Empty shelves are coming to a supermarket near you

 

Poor Man Survival

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Empty shelves are coming to a supermarket near you.

Food costs are skyrocketing, and according to leading industry sources, grocery stores across the United States are worried about food shortages.

Experts say more grocery hoarding may come as disruptions push America's food supply "near its breaking point".

Over the last few months, shoppers have had to contend with increasingly empty shelves at the supermarket. Necessities such as bread, milk, meat and cleaning products have all been in short supply. Much of the blame has rightly been placed on the supply chain crisis. Clogged ports and covid-19 restrictions are throttling transportation systems. But most experts are telling people not to worry. The problem, they say, is the supply chain and not food production.

In a research paper published by the University of California, two professors said the current situation is worrisome. But they believe that the American food system “is resilient and there is little reason for alarm about long-term food availability amid the coronavirus crisis.”

The United States is the most prosperous nation in the world. Its citizens have enjoyed a level of comfort and opulence that has rarely been seen before. Many believe that this will continue, but there are several serious threats to this prosperity. And one that has flown under the radar is the American food system’s dangerous dependence on fertilizer.

Fertilizer Crisis

The United States burns through more fertilizer per capita than any other country in the world. And most of it comes from other countries. More than 50 percent of the nitrogen fertilizer critical for American crop production is imported; at least 25 percent comes from Trinidad and Tobago alone.

Natural gas is critical to the production of fertilizer. And with skyrocketing gas prices, fertilizer is becoming more expensive to produce. Thus, some researchers argue that there is plenty of reason for alarm.

“‘Farms Are Failing’ as Fertilizer Prices Drive Up Cost of Food,” the Wall Street Journal published on January 21. Many countries in the developing world are dealing with serious food shortages. A fertilizer crisis would jeopardize the food of 100 million people. But this isn’t a problem for the developing world only. Sen. Roger Marshall recently explained that this directly affects the United States as well.

“It’s no secret farmers are faced with a fertilizer crisis,” he wrote for Agri-pulse. Many fertilizer producers shut down during the pandemic. In addition, China is reducing its fertilizer exports to drive up prices. The increasing demand has led producers outside of Europe and China to drive up their prices even higher.

Phosphorous- and potassium-based fertilizer prices have more than doubled in Kansas. Nitrogen-based fertilizers have quadrupled. As a result, food is becoming more expensive, even in the most prosperous country in the world.

The impact of fertilizer isn’t something the average person thinks about. But it directly affects what you see on the shelves at your local supermarket. “The unfortunate reality is this is only the beginning,” Senator Marshall continued. “It may take more than a year before the effects felt by fertilizer prices at the farm will also be felt at the fork.”

Consider corn. It is the primary feed grain in the U.S., accounting for more than 95 percent of animal feed. It is also used in biscuits, bread, crackers, pretzels, cookies, beer, corn syrup, sweeteners, gas and several other items. A full-blown fertilizer shortage would devastate corn production. Meat production would suffer. As animal husbandry faltered, it would affect milk and wool as well. Food production would drastically drop; gas would become more expensive. So many things that we take for granted would suddenly be unavailable.

But having more fertilizer isn’t the solution either.

Systemic Collapse

The fertilizer problem is an agricultural hydra for the U.S. If the U.S. tries to produce more nitrogen, climate change activists will rear their heads. If the U.S. increases reliance on fertilizer imports from enemies such as Russia, they will have the opportunity to directly threaten American food security. And lastly, the longer America relies on fertilizer, the harder it is to be weaned from fertilizer.

The U.S. has some of the richest soils in the world. But decades of aggressive, commercially driven agriculture have taken their toll. The small, American farmer with an intimate relationship with the land is nearly extinct. The large, corporate farmer who is obsessed with profits is nearly ubiquitous. And they are determined to pump the soil full of fertilizer in order to squeeze the soil for every penny.

In the process, American soils have been depleted of essential nutrients, bacteria and fungi that actually produce more crops. “Our mindset nowadays is that if you don’t put down fertilizer, nothing grows. But that’s just not true, and it never has been,” soil researcher Rick Haney told YaleEnvironment360.

But the system of high intensity, chemical dependent farming has led to dysfunctional soil. It’s created a vicious cycle. Because of all the fertilizer, the soil isn’t “performing as we need it to. We are essentially destroying the functionality of the soil, so that you have to feed it more and more synthetic fertilizers just to keep growing this crop,” Haney said. U.S. farming’s obsession with profits is dangerous. It is punishing the soil by pumping it with fertilizer that prioritizes temporary quantity over quality. It has created a dependence on fertilizer that has destroyed the soil. It doesn’t matter which gives out first—the soil or the fertilizer supply—both roads lead to disaster and total collapse.

In his column earlier this year, Victor Davis Hanson wrote: “In modern times, as in ancient Rome, several nations have suffered a ‘systems collapse.’ The term describes the sudden inability of once-prosperous populations to continue with what had ensured the good life as they knew it. Abruptly, the population cannot buy, or even find, once plentiful necessities. They feel their streets are unsafe. Laws go unenforced or are enforced inequitably. Everyday things stop working.”

This is happening to the United States before our eyes. There are several contributing factors to this collapse, such as creeping communism, racial hatred, rising inflation, as well as an explosion of violence, government corruption and immorality. Throw into the mix the less flashy but equally devastating over-reliance on fertilizer.

Those familiar with the Trumpet will know these are the very events we have forecast for decades. Our forecasts are based on Bible prophecy, which has a lot to say about impending crop failure. “The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate” (Joel 1:17-18). This is a prophecy about the coming calamity of physical destruction of crops, land, produce, soil, pasture and the animals themselves. This is an urgent problem. But it has a simple solution: obedience to God’s law.

“The good news is that soil will come back if you give it a chance. It is very robust and resilient,” said Rick Haney. “It’s not like we have destroyed it to the point where it can’t be fixed. The soil health movement is trying to bring those organic levels back up and get soil to a higher functioning state.”

https://www.thetrumpet.com/25221-are-food-shortages-coming

 

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Stocking Your Pantry for Fall

The foods you prepare this summer will save you time and money in the fall. Here is how to go about stocking your pantry for fall so you can do both.

Cheap Emergency Foods We Often Overlook

Prepping food needs for an emergency or disaster does not need to be expensive. Consider these cheap emergency foods we often overlook.

We can’t deny the fact that it is a good idea to have a supply of emergency foods on hand. Perhaps we could probably benefit from borrowing a few tips from preppers who have become pros at preparing for emergencies and disasters.

 

Often, the biggest mistake new preppers can make is looking too far from home for the supplies they need.

 

The temptation to blow several hundred dollars on specialized freeze dried foods in durable looking specialty packaging can be almost too much to resist, and it’s the most common mistake new preppers with tight budgets make.

 

In fact, many “prepper foods” are so cheap. You probably already have some and forgot about it.

 

Related:

·         Basic Emergency Preparedness on a Budget

·         The Benefits of a Household Stockpile

·         Bulk Rice Storage Tips to Prevent Food Waste

·         Storing Dried Beans Long Term to Avoid Waste

·         Over-the-Counter Meds Savings Secrets

 

How to Make Seed Balls for Guerilla Gardening

Guerilla gardening is the act of taking something ugly or unused and making it beautiful or useful, with plants. It is a rebellious creation of smile-worthy planting.

Imagine a popular park with a tree recently cut down. What once was a beautiful tree is now a stump that has hollowed out in the center from rot. A guerilla gardener will see that hole as an opportunity to recreate beauty and plant the stump like a flowerpot.

There’s a river that runs through my town. Right in the center of the river is a small island with an abandoned truck. Every summer, a guerilla gardener fills the bed of the truck with flowers...

​How to Make Seed Balls for Guerilla Gardening​

 

STOP A BLEEDING WOUND by coating a tampon w/ nasal spray; apply to wound…

DIY No-Cost Flower Beds

Don’t have the funds to fill your yard with flowers and shrubs? Our frugal readers offer tips and advice for DIY landscaping for little to no cost.

5 Purchases Consumers Are Delaying Because of Inflation

 

Natural disasters don't wait for a convenient time

And you shouldn't wait to prepare either. In some cases there is little to no warning.

Prepare now to lessen the impact of disasters and emergencies

 

Remember:  You can’t buy life insurance after you’re dead!

Better –Safe- Than- Sorry Super Survival Kit

Your Emergency Survival Kit Includes:

·        4Patriot Solar phone charger

·        72-hour emergency food pack [25 year shelf life+3 Bonus Meals]

·        Solar/Hand crank 4Patriot emergency radio

·        4Patriot Greens sample pack [Power supplement]

·        3 Luna Nutrition bars [assorted]]

·        Cleaning Wipe Pack+Personal Hygiene kit

·        Emergency Rescue Blanket

·        2-PackHand Warmers

·        Steel River Emergency Tent

·        Emergency Poncho

·        Deck of Playing Cards

·        Mini [42 piece] First Aid kit

·         American Natural Superfood sample

·         MACE Triple-action Police Model pepper spray/UV Dye

·         Face mask

And more-Full Details at:

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