Food for Gold
by Byron Alblas
(Yorkton, SK, Canada)
Dear Reader,
What would you do if we ran out of food? Would you cry and wait for government help?
After talking with Levi, (Yes, I had a reading and it was worth every penny and then some), my mind has been filled with ideas and reaching for the consequences of the actions of our loving leaders.
One of the safe topics we discussed was the state of our worlds food supply. And how the people of this world are in a world of hurt when reality hits home. I hope this post does not interfere with anything that he has chosen to blog about but reading what others are saying leaves me with the notion that it should be mentioned.
As I have said before I am a long haul truck driver in North America. But I have also worked all sections of the food supply industry and know that things are not good. I have the opportunity to drive and see what things look like on the ground first hand.
I watched this spring as crops did not get planted on time.
I watched this summer as the crops either were burned by the sun or drowned by the rain. And I watched as the fall harvest failed repeatedly across the United States because of rain when things should have been drying down and then finally snow and freezing temperatures just when it seemed that the farmers would get the chance to save their crops.
Let's put it simply. The 2009 crop season has failed.
I watched the grain dryers from miles away as they struggled to remove the excess moisture in the harvested cereal and pulse crops. The steam clouds can still be seen rising up from any grain elevator in the West and Mid West that you care to look at.
The high cost of drying is enough to send all food costs higher. But also is the fact that much of the grains are only good for feed quality. That means that it is unfit for human consumption due to mold, low protein count, and the freezing of the starches before processing.
So what happens? Care to take a guess?
Everything is fine. This is what is going to be said right up to the point when all food production stops. Not to mention the horrific mess that the legislature has made of California's agriculture. Why do people seem to read/hear about it and then dismiss it as sad but not their problem?
Nobody is going to admit that they were asleep at the wheel.
Now most of the people in the cities and maybe even some of you reading this say to yourselves, "why should I care? Food comes from the store, and it is made in factories."
This may be true of the colouring or the preservatives but not of the basic building blocks of food. The Starches, the flours, the proteins, and fats.
These are all dependent upon the agriculture of the nation that is eating them. When that fails the nation fails.
Food takes time to grow and prepare. There is no factory in California or the world that makes ham. Or chicken, or wheat. When there is a shortage due to crop failure we cannot wave our Harry Potter magic wands or ramp up production to make more of it.
WE RUN OUT.
Nothing fancy, just simple mathematics.
You cannot create something from nothing.
There will come a time where you may remember fondly that half eaten pack of fries that you threw out and curse yourself for not consuming those calories. (Don't use this as a license to pig out!)
Or you may sacrifice your morals towards your fellow man or your very self-image and physical integrity for an extra ration. This happens to many people everyday in Third World Countries.
Food could very well be the most valuable commodity on the stock market in the future. Wouldn't it be interesting if food became the new monetary standard backed by gold?
The whole world had bad crops this year. And the PTB are going to continue telling all of us that everything is fine.
Nobody had bumper crops.
Everybody needs to think for themselves.
Take care,
Byron Alblas
