Food supplies: Will Grocery Stores Start Running Out of Food? - by Dave Wedge

 As recently as last week, grocery stores were jammed with panicked customers filling their carts with meat, frozen foods, canned goods, pasta and other items to get them through what could be weeks of isolation. Now, though, many grocery stores are turning into ghost towns, as braving human contact feels more and more like—and perhaps is—putting your life at risk. Not unlike the real estate or stock markets, this kind of buying volatility is destined to cause disruptions in grocery store supply chains, and there are signs that food shortages could arise should the national lockdown linger into summer as many expect.

While it’s still early to predict the impacts that global lockdowns will have on food supplies, there is evidence out of China that the crisis is taking a toll on agriculture and livestock. Vos’ organization reported this week that 60 percent of agricultural businesses in the most impacted areas of China were reporting logistics disruptions. These disruptions include shortages in feed for animals, a lack of workers to care for livestock and tend to crops, and an inability to get other essential supplies. “As spring arrives, agricultural enterprises in many places face serious logistics problems,” the IFPRI report states. “Livestock farming also faces challenges similar to China’s—problems that may require government intervention to avert shortages or price spikes.”

Sam Rocco, owner of BC Produce Inc., a large distributor in Chelsea, agrees that workforce health could become an issue across the food distribution system, but tried to put a rosy spin on the increasingly nerve-wracking situation. “At the moment, the system is running smoothly,” he said. “We’re getting plenty of product. When there was the rush to the supermarkets, that caused a spike in demand at the farms and in the need for transportation, and that caused a little bit of disruption, but since then, that rush has subsided. It’s a very robust system. I think we’re going to survive it. Hopefully it won’t last too long and we’ll all be alright.”

Read more at: Will Grocery Stores Start Running Out of Food?

Global Food Shortages: Food security experts warn of supply shortages, higher prices due to global pandemic

Food security experts are warning the global pandemic could lead to supply shortages, higher prices and a growing nutrition gap between rich and poor.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/food-security-covid19-trudeau-1.5520492

Swedish Military - Mali: Hunger rations: Swedish peacekeepers slam small UN-supplied meals in Mali

The Swedish contingency of an international UN-led peacekeeping operation in Mali is up in arms over the apparent paltry size of food rations, which, they say, is forcing soldiers to go to bed hungry.
Swedish soldiers told the Dagens Nyheter daily that the UN-supplied food rations of 1,800 kilocalories per person daily is not enough.

“It's insane that in 2015 we should not be getting enough food. It affects the mood. People get cranky and angry when they can't eat until they get full,” one soldier told Dagens Nyheter, The Local reported.

The Swedish soldiers, who arrived in January 2015 and are based close to Timbuktu, believe the rations were intended for the dietary standards for some of the other 39 participating countries, but not for them.

“1,800 calories is perhaps enough for the UN soldiers from Burkina Faso and Bangladesh who are often smaller built, but not for us,” said another Swedish soldier.

Read more: Hunger rations: Swedish peacekeepers slam small UN-supplied meals in Mali — RT News

Climate change will reduce crops sooner than expected, says study

Crops yields, especially in temperate climates such as North America and Europe, will be affected by climate change much earlier than predicted and with only a slight change in temperatures, according to a new international study.

The  study, led by Andy Challinor at the University of Leeds in England, says global warming of only 2 C will be detrimental to crops in temperate and tropical climates starting around the 2030s.

“Our research shows that crop yields will be negatively affected by climate change much earlier than expected,” writes Challinor in the journal Nature Climate Change.

"The impact of climate change on crops will vary both from year to year and from place to place – with the variability becoming greater as the weather becomes increasingly erratic.”

Previous predictions had forecast that temperate climates could withstand a couple of degrees of warming without a noticeable effect on crops.

This new study refutes that. “We’ve seen a shift in consensus,telling us that the impacts of climate change in temperate regions will happen sooner rather than later,” noted Challinor.

According to the study, the greatest impact will be in the second half of the century, when decreases of more than 25 per cent will become increasingly common.

Read more: Climate change will reduce crops sooner than expected, says study - Technology & Science - CBC News

EU calls for checks on radioactivity of Japanese food imports

European Union member states should check food imports from Japan for radioactivity, the European Commission said Wednesday, in the wake of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima power plant.

'We have sent a recommendation through our rapid alert system for food products and animal feed,' said Frederic Vincent, spokesman for EU Health Commissioner John Dalli.

For more: EU calls for checks on radioactivity of Japanese food imports - Monsters and Critics