I published The Day Humanity Decided, a satire about Tyrannicus Rex and his attempt to dominate the kingdom’s supply of tomatoes, in March of this year. This humorous fiction story (or projection of a future reality?) was seeded from two events. The first was the pandemic and an unprecedented level of global control. The other event was humbler, our own household attempt to grow tomatoes in pots. This should be an easy task in a climate that boasts a year-round growing season, right? Wrong! The plants thrived to a certain point, and then the sun packed and moved out, and the rains came. And they came. And they came.
Suffice to say, the plants rotted before the fruit could mature. We learned a lot about what to do better next time, and we gained a new appreciation for the value of food and the farmers who grow it! For our household it was not fatal. Although disappointing, there was still lots of food on the store shelves to buy. Better luck next time…
But let’s now multiply that small failed experiment a billion-fold to consider food supply across the planet. Farmers have valuable knowledge and experience growing food. For them it’s not an experiment, but in spite of all their knowledge, their efforts can be thwarted by local fluctuations in year-to-year climate.
In colder climates in the Northern Hemisphere, there is one precious growing cycle a year, and so in any year that a particular crop fails, that of course means food shortages and higher prices to one degree or another. As just one example, this past summer there were significant drought, hurricane, and flood scenarios throughout the U.S. that are already creating food shortages and dramatic price hikes.
Added to that is the fact that in 2022, fertilizer shortages began worldwide due to the war in eastern Europe. Russia had previously provided 30-35% of the entire world’s fertilizer demands, a global supply that was cut off overnight. Unless the situation changes, there will surely be significant fertilizer shortages for the coming spring 2023 planting season, leading to lower crop yields.
Considering the events that are coinciding to create a perfect storm, it’s not difficult to extrapolate the possible (or inevitable?) global food crisis coming in 2023. There are also now plans in place to reduce farming in some countries over the next few years to reduce nitrous oxide emissions, however, there appears to be no plan in place to replace that food production. A recent Mike Adams article on this subject:
Wouldn’t it be nice if the solutions to these crises were simple? Recently I attended a tour of a small organic farm that grows food on a small scale. What was perhaps most interesting was the information on supplemental plants that give the soil its proper nitrogen balance. The farm also produces its own manure fertilizer from the animals on site. I asked how feasible it is to scale organic to much larger farms. The answer was “exorbitantly expensive”.
Okay, but then I look at the staggering amount of money spent on (as only one example) all of the machines, man power, etc to fuel wars. Why aren’t “they” focusing on new solutions to build a functioning viable society, rather than destroying what we already built? This endless cycle of destruction cripples humanity tremendously.
The People of the Land of Small (in my story) have an answer to this. The story is free, download it below. Or read it online here: https://bit.ly/3OWLhUu
Download The Day Humanity Decided free in EPUB, MOBI or PDF format. No subscribing is required to get it.
The Day Humanity Decided © Susan L Hart 2022
In case you missed my post last Wednesday: