Are any "reputable" news agencies reporting on an upcoming food shortage?

[Ferrets are Cool]

Yeah, I can find all kinds of doomsday crap on the interwebs, but I really want to know if there is any need to stock up on food. I am not prone to "chickenlittle" syndrome, but I figure if there is a problem, my friends here will know the scoop.

[elleng]

1. Valid concerns about grain availability during next years,

doesn't suggest current need to stock up on food now.

Maybe work on learning to bake bread???

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. Ya gotta have flour to bake bread.

[elleng]

3. Right, DO IT!!!

(And give me directions!)

[TlalocW]

6. I just started and have had good success with this basic loaf. It's a very forgiving recipe

Get 5 by 9 inch loaf pan (4.5 by 8.5 is even better if you can find it)
Ingredients
2.25 tsp or packet of active dry yeast. I prefer Red Star.
1 cup water between 110 and 120 degrees
Egg (set it on the counter for an hour or two before making bread to warm it up)
2 TBS sugar or honey
1.5 tsp of salt (I've halved this to .75 and been successful)
2 TBS of oil - I've used both olive oil and guacamole oil
3 cups of bread flour with extra to put on counter or on dough when kneading

* Put flour in large bowl
* In smaller bowl, put yeast and add water, stir to dissolve. Let sit for five minutes for yeast to bloom. (Watch this, it's actually kind of cool)
* Add sugar and egg - beat until incorporated
* Add salt and oil - beat until incorporated
* Add mixture to flour.

* Take a wood spoon and hold it close to bowl part of the spoon and mix with the handle until it forms a somewhat cohesive mass. You should be able to pat it into a roundish mound and not be sticky but tacky.
* Sprinkle flour on counter. Sprinkle some on top of dough as needed. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes. Test the flour every now and then by grabbing some pieces of it and pulling it away from the main mass so that you have it spread between your hands by a few inches. If you can do that without tearing and see light through it, knead it 6 to 8 times more.
* Shape it back into a ball. Put in bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and put in a warm spot for an hour or until it doubles (or more) in size.
* Punch the dough to degas it and take it out and put on counter. Try spreading it by pulling on opposite ends. If it's still springing back when you let it go, let it rest for five minutes.
* Spread it out into a rectangle with a width that matches your dough pan. Roll it up tightly and tuck in the ends if needed and pinch the seam closed. Should be in a basic loaf shape. Put it in the pan seam down and put it back (uncovered) into a warm place for 30 to 60 minutes or until the dough rises at least an inch over the edge of the pan.

* Heat oven to 400 degrees and bake it for 25 minutes.

* Leave it in the pan for 10 minutes after removing from oven and get a stick of butter and gently rub it around the top.
* Take it out of pan and let cool completely on a cooling rack. When cutting, lay it on its side as the top will be softer and squisher (though it bounces back when pressed on).

TlalocW

[elleng]

7. Thanks.

Sugar and egg!!!

[toesonthenose]

14. Maybe one of the greatest smells in the known universe. Baking bread. Yum!

[SCantiGOP]

4. The Doomsday Chronicles

Had a story by a guy named Malthus.

[CloudWatcher]

5. Europe gets a lot of wheat from Ukraine

Ukraine is the bread-basket of Europe. If access to ports are blocked, the grain will rot and not make it to market.

https://ukragroconsult.com/en/news/inside-a-frantic-race-to-get-ukrainian-corn-and-wheat-to-world-markets/

One of the world’s great breadbaskets, Ukraine exports 12 per cent of the world’s wheat and 17 per cent of its corn. It is the top producer of sunflower seeds and its black-earth fields yield large oilseed crops.

But ... they're looking at shipping out of Romania ...
https://www.breitbart.com/news/ukraine-eyes-romanian-port-for-key-farm-exports/

Here? Prices may go up, but it's not time for panic buying yet

[Eugene]

8. Supplies are disrupted. In general, rich countries will pay more. Poor countries risk famine.

As always, poor countries need to worry about food security more about this than the rich ones.

Get ready for ‘hell,’ UN food chief warns amid Ukraine shockwaves (Politico)

Ukraine invasion may lead to worldwide food crisis, warns UN (The Guardian)

Ukraine war: World Bank warns of 'human catastrophe' food crisis (BBC)

Ukraine is a major supplier of sunflower, used in cooking oil. Prices are way up worldwide.

Tesco to ration cooking oil purchases as war in Ukraine hikes food prices (The Guardian)

[Ferrets are Cool]

10. Thanks for the links Eugene

[Sherman A1]

9. I saw a piece on NHK news awhile back

As I recall. I would check their back stories.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. As much as the media has touted everywhere else in the world as a supposed "breadbasket"

The U.S. (including all of its territory, both CONUS and OCONUS) can grow and raise almost anything in the world - and that includes tropical plants. For example neither Ukraine nor Russia can grow oranges or lemons or limes as a sustainable crop, and the same pretty much applies to a degree to sugarcane. But the U.S. can and does.

The U.S. consistently ranks in the top 10 for wheat for export.



(and I do "bake" and know about the different types of wheat thanks to King Arthur Flour, recently renamed "King Arthur Baking Company" )

And we are top for corn -



It's not like there is no one to step up but I think aside from (corporate) farms here converting to biofuels, the pandemic ended up having many of them with completely full silos of product that they could not process and thus that surplus not only meant no profit, but in many losses. So the reticence is there.

And with meats -

Beef -



Poultry



Pork



And in the top 10 for seafood -



I won't even go into the orchards...

But just like fuel oil is a "commodity" that gets traded and has "futures", so too are "beef" and "pork bellies", and "corn" and "wheat", etc. And the potential for a whole lot more $$$$$$$$ for the corporations is just staring them in the face.

[Ferrets are Cool]

12. Your last line is the most telling and pertinent.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. "Supply and demand"

The U.S. can "fix the supply" but will it? Or better, will the corporate farm owners step up to do it or will they sit it out in order to make up for the losses during the pandemic? I expect the latter.

Link to tweet

Simon Kuestenmacher
@simongerman600
Size of Ukraine compared to the US. Just in case that might help you to put things into perspective. Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe (Russia being the biggest).
Image
12:05 PM · Mar 10, 2022

Wheat


Corn


Soybeans


ETA this ditty - https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-us-land-use/

[Jose Garcia]

15. Americans likely won't face shortages, but higher prices are a good bet

[Mariana]

16. It's never a bad idea to have extra food on hand

as long as it's stuff that won't go bad before you can use it.