach to us.
We are experiencing the same situation with the world's mines. There is not a shortage of ore but we just can't affordably get at it. Essentially this means that there is only a limited supply available at affordable prices. The higher the cost of supplies the fewer people that can afford it; this will of course increase the supplies at unaffordable prices.
Food is not left out of this variable. Again, there is just so much food available in the world; much of it is exported and imported to the highest bidder. At one time the US had a very strong currency and would easily be the top bidder in any market; however, in recent years this has changed. The value of the US dollar has been declining steadily over the last few years. The US is now being outbid by other countries when trying to obtain commodities. China is leading the world in outbidding the US for needed commodities.
The decline of the US dollar will continue as the US continues to print money which results in the value plummeting. With the value of currency declining, the US may find itself with a lessened ability to be the top bidder and may be unable to obtain its resources.
The scenario given above regarding regional food shortage is just the beginning of a number of very shocking changes for America. As a country we have overspent and mismanaged our budget for decades and now it is time to face reality.
It will be a painful process. Protect yourself.
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