Town Crier Alert 2- A Note Of Food System Urgency From Pamm Larry
In my ongoing Town Crier hat, I thought it important to update my Beloved Community about the ongoing food collapse.
I know this is not fun to hear and we are all in overwhelm, but I believe it’s best to be real, especially since we can mitigate the impacts if we act NOW. I have been watching this for years and have kept (mostly) silent but can no longer as it’s here.
The 2022 crops are in. The war in Ukraine continues and the food situation continues to be ‘interesting’ to say the least. Believe it or not, this missive is edited for brevity, but each point is vital to convey the severity of the situation.
It is important to remember that no one can predict the future. But these trends are predicted to continue into 2024 and beyond as it takes time to recover in the food system world when things go awry and we are still in the early collapse stage.
Highlights over the past few months
– Even less fertilizer available next year as energy prices have forced the EU input industry to shut down. Businesses have shut down or curtailed manufacturing due to high energy prices, but now the EU says it will divert energy to make sure households have it to survive winter. Manufacturing, smelting, etc, take time to gear up again. This impacts machine parts and other chemical inputs so we are talking the basics of agriculture and manufacturing on all levels in every sector having to do with food. As an example BASF is moving to China, shutting down a 6 sq. mile plant that has run continuously since the 50s. The whole world is going through a reset.
No matter what your perspective on fertilizers, the implosion of this market is huge and will cause major starvation because it is happening so fast. Industrial seeds need them to grow. No fertilizer, no (or far less) food.
– Grain was down 25-30% in the north this year in places where the governments are publishing data. I don’t believe ours has finalized ours yet, but that may have changed by now. When northern crops are low, global markets count on the South to fill in. Ukraine, one of the largest grain producers in the world, has announced it will not plant a winter wheat crop. -Please note: A volcano eruption in Tonga last January has created a tipping point that has amped everything up Big Time . It is causing temperatures to plummet all across the global south, impacting the growing season down there as they key up to plant 60% of their yearly crops. Historically, the impact of a volcano on the food system peaks at a year and remains for another year at least. This was a huge one (the largest land volcano since they’ve been measured), spewing particles and moisture over 85 miles into the air. I watched a trippy video of the cloud passing a satellite (!!). Brazil is importing wheat as Argentina’s 2022 crops failed. Corn this year seems to be fine, but most of that goes to fuel or corn syrup. I don’t think corn GE’d for fuel is ok for human consumption and we all know about corn syrup’s impact on our health. There are estimates of 50% or more reduction in crops next year due to freezing temps, intense flooding going on around the planet now, droughts in areas and lack of fertilizer. Intense and unusual freezes may be impacting Northern winter wheat crops already. There are ongoing discussions about how the futures markets will be impacted. If it implodes, wholesale prices could as much as triple as the world scrambles for supplies. They will know more in the next 2-3 weeks.
-Distribution- Shipping container backups continue, especially in the Mississippi (since summer) as drought has caused the river level to shrink, while containers full of grains sit in mud. International shipments are still disrupted. Fex Ex, Amazon and most trucking lines are announcing layoffs at a time when they usually increase their workforce for the holidays. Folks are projecting this will impact shipping now and into next year, including food. All point to this as one of many signs of major economic upheaval next year, at the latest, unseen since 2008, probably much worse. Some of the more intense doomers, project it will be worse than the Great Depression. I know that Cisco is laying off 5% of their workforce by the end of the year. Other huge multinationals are doing the same. Not sure if you’ve seen but there are massive protests in China, primarily around lockdowns but the food situation is part of it, too. Other countries are starting to protest (I’ve heard, but have not confirmed, that number at around 25-27 of them so far).
-50 million birds (chickens mostly) have been culled due to Avian Flu in the US. So far. This has just started.
And while there is nothing we can do about all the above, we can do something about this next one:
-Hearing even more talking about shortages of basic gardening equipment and seeds nationwide as people realize that they will have to grow more of their own food….as early as Christmas (that’s others saying this, not me).
I have been trying to sound the alarm for a few years now
….then months and now we are possibly down to weeks. Food prices have gone sky high and will get much worse- my sources say at least doubling again next year. While I, and many I follow, hope we are wrong, we are extremely concerned.
Why is this information difficult to find online or in the news? I won’t go into all of it, but know that governments have no incentives to talk about this as people will freak out. There are more hints of it in the EU media and remember that once we start hearing about it more here, it’s dire in the background. And we’ve been hearing more. Please: stock up on food staples as from what they are saying, food will be expensive or potentially unavailable soon, no matter what you are willing to pay for it. The good news (?) is that I keep hearing we will be one of the last countries to feel what’s coming, but it is “here” already in many others. Some countries in the EU are predicted to go on food rationing this year. I’m hearing primarily about Germany and the UK but who knows? Intense doomers predict rationing across the planet.
What to do about all this?
It’s simple, really. Grow more food in your back yard. Grow more food with people. Support local farmers who grow food for you here. Support and help community, church and school gardens flourish.
Order your seeds NOW.
Order your garden equipment NOW .
Create food support cooperative podlettes with your neighbors or and/or friends. Join our 1000 Acres More project and get more actively engaged in growing food with others.
We are doing our best to support folks growing food, so reach out and sign up to get help getting a garden in after the holidays via our Garden Brigade. We’ll do our best to serve all we can. If you have the means, please donate to our Blitz Scholarship Fund to get gardens in as many places as we can. We are also building Free the Food Stands to have mini food pantries all over the county so keep an eye out for when we will be reaching out to the community to find Stand Hosts. Donate to a seed fund so we can get tons of squash seeds here to plant in Spring community wide. They supply calories and grow tons of servings per seed.
I believe on the other side of the transformations coming, things are going to be Most Excellent as the world transitions into a new one, unfamiliar to us today. But the ride there, the next few years, is going to be intense and we must stand strong, not bowing to what may be in store. We CAN do this if we stick together, as we live in an area that can feed us and we have a strong community.
I’m planning on all of this being wrong, but as the saying goes: Trust in God and tether your camel.
Blessings to us all as we continue the ride…
