[mikeflecheer]

Will you all be bored when there is no one to argue with any more?

[eastbay]

And no one to call nasty names. Diversity of perspective makes this place the greatest!

Pretorian, I enjoy reading your stuff. I may not believe everything you write, but will always defend you against those harsh-speakers who shovel foul names your way. Sometimes I'll defend you in words right here, like now.

Nice to have those with minority perspectives. It reminds us all we have freedom of thought and speech, well, we mostly do anyhow.

My brand of socialism will include basic freedoms, such as speech, btw.

[some_guy282]

From: The Guardian.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')rittle and gritty - and as revolting as they sound - these are "mud cakes". For years they have been consumed by impoverished pregnant women seeking calcium, a risky and medically unproven supplement, but now the cakes have become a staple for entire families.

[Commanding_Heights]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('some_guy282', 'F')rom The Guardian. --snip-- Anyone care to speculate on the nutritional implications of eatting mud cakes? It might stop the hunger, but if there's little or nothing in it for your body to break down and use I'd think that it would be counter productive - your body is using energy to digest the stuff and getting nothing out of it in return....
With the exception of Cuba, it looks like the Caribbean is in for a world of hurt. Most of their economies are dependent on tourism from wealthier nations and family members sending what money they can from the US. Those are both going to be drying up. On top of that, they're overpopulated and not self sufficient with food.

[MadScientist]

nice indicator of the things people will do when theyre starving. Lock down your garden.

[emersonbiggins]

Mud cakes... I wonder if Bernanke is taking notes and substituting these into the lowest rung of the food component of the CPI?

"Inflation is tame, as Americans overwhelmingly switched from eating steak and ground beef to mud."

[dorlomin]

look at how much mud there. What ABUNDANCE! No one who matters is suffering are they?

[Byron100]

Too bad someone can't wave a magic wand and make it so every single Haitian has a handgun and plenty of bullets.

This won't put more food in their mouths, but it'd sure as heck take care of the overpopulation problem...hehe.

[f2tornado]

Haiti is a prime example of what happens when the environment gets so severely degraded it can no longer support the population living there. Haiti was about 1/3 forest in 1940 but is now less than 2% and that number continues to fall. Forest destruction combined with unsustainable agricultural practice has lead to severe soil erosion. In some areas the soil has eroded to the bedrock. Mix in some tropical storms and you get severe flooding with enormous human toll. The situation next door in the Dominican is far better but not free of problem. The DR has a solidly growing economy but electricity distribution is problematic. One island, two societies with vastly different outcomes. I'm sure some sociology student is writing a thesis on this now.

[CarlosFerreira]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('f2tornado', 'H')aiti is a prime example of what happens when the environment gets so severely degraded it can no longer support the population living there. Haiti was about 1/3 forest in 1940 but is now less than 2% and that number continues to fall. Forest destruction combined with unsustainable agricultural practice has lead to severe soil erosion. In some areas the soil has eroded to the bedrock. Mix in some tropical storms and you get severe flooding with enormous human toll. The situation next door in the Dominican is far better but not free of problem. The DR has a solidly growing economy but electricity distribution is problematic. One island, two societies with vastly different outcomes. I'm sure some sociology student is writing a thesis on this now.

[pup55]

http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic36052-0.html

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') feel sorry for the people in the Dominican Republic. They inhabit the same island, but are slightly better off. 848 people per square km, slightly better off in infant mortality, and slightly less poor, population rate about 1.5%, better off, but not much. Can you guess what is going to happen?

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('some_guy282', '[')b]Anyone care to speculate on the nutritional implications of eating mud
cakes? It might stop the hunger, but if there's little or nothing in it for
your body to break down and use I'd think that it would be counter
productive - your body is using energy to digest the stuff and getting
nothing out of it in return....

[CarlosFerreira]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', 'h')ttp://www.peakoil.com/fortopic36052-0.html

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') feel sorry for the people in the Dominican Republic. They inhabit the same island, but are slightly better off. 848 people per square km, slightly better off in infant mortality, and slightly less poor, population rate about 1.5%, better off, but not much. Can you guess what is going to happen?

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', '[')b]Food too expensive, time to eat dirt
http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic36052-0.html

[Schneider]

Earthworms cultures out of inedible vegetables scrap could help for the proteins.

No, i'm not kidding ..

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Schneider', 'E')arthworms cultures out of inedible vegetables scrap could help for the proteins.

No, i'm not kidding ..

[Specop_007]

Its good to be at the top of the economic scale.

[threadbear]

There's nothing like the specter of people eating mud cakes to rally all the sociopaths at PO.com to a thread. Well done. The idea of anyone having to eat mud evokes compassion in most of us, but glee in others.

[Specop_007]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('threadbear', 'T')here's nothing like the specter of people eating mud cakes to rally all the sociopaths at PO.com to a thread. Well done. The idea of anyone having to eat mud evokes compassion in most of us, but glee in others.

[perdition79]

I can understand the mud cakes as a food source.

Occasionally, at the fertilizer plants I service, I haul limestone -- calcium carbonate. It's an ingredient in animal feed, as well as a component of these Haitian mud cakes being discussed. From what I've observed, it's a pretty good food source. The caked-up lime dust around the silos is food for palmetto bugs, and these bugs are twice the size of normal palmetto bugs. They're almost the size of a mouse, without a tail, just from eating limestone.

When it comes to survival, gastronomy is pretty far down on the priorities list.