While the causes differ, there is an extraordinary amount of recent reports regarding food shortages coming out of late, from a number of locations around the world, including the U.S..
Over 17 million people are currently in crisis and emergency food insecurity levels in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, with another 12 million in across Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, suffering from food shortages, blamed on weather, and a decrease of expected rainfall received in the Horn of Africa, according to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
In Yemen, over 2 million are in need of food aid, with 14 million labeled as "food insecure," with child malnutrition having risen to 63 percent, blamed on poverty, war damage, and a naval embargo by the Saudi-led coalition, with reports of people rummaging through rubbish to survive.
Food shortages in Tanzania is leading to increased political instability, reminiscent of the horror stories we have witnessed coming out of Venezuela over the past few years.
Europeans are also suffering from vegetable shortages, with reports that grocery shelves have been stripped of items such as green produce like lettuce, broccoli and spinach, with other shortages affecting zucchinis, eggplant, and peppers, with signs above the bins stating "Due to poor weather in Europe, there are availability issues on this product. To ensure we offer you the best quality there is a maximum purchase of 6 units."
As the food shortage crisis deepens, prices for these items have also increased dramatically, with the Mirror.UK and other publications reporting a 140 per cent increase in the price of courgettes (zucchinis), a 122 percent increase for broccoli and a 63 percent increase for lettuce, with three supermarket chains rationing the purchase of fresh produce.
In the U.S. it is bacon that seems to be in short supply, as a report from February 1, 2017, states "the country's supply of frozen pork bellies—used for bacon—measured 17.8 million pounds. That's the lowest mark since 1957. Less than one year ago, mind you, America was rolling in bacon, with some 62 million pounds of frozen pork bellies."
So America's "stash" as they call it, of bacon has gone from 62 million pounds to 17.8 million pounds (some reports claim 17.7 million pounds) in just one year? That is quite a decrease. Even more shocking than the decrease of supply is the reason they are giving for it. They are claiming it is because "America, and the world, has been pigging out. Bacon consumption has risen so fast, it's been impossible for farmers to keep pace with demand."
While I would love to delve into how they explain why it is "obvious" that America and the world, has suddenly, in a years period, increased their consumption by triple, the point of this article is food shortages around the globe, and what generally follows "food shock" events like those being reported on above, are food riots, governments toppled as they are warning about in Tanzania, and military intervention with horror stories such as babies starving as seen in Venezuela right now.
The majority of the causes listed are extreme weather events, which we have noted multiple times over the years, continue to increase we constantly see the headlines associated with storms or weather events of late using terms such as "record breaking." Economic issues are also a large factor in many locations across the globe suffering from food shortages, such as Venezuela.
While all the examples listed above have come from 2017 reports, we are reminded of a 2016 report by the National Intelligence Council, offering a dire warning that the demand for food would grow "by at least 35 percent by 2030."
What we are looking at is food inventories down to the point where Europe is rationing sales, yet demand for food is on the rise... anyone else seeing a problem heading our way?
According to the Farmers Report from February 2017, Europe isn't the only seeing issues with produce as the report shows that the Iceberg lettuce industry "as a whole is confronted with a supply gap, there is an issue with onions, supplies remain "tight," with Yellow Squash and weather has caused "tight supplies" with Zucchini.
There are lower inventories of shrimp, salmon, swordfish, king crab and snow crab.
Speaking of seafood, it is well worth noting how the issue of Fukushima radiation and its effects on the our oceans and sea-life, which was the topic of Steve Quayle's QCast on Sunday, has been severely under-reported in the media since 2011 when the earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns, which in turn resulted in millions upon million of tons of radioactive water to be pumped into the ocean, which is decimating the food chain.
Whether it is extreme weather events or economic issues, people cannot live without food and water, and while many of us are grateful that President Trump seems to be bent of turning the U.S. economy around, his election alone cannot do it, there is going to be pain before this is all over. His election was not a magic wand that will made our $20 trillion in debt just disappear, nor our unsustainable benefit programs after decades of mismanagement and uncontrolled spending.
With rumblings now of trade and currency wars heating up, it is more important than ever to take a look around at what is happening all over the world, including here in the U.S., and prepare accordingly.
We have said it before and we will say it again, it is better to be prepared and not need it than to need it and not be prepared. To look at how many countries are suffering from food shortages, with recent reports showing parts of Europe are actually rationing some products, while the ocean sea-life is becoming decimated, and to believe it won't hit home eventually, is naive at best.
Exit Point- I still want to know where all the bacon went!
