The Global Food Crisis: The First Move

Ten weeks. The media and experts generally say we have ten more weeks until a global food shortage. Americans eat 3600 calories worth of food in a day, and the average Indian eats 2200 calories a day. Livestock alone in America eats enough food to feed 800 million people on Earth. We eat a lot, and the same is true for Europe, Oceania, and other North and South American countries. We live in a society that consumes extreme amounts of food, and that will not fare well in the future shortage.

The Russo-Ukrainian War is a major cause of the upcoming crisis. Ukraine and Russia produce a huge portion of Earth’s wheat, and with the war going on, production in Ukraine is limited. As soldiers take land, crops cannot be planted. Crops that are planted go nowhere since Russia blockaded the Ukrainian ports. This has a direct effect on Africa in particular as they cannot produce enough wheat to feed their massive, growing population.

The fertilizer shortage is not as famous as the food shortage right now, but it is much worse. China and Russia control the global fertilizer production, while America and India produce their own fertilizer for their farming industries. But for the rest of the world, they have to buy from China and Russia. Since sanctions have been implemented on Russia, they and China have postponed the export of fertilizer. Despite what history class tells you, most people on Earth still practice monoculture, planting the same plant year after year, so their soil is poor, and they rely on fertilizer. In particular, Central Asia’s former Soviet states, such as Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, rely on Russian wheat and fertilizer exports that have been withheld from them. It is probable that many citizens will become refugees and go to Europe, causing problems and potential destabilizing in the West, which would be a victory for China and Russia.

China has been hoarding every resource it can get near itself. For the past couple of years, China has been stocking up on Ukrainian wheat to keep. In addition, with their current zero-Covid lockdowns, China has kept thousands of cargo ships off the shore of Shanghai as storage. China seems to have been preparing for a global food crisis for a long time, and when the crisis hits, they won’t be affected as badly. This problem was caused by the new Cold War going on between the West (America, Europe, and Oceania) and the Chinese-Russian alliance that has been solidified by a recent pact that openly declares to be the new world order to challenge the West. This upcoming global crisis is a move of a pawn by the Chinese and Russians; therefore, this means that a new Cold War has not only arisen but will affect the lives of billions of people globally. We have to depend on our government and ourselves to steer the world away from this crisis, and we have to act now if we want to avoid a refugee crisis. Millions, if not billions, could starve.

Sources:

https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/average-calorie-intake-human-per-day-versus-recommendation-1867.html https://www.india.com/lifestyle/diet-of-average-indian-lacks-protein-fruit-vegetables-4066766/ https://www.reuters.com/business/sanctions-bite-russia-fertilizer-shortage-imperils-world-food-supply-2022-03-23/ https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/russia-and-china-unveil-a-pact-against-america-and-the-west https://www.fox29.com/news/world-wheat-supply-food-shortage-un-security-council-sara-menker