Is A Catastrophic Food Shortage Coming To America And The World?

Extreme weather could create a catastrophic food shortage in America. In fact, people all over the world could starve because of destructive weather in the American Midwest.

In fact, catastrophic weather is destroying vast amounts of food in America’s heartland. For example, farmers lost thousands of tons of grain when floods destroyed just five grain bins in Iowa, Strange Sounds reports.

Meanwhile, Missouri farmers lost 850,000 bushels of corn in the collapse of one bin in March. Moreover, floods are destroying $400 million worth of livestock and $440 million worth of crops in Nebraska.

Weather Will Drive Food Prices Up

Notably, Fremont County Iowa farmer Jeff Jorgenson lost over a million bushels of corn and nearly 500,000 bushels of soybeans to flooded grain bins, Strange Sounds notes.

Importantly, Jorgensen tells the Associated Press, “the economy in agriculture is not very good right now. It will end some of these folks farming, family legacies, family farms.”

Moreover, food prices could rise because the weather is driving farmers out of business. Indeed Jorgensen predicts, “there will be farmers that will be dealing with so much of a negative they won’t be able to tolerate it.“

Catastrophe In Midwest Can Cause Shortage Of Food Worldwide

Ultimately, catastrophe’s in America’s heartland could trigger global food shortages. In fact, America is the world’s top food exporter shipping $139.5 billion worth of agricultural products in 2018, Share America estimates.

Moreover, just three countries; the United States, China, and India, grow more food than the entire European Union, Investopedia calculates. Consequently, bad weather in any of those countries will lead to scarcity of foodstuffs.

Importantly, some scientists believe food production in the Midwest will collapse in 2035. Specifically, Jeff Hatfield believes it will be harder to grow crops in the Midwest because of increasing insects, flood, and rising temperatures.

Will Farming Become Impossible In The Bread Basket?

To clarify, Hatfield is an agronomist at the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment. Additionally, Hatfield believes we must drastically change farming to keep food on the table, the MIT Technology Review reports.

For instance, USDA experiments show corn yields could fall by 84% if Midwest temperatures rise by 7.2 degrees. Therefore, growing corn without genetically engineered plants could be impossible in America’s breadbasket.

Consequently, the MIT Technology Review observes, “if Hatfield is right, yields will fall off a cliff, devastating farmers and leaving much of the world hungrier.”

Will Food Shortages Lead To World War III?

Meanwhile, demographers expect the world’s population to grow to 9.7 billion people by 2050. Hence, there could be more people and less food in the world.

Historically, that situation led to war, as governments fought for food supplies. For example, Hitler’s invasions of France and the Soviet Union were an effort to give Germany an adequate food supply.

To explain, Imperial Germany lost World War One because it could not feed its armies and workforce. Hence, Hitler was trying to avoid the Kaiser’s mistake of not having enough food to feed his armies.

In addition, Japan invaded China in the 1930s, and attacked the United States and the British Empire in 1941, to secure its food supply. Thus, shortages of food were a cause of World War II, the worst conflict in human history.

Will China And America Go To War For Food?

Notably, the People’s Republic of China is securing control of Argentina, an important food producer.

In fact, Patricia Bergero admits “our economy is very dependent on soybeans and China — perhaps too dependent.” to The New York Times Magazine. To clarify, Bergero is the deputy director for economic research at Argentina’s Board of Trade.

Under those circumstances, Argentina exported $17 billion worth of soybean products to China in 2018. Moreover, China is now Latin America and the Caribbean’s top trading power, Times writer Brook Larmer estimates.

To elaborate, Latin America and Caribbean countries exported $244 billion worth of raw materials to China in 2018. In addition, China is securing its hold on Argentina by paying that nation’s debts.

China Owns Argentina

Plus, the Chinese are bankrolling massive infrastructure projects in Argentina including a new railroad and two hydroelectric dams, Larmer reports.

Meanwhile, Argentine President Mauricio Macri; whom voters elected on an anti-China platform, has “now signed more deals with China than the two previous governments combined,” María José Haro Sly notes.

In fact, Macri is now a good friend to Chinese president Xi Jinping. To elaborate Sly is an expert on China and Latin America’s agricultural relations.

Finally, China is establishing a military presence in Argentina under the guise of “space research.” For instance, China’s People’s Liberation Army operates a “space observation station” in southern Argentina, Reuters reports.