Peak Oil is You

Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)

Page added on October 17, 2018

Food Supply Won’t Meet Future Demand

The gap is growing between global food demand in the future and the projection on the rate of growth for agricultural production, a new report shows.

The 2018 Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Index, put together by the Global Harvest Initiative, continues to highlight that food production is not growing fast enough to sustainably feed the world in 2050.

This is the fifth-straight year the report has shown a wider spread between future food supply and future demand. The report warns that if this trend isn’t reversed, the world may not be able to provide the necessary food, feed, fiber and biofuels for a growing global population.

The productivity gap for food production is more pronounced in low-income countries, which are not growing food production nearly enough to keep pace with future demand. “Total Factor Productivity” in low-income countries is growing at 0.96% annually, which is down from projected growth over the past two years, the GAP report stated. This falls well below the growth rate needed to achieve sustainability goals of doubling food productivity in low-income countries and achieving “zero hunger” by 2050.

To meet the projected demand of 10 billion people in 2050, the GAP report stated global agricultural productivity must increase by 1.75% annually. Such growth is needed even as climate scientists warn crop production will decline, especially in tropical environments in coming decades because of higher temperatures and more volatile weather patterns.

The GAP report noted the impact of climate change on both production and food prices, citing 10 different models that suggest “climate change will generate higher prices for agricultural commodities in general and particularly for crops. The impact of climate change must be considered to avoid a downward bias in projected supply estimates.”

The GAP report called the U.S. an “agricultural powerhouse” because of decades of improved efficiency and rising production. But the report also cited that average U.S. Total Factor Productivity did not grow from 2006 to 2015 as quickly as it had in previous decades. The Total Factor Productivity looks at increases in crop production, but also the costs to farmers to produce food, loss and waste in the supply chain and costs to consumers.

dtnfp

79 Comments on "Food Supply Won’t Meet Future Demand"

Gaia on Wed, 17th Oct 2018 7:36 pm

We have enough food to feed the world but much of it goes to waste.

makati1 on Wed, 17th Oct 2018 8:06 pm

Gaia, you are correct.

“Americans waste an unfathomable amount of food. In fact, according to a Guardian report released this week, roughly 50 percent of all produce in the United States is thrown away—some 60 million tons (or $160 billion) worth of produce annually, an amount constituting “one third of all foodstuffs.” Wasted food is also the single biggest occupant in American landfills, the Environmental Protection Agency has found.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/07/american-food-waste/491513/

The US wastes enough food to feed the entire 100 million plus population of the Philippines.

makati1 on Wed, 17th Oct 2018 10:47 pm

This article is not like most of the articles posted on line which have so many “if”s, “maybe”s, “could”s, etc. that they really are saying nothing.

I just read: “”Find A Parachute, Impact Is Close” – Saxo Q4 Outlook: A New Easing Cycle Based On Ugly Realities”. A lot of rear-view mirror stuff we all know but nothing solid about what is coming. Only lines on graphs that extend past events, nothing new. At least 30 ifs, maybes, etc.

In the above article, there are few hedges, but, I am sure, the referenced “reports” are full of them. Words for paychecks. Nothing more.

Jaz on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 3:28 am

Makita

You are correct that large amounts of food goes to waste. But we are not talking about 100 million people, which is the number of additional humans added in 13 months. The world will have an additional 2,000 million people by 2050.

Soil erosion has been highlighted by ecologists for decades and nothing has been done to slow it down.

http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph240/verso2/

Less soil means less wheat, rice, barley or corn.

Davy on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 6:10 am

The human overshoot situation is directly related to increasing population and increasing consumption. Increasing consumption in regards to affluence not so much more food eaten. Increasing affluence means more resources that could be used for food are not. More land that could remain in food production is not. Overpopulation is now the biggest problem because we have the means at least in the near term to lift so many into affluence. This will not last because net energy is in decline. Renewables are too expensive and too late to fill the gap. The Planetary environment is in localized failure and widespread ecosystem decline from oceans to rainforests. The planetary web of life is in an extinction event. The need to grow global industrial agriculture at a 1.75% rate is precisely the problem we are having now. Industrial agriculture is very carbon intensive and requires all the affluence that is part of the problem coming from the dirty mega urban production zones. Food waste is part of the problem but the food waste is only a byproduct of the affluence and the economic mismatch of production and consumption that occurs in a global economy. This desired increase in food production of 1.75% is going into the variables that are allowing population to approach 10BIL. We add food and we grow population. That is the problem. Monocultures and global transportation networks combined with a modern life where people need to have food as small part of their daily routine to produce other types of affluence is the problem. They need food on demand when they want it and as cheap as possible instead of quality, local, seasonal, and low footprint. Food should be the primary variable of their daily routine and treated with respect not contempt like someone on a diet. I am talking about the world’s 1BIL affluent people but the worlds other 6BIL are making kids that want to be the global 1BIL rich so they are little better in regards to a solution. This article is a kind of paradoxical article of someone that says we have to do this and it is important when this is what is wrong and killing us.

What we need is more people going out of mega cities onto the land in permaculture living along with declining populations. These efforts need to be low carbon, and stoic. This means these new 21st century farm pioneers need to “NOT” be affluent. The lives of these farmers need to be simple and have a low footprint. On the spiritual side and the side of wisdom they must be rich in spirit and deep in knowledge. The knowledge that matters for the survival of the species not what our current academia is today. To keep this realistic this could involve a much lower population of a component of enlightened urban people that remain affluent physically to be able to supply these new 21st century farmers with what they need to be efficient and productive. If we look at farming before the advent of oil and even before the industrial revolution there are many technologies that need to be utilized and lifestyles emulated. These effective food strategies and resilient sustainable ways of life can be leveraged in a hybrid way with 21st century technology and knowledge. I say that with teeth clinched because really we do not have the wisdom to control technology and our desires for comfort. The Amish and a few others are about as close as we can get to a group trying. The problem with the Amish is they are making an effort for sky daddy reasons and not the planet. There is so much beneficial knowledge and technology currently from the 21st century that in an ideal world could be combined with the farming and way of life of earlier times that had a low human footprint. This is the “KEY”. We need spiritual values that place human community and planetary harmony at the top. Combine this with 21st century science and tools and we would have something.

Yes, I know this is my idealism getting the best of me. I know what I am talking about because I have done industrial agriculture and I am now doing permaculture. I have done deep research into earlier farming ways and ways of life. I see how permaculture does not fit into individualistic hyper-capitalism that is driving the modern global economy. I see how our modern way of life shuns modern permaculture back to the land efforts except where it is profitable. This effort is not profitable in modern life except in rare circumstances that are really just fake green. Modern life is going exactly in the other direction of international mobility on demand 24/7/365. We want to have this but we also want to be green. This is a horrible lie and this is why I am so down on fake greens. In a way they are worse than the normal stupid high consumption moron that does not know better. Why, because these people want their cake and eat it. They want to feel good about being affluent and think they can be affluent and green. You can’t be both. You must live close to the land and locally with low physical affluence. You must leave the whole desire to be techno and mobile. This is the problem. Tech and transport are killing us and they are our fake gods now.

Let’s be reasonable though and say we are stuck with this way of life. The fake green is at least trying to improve his foot print so maybe that is the best we can do but it is still failure. The only way forward for success is for individuals to embrace the lifestyle I am speaking of as best as they can as monasteries for the coming dark ages when our modern techno 24/7/365 on demand life breaks down and with it all the fancy machines we have working for us. We are near this time. Within a decade or two or at any time this system that is near boundaries of bifurcations at all levels will break on through to a new stasis that is with a much lower population and levels of economic activity. It is clearly in the cards. Beat the rush and get back to what matters.

Davy on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 6:46 am

“Pub Owners & Builders Should Become Clergymen Or Farmers To Improve ‘Wellbeing’, New Study Finds”
https://tinyurl.com/y9bmhef3
https://tinyurl.com/y7ztkhck

“What are some of the headline results? Well perhaps no surprise that Chief Execs and Senior Officials consistently come out as having among the highest levels of well-being. However those in health, welfare, teaching, agriculture and sports report being the most fulfilled – with the highest levels of ‘worthwhile activities’ in life. Hairdressers report high levels of happiness, but the clergy are the happiest. And those in occupations reporting lower wellbeing and higher anxiety? Those in sales related occupations report lower life satisfaction and worthwhile. Legal Associate Professionals and Economists report high anxiety. Interesting that Teaching and Educational Professionals report among the highest levels of ‘Worthwhile’ but also higher levels of anxiety. But bottom of the life-satisfaction scale are publicans and construction workers – who for the same general level of compensation could become men of the cloth, farmers, or hairdressers and enjoy a much higher level of wellbeing. The Anxiety question can capture positive and negative aspects of anxiety and there are other examples where we have seen high positive wellbeing coexist with higher levels of anxiety.”

Davy on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 6:55 am

“Scientists Warn World Facing Major Famine, Could “Lead To Severe Shocks To Global Food System”
https://tinyurl.com/y8oo6fb3

“Researchers from Washington State University have published a new report of the Great Drought, the most destructive known drought of the past 800 years – and how it sparked the Global Famine that claimed the lives of 50 million people. The scientists warn that the Earth’s current warming climate could spark a similar drought, but even worse. One of the lead researchers, Deepti Singh, a professor in WSU’s School of the Environment, used rainfall records and climate reconstruction models to characterize the environmental conditions leading up to the Great Drought, a period in the mid-1870s known for widespread crop failures across Asia, Brazil, and Africa. The drought was connected to the most extreme manifestation of the El Nino supercycle ever recorded.”

“Singh said natural variations in sea-surface temps induced the drought, a similar weather event could occur today, but a lot worse. With rising greenhouse gases and global warming, the researcher said El Nino events could become intensified in the future, in which case, “such widespread droughts could become even more severe.” Singh warns that “such extreme events would still lead to severe shocks to the global food system with local food insecurity in vulnerable countries potentially amplified by today’s highly connected global food network.”

Davy on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 7:19 am

“Who’s Ahead in the Battery Race? Tesla, a French billionaire and a U.S. startup are leading the pack.”
https://tinyurl.com/yazoolqx

“What’s coming next are technologies that improve performance, hold more energy, last longer at a lower cost,” said Jeff Chamberlain, chief executive officer of Volta Energy Technologies LLC, an investment fund with a focus on next-generation storage. “Hundreds of millions, if not low billions, is being spent on research.”

“Reducing Cobalt: Tesla Battery makers are working to pare down the amount of cobalt in their devices to the bare minimum to control costs and reputational risk.”
“Cobalt is unfortunately good at maintaining the structure of the material, it’s like the cement of the battery,” said James Frith, energy storage analyst at Bloomberg NEF. “It prevents deterioration of the chemistry during the phase of charge and discharge.”

“Safer Batteries: Bollore Group Battery mishaps frequently make the news because the power packs can catch fire.”
“The reason for this is the liquid electrolyte. It’s a flammable solution that carries the charge from one end of the battery to the other. If it leaks, it can ignite.”
“In order to avoid this, battery makers are trying to switch it to a solid material.”
“Ionic Materials, a startup based in the U.S. working on replacing the liquid with a plastic”

“Energy Density: Pellion Technologies The ultimate goal of a battery is to pack the maximum amount of power into a very small and light space. That’s where energy density comes in. The more power a battery can store, the longer the car’s range and the more hours a phone or laptop lasts between charges. Weight is also key. The lighter the machine is, the less energy it’ll require for propulsion. This is especially important for vehicles, drones and the nascent electric plane industry.”
“Battery makers are trying to boost energy density by making the anode, the part of the battery that has a negative charge, with other materials. It’s currently graphite, the stuff in pencils. Researchers are replacing parts of it with silicon and a type of lithium known as lithium metal. Conventional batteries contain the element in a salt form but there is also a version that’s a metal, which is typically less stable.”

Cloggie on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 8:32 am

(Tesla) car batteries hardly degrade, boost for e-vehicles:

https://deepresource.wordpress.com/2018/10/18/encouraging-tesla-s-x-battery-degradation-data/

These data also implies that there could be a considerable financial value of the battery after 300,000 km.

Expect car batteries to improve even more over time. And then there is the fuel cell alternative. And the rail-in-the-road possibility, enabling charging while driving, allowing for far lighter batteries:

https://deepresource.wordpress.com/2018/05/08/e-road-e-vehicles-breakthrough-in-sweden/

Arlanda road update:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdCaFlDlwSg

Sissyfuss on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 9:13 am

Life on Earth is becoming a salvage operation and nothing illustrates that more than trying to keep fed the growing population. The seed corn will be looking more sumptuous as the harvest cycles trend towards an inconsistency not seen in millions of years. As human activities becomes more cancerous to all planetary life forms the only growth you will observe will be in mass hysteria and desperation.

Duncan Idaho on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 10:29 am

We use 10 grams of hydrocarbons to produce 1 gram of food.
There are 7.6 billion of us.
This is a predicament, not a problem.

I AM THE MOB on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 3:09 pm

Repsol boss warns of oil supply crunch after spending squeeze

Long-term investment still ‘illogical’ despite rising prices, says Antonio Brufau

The chairman of Spanish energy group Repsol has warned of an oil supply crunch driven by under-investment, even as he said heavy spending on long-term production was “illogical”.

Antonio Brufau told the Financial Times that oil prices were rising “high”, above $85 a barrel, before the effects of a reduction in spending by oil and gas majors were being felt.

“We still haven’t seen the impact of the lack of investment when all of us energy companies stopped investing during the downturn,” said Mr Brufau, the former chief executive.

When oil prices spiralled down after 2014, the world’s biggest oil and gas companies tightened their purse strings and cut costs as their balance sheets and share prices suffered.

They then diverted funds into short-cycle output, such as in US shale oil and gas, aiming to yield production faster and more cheaply.

“The life of our investments is now six to seven years,” said Mr Brufau. It is among the shortest in the sector.

Some industry executives and energy watchdogs have said this type of production alone will not be enough to meet rising crude demand. Insufficient investment into large-scale, long-term projects will lead to a supply shortfall in the early 2020s, the International Energy Agency has said, just as US shale production plateaus.

But companies have been under pressure to show financial discipline, with many returning money to investors through dividends and share buybacks. “You need to be able to prove your money [spent on projects] is worth it, very quickly,” said Mr Brufau.

He said Repsol’s strategy comes amid a fundamental shift in thinking across the energy industry about future demand for fossil fuels.

“In the past, 10 years ago, the best oil and gas companies were the ones with the most life in their reserves,” said Mr Brufau. “It has become less important.”

As long as reserves were replaced and production was stable, this provided enough flexibility for energy majors, he said, without increasing oil and gas output hugely. “To [keep putting] money in the ground is an illogical decision,” he said.

It also comes as electric cars and alternative fuels threaten oil’s dominance as a transport fuel and carbon-intensive industries are forced to reduce emissions.

Repsol plans to invest €15bn by 2020, with 53 per cent dedicated to exploration and production and the rest to refining, chemicals, gas, power and low emissions assets.

Although Mr Brufau said the core business of oil and gas production was still the main focus, Repsol was allocating €2.5bn into cleaner energies.

Repsol’s business has been adjusted in favour of gas over oil, which Mr Brufau said would play a major role in power generation together with renewables.

But as oil prices hit four-year highs, Mr Brufau said crude risked rising higher amid uncertainty about extra production capabilities.

Iran’s oil exports were already falling ahead of new US sanctions, and there were questions about how much other big producer nations would be able to compensate.

“It depends how much spare capacity Opec producers have, and we don’t think they have too much,” said Mr Brufau, who said additional barrels would only drop prices to $70 a barrel at the most.

While there were several million barrels a day of a buffer, “in two years this will be exhausted”, he said.

https://www.ft.com/content/9f14cf00-ca36-11e8-9fe5-24ad351828ab

makati1 on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 6:36 pm

Jaz, that food loss is also the amount lost all over the world by humans from the farm to the garbage [pile. If that loss was NOT lost, it would feed those 2 billion new mouths. If we gave up eating beef, we could feed an additional billion.

True, when petro chemical fertilizers are not available, the die-off will be great, but mostly in those countries that use it most, like the US and the EU. Drought will also play a role in the die-off. But then, humans only have a few more decades to exist anyway. 2100 may see the human species extinct, like the dinosaurs.

Davy on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 7:03 pm

“Jaz, that food loss is also the amount lost all over the world by humans from the farm to the garbage [pile. If that loss was NOT lost, it would feed those 2 billion new mouths.”
Nonsense, the amount of people that could be feed by lowering food waste is much smaller. The issues is much deeper and complex than simpletons like to think. It is the economics of distribution. It is lifestyles, food preferences, and it is about efficiency. Many times food is wasted because is cheaper than trying to utilize it. There is also laws against using food so some is forced to be waste.

“If we gave up eating beef, we could feed an additional billion.”
More nonsense. It is again about economics of food distribution and affordability. Grassland beef is essential to our growing food supply because much of the world’s farmland is only adequate for grazing. Crops, fruits, and vegetables need special circumstances to grow. Water is especially a problem with crops, fruits and vegetables.

“True, when petro chemical fertilizers are not available, the die-off will be great, but mostly in those countries that use it most, like the US and the EU.”
Billy, China is the biggest consumer of petrochemicals.
“Overuse of agricultural chemicals on China’s small farms harms health”
https://tinyurl.com/y9px7lyk
“China is the world’s largest consumer of agricultural chemicals, using more than 30 per cent of global fertilisers and pesticides on only 9 per cent of the world’s crop land.”

makati1 on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 8:17 pm

“Global food loss and waste amount to between one-third and one-half of all food produced.”

2,000,000,000 pwoplw could be fed by the food the US wastes each year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_waste

‘In his book “American Wasteland,” activist and author Jonathan Bloom estimated that the United States could fill a college stadium with the amount of food it wastes … in a day. Imagine trying to fit 365 Rose Bowls into Pasadena, or any city for that matter, to hold a year’s worth of American food waste.”

https://foodforward.org/2017/09/how-much-food-is-wasted-in-america/

“Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40
Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill.”

https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/wasted-food-IP.pdf

“The report estimates that a third of all the food produced in the world is never consumed, and the total cost of that food waste could be as high as $400 billion a year.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/us/food-waste-is-becoming-serious-economic-and-environmental-issue-report-says.html

And on and on. Plenty of food, just not properly used.

BTW: “In 2016, roughly 60.5 million metric tons of beef and veal was produced worldwide.” ~121,000,000,000 pounds or ~17 lb. per capita world wide.”

https://www.statista.com/statistics/263979/global-cattle-population-since-1990/

However: “The United States produces nearly 20% of the world’s beef.” And consumes most of it.

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

And the beat goes on….

makati1 on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 8:45 pm

Where do YOU live? Who are your neighbors?

https://247wallst.com/special-report/2018/10/17/25-most-dangerous-cities-in-america-4/

“There were 1.25 million violent crimes reported across the United States in 2017, down slightly from 2016.”

Safe in America? SURE! LMAO

I AM THE MOB on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 9:19 pm

Gloomy 1970s predictions about Earth’s fate still hold true

Four decades ago, the Club of Rome predicted looming economic collapse in its iconic ‘Limits to Growth’ report. An update of the analysis sees much the same picture.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07117-2

Anontarded1 on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 9:41 pm

hello aswange, you like yoru rd-180 u ukeep it. don’t forget to buy putin’s calendar and put in bedroom.

Paul Allen’s gigantic Stratolaunch plane completes key taxi test ahead of first flight – just days after the billionaire behind it died

my supertard will launch for “uS” military with this vehicle will carry the most weight into orbit than ever, almost 3x any heaviest rocket to date

Dooma on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 9:55 pm

Hey Mak, and the beef goes on…

On a serious note, the farming of beasts has been every bit environmentally destructive as growing palm oil.

You only have to look at the clearing of the Amazon for a great example. Or the damage caused to Australia when the European settlers, who cleared a fantastic amount of trees on a continent that is basically one humongous dessert. It needed all the trees it had.

Hope things are well in the P’s? I am going over to Tet in Vietnam come February in Vietnam.

I will give you a wave.

makati1 on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 11:04 pm

I’ll look for your wave, Dooma. Yes both meat farming and palm oil plantations are bad. I pass a palm plantation on my way to Manila and it is like looking at a huge green lawn where everything is the same. But then, all mega/corporate farming is destructive to the environment.

The Philippines has had a reasonably mild year for weather and storms. Most formed further north than usual and went to Japan. The economy is going well and inflation is declining. All in all, a good year.

Haven’t been to Vietnam yet. Maybe in the future. Been to Hong Kong, China and Japan a lot. Have a safe, fun and educational trip.

makati1 on Thu, 18th Oct 2018 11:09 pm

Hey REtard, the US is toast. Period!

makati1 on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 3:16 am

“If It’s Not A Hard Asset, It’s No Asset”

“Keep in mind that any wealth you have invested or in the bank or retirement account is potential wealth. It only becomes actual wealth when you trade it in for something you actually need or want. It only becomes wealth when you trade it for hard assets….

When potential wealth no longer exists or is unavailable for extraction from the system, if you do not have physical goods on hand to provide for your needs you will suffer. It is that simple….

There are some hard assets that are universal such as food, water filtration, weapons, energy production equipment, medical supplies or clothing….

One of the primary things people need is shelter. A home could be considered a hard asset but if … you do not own it in full … it is no longer an asset. As far as that goes, the land under that home is a good hard asset … to own in full….

Don’t be the last one holding paper when chaos strikes. You may live to regret it.”

http://www.alt-market.com/articles/2467-if-its-not-a-hard-asset-its-no-asset

If you don’t own it in full, you don’t own it, the bank does.

deadly on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 3:34 am

I started my tractor yesterday, it is what you call a yesterday tractor, it’s old.

Nonetheless, it is very reliable and fixable. Starts every time the first time. New oil and plugs now and then, electronic distributor, it’s all good. A newly rebuilt engine in the 2000s, the mechanic knew what he was doing.

Have a chisel plow attached to the three-point hitch, about a hundred pounds of carrots out of the ground in about a five minute time for warm up and driving the little tractor through the carrot rows, voila, more work. Beats working like a dog with a shovel, but that is done too. lol

It is not hard to raise thousands of pounds of different small crops like zucchini, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, beets, green beans, etc.

After ten years time, it is easily tens of thousands of pounds of produce.

Nothing less. I throw away hundreds of pounds of cucumbers, sweet corn, zucchini, what not, nobody eats it. You grow it, you market it, give it away, send it to food banks, still is produce that either won’t sell or ends up inedible.

You can take it to the chickens and hogs, but no, just let it go back to the soil and maintain soil nutrients that way. Plenty of wildlife out there, don’t kid yourself, coyotes thrive, pheasant will eat the corn, squirrels will dine on sweet corn, owls will zero in on ground squirrels who like to eat. Cranes, geese, ducks in waves by the thousands out there. No shortage of wildlife and the deer are about one hundred feet from the front door.

There are about 5 to 6 hundred pounds of potatoes for winter and seed. Can’t eat them all, you need seed for next year’s crop. Especially potatoes. Plant potatoes close together, you’ll get more in a smaller space.

Probably pulled about 3000 lbs of potatoes from the small plot out there where they grow.

You grow several varieties, potatoes are essential. You feel like you live in the high Andes. lol

400 heads of cabbage at eight pounds each is 3200 pounds of cabbage. Peppers of all kinds grow better than ever, no shortage of jalapeno and poblano, Hatch and green peppers, as good as it gets and has never been better.

It is and can be done. You will never go hungry and you can feed a lot of people. It takes effort, trial and error, the old ‘the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak’ predicament at times, you gotta do what works. It takes work. It takes money, but there is a return.

You won’t get rich, but you don’t go hungry.

Some seed doesn’t germinate well and you get nothing when you are expecting a good thousand pounds, you maybe have a hundred if you’re lucky.

Not everything is going to be a winner every time and you can’t win them all.

The idea is to grow as much as you can, plant as much as you can and see what happens come what may. It doesn’t happen by itself and if you don’t work at it, it will not happen at all.

You eat good by the sweat of your brow.

Food, it’s what’s for dinner.

Davy on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 4:56 am

“And the beat goes on….”

Billy, LOL, I didn’t moderate your comment so you could explain to me the details of food waste. I am well aware of it. BTW you forgot to mention Asian food waste. You act like Asia has no waste or something. My point is there is no way in hell you can take that food waste and feed 2 billion people. I want you to tell me how that is going to happen:
“Jaz, that food loss is also the amount lost all over the world by humans from the farm to the garbage [pile. If that loss was NOT lost, it would feed those 2 billion new mouths.”
Behaviorally and economically it is not possible to take food waste and feed 2BIL people. Systematically modern life has an inherent food waste factor. Locally produced food consumed locally in season is a different story. Not enough food is raised this way and in the third world where in some places it is there are just as many areas nearby that don’t because of overpopulation. What is required is less people and better eating habits and food waste can be reduced and then those resources could be freed up to feed others but not the one for one. There is still the question of economics. There is still the question of a global system that exports food at great expense raising the energy value in that food.

Davy on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 5:19 am

“The economy is going well and inflation is declining. All in all, a good year.”

Inflation has gone up Billy not declined. It is forcasted to drop next year because the Asian economic situation is in decline because of China
https://www.statista.com/statistics/578717/inflation-rate-in-philippines/

Davy on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 5:19 am

“Chinese Verbal Intervention In The Market Fails As Stock Rout Accelerates”
https://tinyurl.com/y9rqwb7b

“This morning, when we reported that the latest flood of margin calls, resulting from $600 billion in shares pledged as collateral for loans and representing a whopping 11% of China’s market cap, sent the Shanghai Composite tumbling 3% to the lowest level since November 2014, we noted that local government efforts to shore up confidence in smaller companies had, quite obviously, failed to boost sentiment… or stem the selling.”

“So, as many expected, just before Beijing announced the latest batch of stagflationary economic data including retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment, of which the most important was Q3 GDP which printed at 6.5%, the lowest level since Q1 2009, and missing consensus expectations even as inflation has continued to creep higher…”

“What’s next? Unless Beijing’s “National Team” steps in next with some truly aggressive buying in the open market, most likely in the last hour of trading – which however will only provide even more selling opportunities to big holders – today’s global rout may accelerate tomorrow now that China is on the verge of losing control of both its economy and its stock market.”

Davy on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 5:30 am

“Philly Fed Finds Trump Tax Relief More Than Offsets Adverse Effect From Trade War”
https://tinyurl.com/y8wddhlj

“What it found was that while some 40% of respondents would increase CapEx as a result of Tax Relief, only ~23% would cut capital spending plans due to the adverse consequences and unpredictability resulting from tariff increases and trade policy.”

“In other words, as long as positive impulse from Trump’s tax relief permeates the economy, the president has little to worry about when it comes to adverse consequences from the ongoing trade war with China or other nations. And since according to Nomura said positive impulse will last at least into 2020…”

BUT
https://tinyurl.com/yaelrex5
This has set up headwinds for a possible recession next year into election year. How many presidents running for reelection survive a recession? Trumps trade war may have sunk his reelection.

makati1 on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 7:37 am

Delusional Davy is pointing the hypocrite finger again. Look in the mirror tax serf. Amerika is going down, down, down. Bangladesh here it comes! LOL

Antius on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 8:00 am

“The US wastes enough food to feed the entire 100 million plus population of the Philippines.”

It’s even worse than that Makati. Much of the US grain production is fed to cattle in order to produce meat. Meat production is an efficient way of producing food provided the animals are left to graze on marginal land that is not suitable for arable farming. But if arable crops are fed to animals producing meat, the energy efficiency of the process is appalling.

The problem we have is that the market does not distribute resources according to need, but does so based upon the ability to pay. One pound of beef sold to an American is more profitable than twenty pounds of potatoes sold to Africans. In theory, the US could produce enough food to feed the entire world, in practice it will never happen.

Antius on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 8:06 am

I have often wondered why American farmers waste their corn crops producing ethanol biofuel for 60 cents a litre? Why not use the corn to produce bourbon whisky that sells for $10 per litre? The latter becomes more valuable the longer it is stored and is something you can trade for oil with much more calorific value than is actually contained in the ethanol. Finally, something that the Americans can trade with the Chinese and Russians.

Davy on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 8:14 am

Delusional Billy, please state why to your ad hom attack otherwise STFU. This board needs less whining and more facts

The beat goes on

Davy on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 8:21 am

“The problem we have is that the market does not distribute resources according to need, but does so based upon the ability to pay.”

No braineeer for the intelligent, Antius. Now good luck explaining that to billy. BTW, if need dictated pay then population would not have grown so much. Since it is the other way around large populations have proven profitable. Another BTW all that US corn to ethanol could end tomorrow and feed a hungry nation. There are good trade offs too.

I AM THE MOB on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 9:00 am

Vladimir Putin uses speech to herald end of US hegemony

Russian leader shrugs off poor western relations and stresses growing eastern ties.

Russian president Vladimir Putin shrugged off worsening relations with the west and talked up Moscow’s burgeoning diplomatic friendships in Asia and the Middle East, as he hailed the end of a US-dominated unipolar world.

Giving his annual foreign policy address on Thursday, Mr Putin stressed Russia’s military clout and offered a range of handouts to Moscow’s allies. He said his country was always ready to talk despite a mounting list of accusations of impropriety against his regime from western countries.

“Building up tension and hysteria is not our way . . . We are not creating problems for anyone,” Mr Putin said. “I hope we can build dialogue.”

Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 was the start of western sanctions against Moscow that have been broadened since in response to its military actions in Syria, its alleged meddling in the US presidential election, and its alleged use of a chemical weapon to attack a former spy in the UK.

In a wide-ranging exposition at the annual Valdai forum, Mr Putin continually returned to the idea that US hegemony was the cause of many global ills — but that its twilight offered opportunities for Russia and its friends.

“Empires often think they can make some little mistakes . . . because they’re so powerful,” he said. “But when the number of these mistakes keeps growing, it reaches a level they cannot sustain.”

“A country can get the sense from impunity that you can do anything,” he told an audience at a ski resort close to the southern city of Sochi. “This is the result of the monopoly from a unipolar world . . . Luckily this monopoly is disappearing. It’s almost done.”

Mr Putin said president Donald Trump had listened to his arguments and was not impervious to advice as suggested by some US media, adding that he still thought the US leader was working to restore a good US-Russian relationship.

“It’s better to talk, to have a conversation, than to be like cats and dogs that keep fighting each other,” he said.

More than four years of souring relations with the west has seen Moscow pivot east, strengthening diplomatic and trade ties with China and building influence with Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

In his first comments on the disappearance and suspected murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in the country’s Istanbul consulate earlier this month, Mr Putin gave a show of support to the kingdom, saying he currently saw no reason to worsen his warm relations with Riyadh, and suggesting that the US bore some responsibility for his fate.

“He did not live in Russia, but in the US. In this sense, the US bears some responsibility for what happened to him,” Mr Putin said. “In truth, we do not know what happened. So why should we take any steps that could harm our relations with Saudi Arabia?”

The Russian president also announced Moscow would provide Egypt with a $45bn loan to pay for a Russian-built nuclear power project, and outlined plans to supply military technology to Beijing and allow Chinese agriculture companies to invest in Russia’s Far East.

In an extensive section dedicated to outlining why Russia’s nuclear weapons programme was the world’s best, Mr Putin said a new hypersonic missile would be delivered to the Russian army within “a few months”, but that Russia would only use nuclear arms to retaliate after an enemy strike.

https://www.ft.com/content/66657d48-d2f2-11e8-a9f2-7574db66bcd5?fbclid=IwAR1R8vfVfNPgfi5OYe_LeJdeOgZPpfy9KTLqw4b75hyvxOpfCM6CH3LderA

I AM THE MOB on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 9:01 am

There is your hero Davy, boasting about the collapse of your own country..

I hope they hang you from a lamp post..

I AM THE MOB on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 9:04 am

Don’t laugh: $400 oil isn’t THAT crazy

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dont-laugh-400-oil-isnt-that-crazy-2018-10-18

Saudi oil weapon of mass destruction

Antius on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 9:22 am

“Don’t laugh: $400 oil isn’t THAT crazy”

Empty threats. The oil weapon is like a gun that fires a bullet into the assailant and the target simultaneously. Without oil money the Saudis would collapse and without Saudi oil, most of the world would collapse. Harsh words will be exchanged, but nothing of substance. Remember, the US president did not sanction Saudi even after a dozen Saudis had flown planes into the world trade centre. How much is anyone really going to care about a journalist?

In reality, oil would not get very far north of $100, before it crashed the economies of importing regions like Europe, Japan and China. Then the OPEC nations would be struggling to sell oil for $40; likely in much smaller volumes.

I AM THE MOB on Fri, 19th Oct 2018 9:24 am