Hunger
We’ve all seen the pictures of the African child with distended belly and the plea for money. Maybe we responded, maybe we figured that the money would go anywhere but to that child. But in any event we probably got ‘used to’ seeing it. The shock value wore off. The shocking idea of starvation wore off.
We probably need to be more concerned now.
According to the Guardian, an English newspaper, nearly one billion people worldwide are starving. Each day, 40 million more join their ranks. That’s close to 15 percent of the world going hungry in 2008. That’s serious world hunger.
To quote the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization’s Assistant Director General, “For millions of people in developing countries, eating the minimum amount of food every day to live an active and healthy life is a distant dream….”
2009 promises to be worse. Very, very much worse.
As mentioned before in this appropriately-named blog, we here in the United States have sold and/or given away this nation’s emergency supplies of grains. During all of my lifetime - until recently- we have had three or more years of stores to survive a famine, a program instituted in the 1930’s. We now have… zero. Someone decided we did not need them. They are gone. Widespread hunger in the United States is now a real possibility if there is even a moderate hiccup in food production this year. Or any other year from now on.
Worldwide food stores are now at 90 days, according to some sources. Obviously they are guessing, but I think they are probably in the ballpark. That means if there is a crop disaster, not all of us will last until the following year. You can imagine the panic. Pretty grim stuff.
Frankly, I was expecting war before famine. But now I think I could be wrong. I’m not sure which is worse, but perhaps famine. Well, I suppose I shouldn’t worry about it, because they so often come hard on each other’s heels.
I read a post on MarketWatch.com from someone who is all about stocks and gold. He said that if a person could compress the same value of food into the size of a gold coin, he thought that would be the very best investment for this time. That was sort of a joke. But I think he said better than he realized.
Buy food now. Canned goods from the grocery store, or real survival food such as the Ultimate Family Preparedness Pak which we recommend on this website. Whatever you choose to do, please consider doing it right now, while there is still time to buy it, and money to buy it with.
February 23rd, 2009 at 1:00 pm
It sure doesn’t help that our farmers are paid to NOT grow food. We are really digging ourselves an inescapable hole.