China May Have Beaten Coronavirus, But Now It Could Be Facing a Food Crisis

ElCubano · Apr 5, 2020

Who the hell is buying up all the TOFU?

ground zero · Apr 5, 2020

The problem is not that there is a food shortage. The bigger problem with food is that the delivery system is showing signs of breaking down. If the virus keeps surging, the delivery system could be severely impacted, which in turn could contribute to the scarcity of many food items, especially if those items are from out of your regional delivery system, or from out of state. The liquor store is even limiting items now.

S2007S · Apr 5, 2020

zdreg said:
A minor food shortage would be good for the US and Western Europe where obesity is a major health problem.
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Agree. I know people who cant go a few hours without eating and if they miss a meal they get really worn out and stressed. I can go for 24+ hrs without food or very little to no food and still be my regular self. I do not drink coffee and get maybe 5 hrs a sleep in a night. Many people are not conditioned to eating lightly, they need there 4 meals a day, and yes obesity is rampant here in the US and even after years of information and all the facts of how obesity cuts your lifespan down people still insist on eating and eating and eating. Good thing my BMI is a healthy one!!!

S2007S · Apr 5, 2020

ground zero said:
The problem is not that there is a food shortage. The bigger problem with food is that the delivery system is showing signs of breaking down. If the virus keeps surging, the delivery system could be severely impacted, which in turn could contribute to the scarcity of many food items, especially if those items are from out of your regional delivery system, or from out of state. The liquor store is even limiting items now.
More...

Everything is being limited, so far everyone has kept their cool but if this goes on for another 2-3 months I could see people breaking down and start to protest, of course 17 feet apart ....haaaa

R1234 · Apr 5, 2020

maybe this will make the Chinese appreciate vegetarianism/veganism in the future

keesa · Apr 5, 2020

ElCubano said:
Who the hell is buying up all the TOFU?
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I think the shortage is due to the shutdown of TOFU manufacturers.

Trader Curt · Apr 5, 2020

R1234 said:
maybe this will make the Chinese appreciate vegetarianism/veganism in the future
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Nah, they keep chickens as pets and eat dogs

Amun Ra · Apr 5, 2020

zdreg said:
A minor food shortage would be good for the US and Western Europe where obesity is a major health problem.
More...

I don't think its possible for the US to have a food shortage. We produce way more than we consume. If I remember correctly we produce about 10% of the worlds food supply. We're only 4.2% of the world. We could lose half our crops and there would still be enough for us.

If it got to a point where we were starting to run low on food, that would means 100s of millions have already starved in other countries, which would already lead to wars in those same countries where millions more would be killed.

toc · Apr 5, 2020

It's all over for Covid 19. Ivermectin is the good word.

Australian lab put this anti parasitic drug into test and it killed 99% of virus within 48 hours. This test was outside the human body i.e. in a dish. Few more tests inside the human body and bye bye corona the evil.

Trump made a good call on Hydroycholorquine, but it seems it works much better on those who are diagnosed early and treated quickly. Still, these two meds are already being used so no more FDA type delays should happen.

Still this covid put up a good fight but when the whole humanity came together the evil had to pussy off !!

BTW FOLKS, IVERMECTIN IS A POISON USED TO KILL PARASITES AND WORMS. SO DO NOT TAKE IT WITHOUT CONSULTING A DOCTOR. IT IS NOT A PREVENTIVE AT ALL AND IS HIGHLY TOXIC AND HAS SEVERAL SIDE EFFECTS. CONSULT DOCTORS BEFORE TAKING ANY OF THESE MEDS. OVERDOSE CAN BE EXTREMELY HARMFUL EVEN WITHIN FEW HOURS. CONSULT DOCTORS UPON ANY SYMPTOMS AND THEY WILL DECIDE TO PRESCRIBE OR NOT.

yc47ib · Apr 5, 2020

themickey said:
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/...irus-but-now-it-could-be-facing-a-food-crisis

“China’s agricultural industry has collapsed.”
by David Gilbert Apr 2 2020, 9:18pm
China has claimed victory over the coronavirus outbreak inside its borders, but now the country faces another crisis: food shortages.

Rumors of a food shortage have swirled on social media for weeks, in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown that stopped tens of millions of people from going to work, and a leaked government document made public on Thursday shows that government officials have also been planning for a shortfall in food supplies.

The document, dated March 28, was drafted following a meeting of a party committee in Linxia Prefecture, a region of 2 million people in central China. The meeting was called to make special arrangements for food security.

“The State Party Committee and the state governments and counties and cities must do everything possible to transfer and store all kinds of living materials such as grain, beef, mutton, oil and salt through various channels,” the document said, according to a report from Radio Free Asia.

The document also calls for the “mobilization of the masses to consciously store grain and ensure that each household reserves between 3 and 6 months of grain for emergencies.”

There is also evidence that citizens in certain parts of the country are panic buying in response to rumors around a food shortage.

As the rumors gained traction on social media, the government denied that the country is facing any crisis.

"Consumers have no need to worry about the shortage of food supplies and the sharp rise in prices. They don't have to concentrate on buying bulk food at home,” Wang Bin, deputy director of the Department of Consumer Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce, said Thursday.

Beijing has also mobilized the state-run media to try to convince the world that China is not facing a food crisis.

Wang’s comments are in stark contrast to those from the Ministry of Commerce in February, when a spokesperson admitted that China’s agriculture and food industries would be “heavily impacted” if the coronavirus crisis persisted.

Six weeks later, parts of the country are still in lockdown and the government is even locking down new areas in an attempt to prevent a second wave of infections.

Wang’s claim is based on the fact that China’s stocks of wheat, corn and rice in 2019 totaled more than 280 million tons, while yearly consumption on average is more than 200 million tons.

But the three-month-long coronavirus lockdown saw China’s economy grind to a halt, and has had a huge impact on the country’s food production capabilities. Data gathered by the Qufu Normal University in February found that 60% of village officials in 1,636 counties were “pessimistic” or “very pessimistic” about the planting season.

READ: Wuhan's crematoriums are filling thousands of urns with coronavirus remains each day

Farmers are struggling to find feed for their livestock and fertilizer is now in short supply. Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, is also the country’s main producer of fertilizer, and factories have struggled to reopen. One estimate puts the shortfall in fertilizer production at 40%.

Another major part of the problem for Chinese farmers is that they rely heavily on domestic migrant workers. Many workers returned home during the Lunar New Year festival at the end of January, but with public transport coming to a halt and tens of millions of people in lockdown, farmers have struggled to find enough laborers to cultivate their crops.

“China’s agricultural industry has collapsed without the free flow of labour and raw materials,” said Ma Wenfeng, an analyst at CnAgri, a consultancy in Beijing, told the Financial Times last month.
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Anyone know a bit more about China will laugh at this paragraph: "Another major part of the problem for Chinese farmers is that they rely heavily on domestic migrant workers. Many workers returned home during the Lunar New Year festival at the end of January, but with public transport coming to a halt and tens of millions of people in lockdown, farmers have struggled to find enough laborers to cultivate their crops."