To Acknowledge: Prior to our first post in this week, we had not posted anything on PridentHome for about a month. This was due to a sudden and overwhelming increase in demand from our regular work/job. It was both good and necessary. We trust that our readers understand where most of us are in today’s economy.
U.S. Food In The Short- Term: Market Skeptics (marketskeptics.com) posted this Eric deCarbonnel article on April 23, 2010: “US Food Inflation Spiraling Out of Control”. With a “Thank You” to survivalblog.com -April 27, 2010 – for sourcing this post we would like to share these points from the article:
- “The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today released their Producer Price Index (PPI) report for March 2010 and the latest numbers are shocking. Food prices for the month rose by 2.4%, it’s sixth consecutive monthly increase and the largest jump in over 26 years. NIA believes that a major breakout in food inflation could be imminent, similar to what is currently being experienced in India.”
- “Food stamp usage in the U.S. has now increased for 14 consecutive months. There are now 39.4 million Americans on food stamps, up 22.4% from one year ago. The U.S. government is now paying out more to Americans in benefits than it collects in taxes. …
Most financial experts in the mainstream media are proclaiming that the recession is over and inflation is not a problem in the U.S. Unfortunately, they fail to realize that rising food and gasoline prices accounted for 58% of February’s year-over-year 3.85% rise in retail sales. NIA (National Inflation Association/PH) believes price inflation is beginning to accelerate in many areas of the economy besides food and energy, and all increases in U.S. retail sales this year will be due to inflation.”
PH Note: When you access the above article, please note two other valuable articles in the “Key Entries” section: I. “Food Crisis for Dummies” and 2. “Worst Harvest season Ever Seen”. These articles can help strengthen your basic understanding of the U.S. food situation if you’ve not read them.
U.S. Food In The Long-Term: LATOC (lifeaftertheoilcrash.net) posted access to this great article on 4/28/10 from alternet.org/food: “The Food Nightmare Beneath Our Feet: We’re Running Out of Soil”. Here’s the nut:
- “If you don’t already know the bad news, I’ll make it quick and dirty: we’re running out of soil. As with other prominent resources that are accumulated over millions of years, we, the people of planet Earth, have been churning through the stuff that feeds us since the first Neolithic farmer broke the ground with his crude plow. The rate varies, the methods vary, but the results are eventually the same. Books like Jared Diamond’s “Collapse” and David Montgomery’s “Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations” lay out in painful detail the historic connection between depletion and the demise of those societies that undermined the ground beneath their feet.’
PH Comment: This article points to John Jevons (author of the first gardening book on PH’s recommended list for the home gardener: “How To Grow More Vegetables* (and fruits, nuts berries grains and other crops) *Than you Ever thought possible On Less Land Than You Can Imagine“ and his prophetic work on sustainable food growing while growing the soil. And this is just a part of why we recommended his book as first.
Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.
The U.S. government is now paying out more to Americans in benefits than it collects in taxes… I doubt that it is food stamps that are bankrupting the US. More like the two neverending wars over “terrorism”, and all the corporate welfare. But I had read that the US is collecting 61 cents in taxes for every dollar spent. As a gardener, we have stopped using chemical fertilizers over 13 years ago, and we felt an immediate drop in produce. People will starve, I mean die off in droves all over the world, before this oil issue is over. I don’t have any aswers. But keep writing and I’ll keep reading. thank you