There is a Hunger Coming Like a Run-Away Freight Train: Created by Congress July 25, 2009 Clint Richardson I've driven the almost 400 mile stretch of Interstate 5 from L.A. to Sacramento dozens of times. Quite honestly, it's as boring as it gets with only the usual gas stations, mini-marts, fast-food, home-cookin' restaurants, and strangely a newer batch of Starbuck's Coffee shops sprouting up everywhere. In be tween... farms, orchards, cattle, and dirt. On July 15th, as I began my trip to Utah, I came off the Grapevine decline and hit the flat 250 or so mile stretch of interstate which begins the farming belt in the valley. Almost immediately I noticed what I had only heard about on the radio and in the papers. Where once there were vast fields of green, now there where empty, barely recognizable rows of unplanted dirt and growing weeds. Only sporadically at first, but once I passed Bakersfield and for about a 200 mile stretch, I could not believe my eyes. Field after field laid fallow. And not really fallow, but unattended... as if it was not going to be planted in the near future either. Signs were staked in the ground on almost every patch of barren farmland. The most common one, which was yellow and obviously a group effort to wake up the sleeping travelers of their future plight, read: "CONGRESS CREATED DUST BOWL" Others, which looked more homemade were posted on non-operational farm equipment parked as close to the freeway as possible, stated things like: "FOOD ONLY GROWS WHERE WATER FLOWS" -and- "NO WATER = NO JOBS = NO FUTURE" At one point, after 150 miles or so of seeing this horror, I broke down in tears and had to pull over to the side of the road. I saw the aqueduct, which followed Interstate 5 most of the way, and large fields of dead trees which were planted just a few feet from the flowing cement river. I imagined how those trees would feel, imprisoned in the dying dirt by their own roots, if they could indeed comprehend that their source of life was just a stones throw away. It was like some horrific story-book come to life; science fiction in real time. I was thinking of the farmers and their families and wondering what would become of them and their land. I was thinking about the consequences of hundreds of miles of food no longer being grown, and adding together the other states like Campo, Colorado which have the same situation... only planting 60% of their crops this year. This deadness went on until the brink of civilization once again began to show. When I approached the Stockton/Modesto highway interchange area the carnage seemed to stop, and the fields appeared to be healthy and bountiful. I can only guess that this is because more people drive on that stretch of the freeway, and so the powers that be are trying to keep up appearances. No other explanation came to mind. To the readers of this, I can only say that living in the city has literally blinded me to the truth, even though I knew it was happening. I wonder how many other things I ignore? Many economists and trends predictors have called for food shortages and food riots in the fall, and with what I saw last week, I have new reason to believe them. But then, that's the real problem isn't it? Belief... If you believe that the food will continue to flow (magically appearing on store shelves in a grocery store near you) and just dismiss the very real claims of shortages worldwide, including a severe wheat shortage in this country due to a harmful fungus, then I might boldly say that you deserve whatever fate befalls you. I challenge you all to take a drive up the 5 and see this for yourself. Please! Don't let this go unseen. If you are camera or video savvy, I think it would be a really great photo exhibit or website showing the true nature of our common problem. And you better believe, as you take your daily shower, flush your toilet, and water your fertilized-non-edible grassy yards, that this is indeed a Congress created crisis. So please tell as many people about it as possible. Lastly, if you haven't already... buy storable food! Go to the dollar store and buy rice and beans. B uy pasta, canned and jar foods, or anything with a shelf-life of more than 6 months. What's the worse that can happen? You'll have food for 6 months. What's the best that can happen? You'll have food for 6 months. Take care. Spread this information. Get mad. Fight tyranny. And... Don't be a sheep. Clint Richardson
Only thing I can see is weekly Corn looks ready to rocket and the 6 monthly swing would support a prolonged push. Wheat and Oats don't look ready yet.
I see we have another fear monger..... Your head is working a lil too fast cowboy. No shortage is coming. Time for you to float back down from cloud 9.
This guy would make a good fiction writer. I shouldn't have to tell you that there are a lot of crackpots in Cali. Try taking a drive through Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, etc. You'll be completely surrounded by agriculture. No food shortage there. I guess it's just a California thing.
Bumper crop of crops in the midwest this year. Absolute gangbusters with soybeans, corn, wheat and all the food crops.
california supplies most of the seasonal vegatables consumed in the united states. they cant be replaced in other parts of the country. you can have fresh vegatables year around because california is so big. for instance lettuce is a seasonal crop with a short season but because california is so big the crop is spread out from yuma to salinis and lasts almost 9 months. lettuce is harvested in the winter in the yuma area and goes up the state to finish out in salinis in the fall. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28843318
Yeah. And besides, the stretch of I-5 that he's talking about is mostly cotton. And the kicker is..... cotton is subsidized. Farmers there make their farm plan to maximize their farm sudsidies. Some tomatoes, cantaloupe, and a smattering of almonds, pistachios, and grapes. So even the food crops are luxury items. The water issue is a big one though. The San Joaquin River hasn't flowed to the Bay Area for decades, after Millerton Dam was built near Fresno. The fight to get enough water down the SJR has been going on for a long time too. I grew up there, and when I was younger, there were still guys around that would tell stories about how you could go down to Skagg's Bridge and pitchfork salmon out. And the soil is so alkaline near I-5 that they need to use drain tile to keep from salting up the soil. What you do is over irrigate, and that leaches out a little of the salts, and then the tail water is drained out into the river bed - it's dry there anyway, IIRC. Basically, around I-5, it's marginal soil that should never have been used in the first place. The problem will be nearer to the center of the valley, Hwy 99, where the soils are just fine for ag. The water "loss" to the river just might end up in some of those going fallow also, since a lot of the water captured by the dam is used for irrigation. If they get less, farmers will start using their wells more, which will drop the water table. Then the city wells go dry. So the county enacts legislation that limits pumping. Farming slackens. Then jobs are lost. But the Midwest faces many of the same problems. They've been pumping out the groundwater for decades too.....
Thanks for the hilarious replies. I have no idea what grows where OR how real the issue is SO... I used a ? mark in the title... because I looked at the charts and couldn't see broad alarm bells. Thanks for the constructive comments from those who can read. For the rest of you ET rabble, let a chart or fundamental reasoning do the talking
And on June 5, Obama decided to reduce water supplies by 500,000 acre feet. This will cause between 40-60k jobs lost. http://www.povertyandhunger.org/CongressCreatedDustBowl.html <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Db3FOygL0Ds&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Db3FOygL0Ds&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Good link, thanks. So it's "the fruits, nuts, and vegetables we buy from US grocery stores that come from California" Mentioned before and explained here. I'll keep my powder dry on the grains for a while but I'm glad to be aware of a ridiculous problem. If that is the attitude to one food supple how safe is the rest?