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Page added on November 6, 2015
Importance of agriculture to US security scrutinized
The U.S. needs to stay a step ahead of key challenges faced by its agriculture sector, especially resource scarcity, the threat of bioterrorism and greater productivity as world population expands from about 6 billion people in 2015 to 9 billion by 2050, said Ambassador John Negroponte, former U.S. deputy secretary of state under President George W. Bush, in hearings Nov. 4 on American agriculture and national security before the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture.
Negroponte noted the U.S. plays a critical role in global agriculture as the world’s largest producer of beef, soybeans, corn and poultry and a top exporter of a diverse group of foods such as almonds, apples, raisins, sorghum, pork and wheat. He also said the U.S. may need to be able to secure the safety and availability of food supplies of important allies such as Japan.
Negroponte said rising competition among countries and regions for finite resources such as water and arable land could hurt political stability and force U.S. military priorities to shift. He pointed to Syria and Iraq as currently being vulnerable to water scarcity because rivers, canals and dams are military targets.
“Over time, these and other resource constraints along with pressure from climate change could slow down increases in productivity,” Negroponte said. In the decades ahead, “water could become to global strategy what petroleum is today, since declining food security could contribute to large-scale political instability and conflict.”
As for biodefense, Negroponte said a successful attack by parties intent on hurting the U.S. may result in economic damage or threats to food safety and public health. He recommended stronger surveillance, monitoring and tracking as well as creating nationwide laboratory networks to ensure the safety of food and water.
Negroponte emphasized that, in order to feed a growing middle class, especially in developing nations, and a world population of about 9 billion by 2050, greater productivity in food production was essential.
“Unfortunately, funding for vital research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research has stagnated … This needs to change,” he said.
Other important approaches to keeping domestic food supplies available, affordable and safe included keeping infrastructure up to date and fully functioning.
“Reducing the chances of attack will likely require increased investment in vulnerable or aged infrastructure and a continuing evaluation of new and emerging threats,” he told the house agriculture committee.
Negroponte also called for support of international agriculture that could reduce “the vulnerability of political systems to weather, conflict and other shocks.” He recommended the development of “market-oriented systems that improve the operation of agriculture as a business by working with farmers, host governments, investors, civil society and private industry.”
Tammy Beckham, dean of the college of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, also testified before the House agriculture committee and emphasized that food insecurity caused by any reason often leads to negative social and geopolitical consequences.
“In fact, it is well documented that, although the Arab Spring was not about food insecurity, it is likely that the rapid rise in international food prices caused middle class urban populations in these regions to experience acute food insecurity, which provided the necessary motivation for the people to generate unrest,” she told the committee.
She urged the U.S. government to increase efforts to control any outbreaks of disease affecting livestock and/or poultry as well as attacks to disrupt food supplies or human safety through the intentional introduction of a biological agent into domestic agricultural systems.
“Despite interagency agreements that exist, the coordination of a comprehensive biodefense program against agricultural and human health threats is lacking,” Beckham said. “To date, an organized, multi-year, well-funded strategy and commitment has not materialized.”
10 Comments on "Importance of agriculture to US security scrutinized"
apneaman on Fri, 6th Nov 2015 1:54 pm
“…as world population expands from about 6 billion people in 2015…”
Current World Population
7,379,104,255
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
Climate Change and Rising Food Prices Heightened Arab Spring
The effects of climate change on the food supply exacerbated the underlying tensions that have led to ongoing Middle East instability
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-and-rising-food-prices-heightened-arab-spring/
Saudi Wells Running Dry — of Water — Spell End of Desert Wheat
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-04/saudi-wells-running-dry-of-water-spell-end-of-desert-wheat
Egypt’s strategic wheat reserves to last until mid-March
“CAIRO: Egypt’s strategic wheat reserves are enough to last until the middle of March, the country’s supply minister Khaled Hanafi said in a statement on Saturday.
The new reserve figure was released after Egypt’s state-owned General Authority for Supply Commodities ( GASC) bought 180,000 tonnes of Russian and Romanian wheat on Friday in a tender.”
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/egypts-strategic-wheat-reserves-to-last-until-mid-march/articleshow/49298688.cms
kanon on Fri, 6th Nov 2015 7:38 pm
The refugees streaming into Europe are simply the first trickles of the coming flood. Do ya think?
Riyadh will import all the wheat needed for 2016 consumption.
The new reserve figure was released after Egypt’s state-owned General Authority for Supply Commodities ( GASC) bought 180,000 tonnes of Russian and Romanian wheat on Friday in a tender.
With the droughts in California, Brazil, South Africa, and Southeast Asia, and likely future droughts, the likelyhood of worldwide food shortages is growing quickly.
If I remember correctly, Mr. Negroponte was an actor in the Afganistan and Iraq war fiascos — helping to ruin America. As the Secretary of State in the Bush administration, he also worked to ruin the world. Now, under the guise of defense against terrorism, he wants the military to secure resources against hungry and thirsty people, probably poor Americans. Disaster Capitalism — profiting off climate change and any other desperation they cause.
Makati1 on Fri, 6th Nov 2015 7:51 pm
Yep! GMO poison, drugs in the animal meat, and a fat/sugar saturated food system is just what the US has. Along with the highest obesity level (BMI 30 or higher) in the world. 30% plus.
Maybe if the Us stopped promoting wars, there would be less damage to food sources? “… He pointed to Syria and Iraq as currently being vulnerable to water scarcity because rivers, canals and dams are military targets.” But then, this guy is another war mongering politician as can be seen by the use of military terms in relation to food supplies. This article is saturated with bullshit and propaganda.
makati1 on Fri, 6th Nov 2015 8:23 pm
Worth your time:
“Poisoned Agriculture: Depopulation and Human Extinction”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/poisoned-agriculture-depopulation-and-human-extinction/5487010
“Providing evidence to show how human disease patterns correlate remarkably well with the rate of glyphosate usage on corn, soy and wheat crops, which has increased due to ‘Roundup Ready’ crops, Mason goes on to present more sources to show how our over-reliance on chemicals in agriculture is causing irreparable harm to all beings on this planet. Most of these chemicals are known to cause illness, and they have likely been causing illnesses for many years. But until recently, the herbicides have never been sprayed directly on food crops and never in this massive quantity….Mason discusses how agriculture and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) fit into a wider agenda for depopulating the planet. She notes that on the initiative of Gates, in May 2009 some of the richest people in the US met at the home of Nurse, a British Nobel prize-winning biochemist and President (2003–10) of Rockefeller University in Manhattan, to discuss ways of tackling a ‘disastrous’ environmental, social and industrial threat of overpopulation. The meeting was hosted by David Rockefeller Jr. These same individuals have met several times since to develop a strategy in which population growth would be tackled.”
ghung on Sat, 7th Nov 2015 8:18 am
While concentrated industrial agriculture is, on the surface, very efficient, efficiency is the enemy of resilience. Resilience comes from widely distributed production of food; grow more food locally where it’s consumed. As we’ve seen recently in California, putting big chunks of production in one area, and becoming dependent on that, isn’t such a good idea. Didn’t see any mention of that. Maybe I missed it.
theedrich on Sun, 8th Nov 2015 1:16 am
The U.S. bribe-ocracy lives not on agribusiness but on narcomoney. Five years ago it was revealed that Wachovia Corp., Bank of America, Wells Fargo & Co., London-headquartered HSBC Holdings PLC, Standard Chartered PLC., Citigroup Inc., Banco Santander SA (Spain), and Western Union Co. were laundering money for the Latino and international drug cartels. No one knows how many TBTF financial organizations are involved in this constantly expanding business today, largely because Ø and his “supporters” have learned how to keep their contributions to the Demonic Party even deeper underground. Any palaver from the MSM about the narcotics plague consists largely of indirect sneering at the “War” on drugs. Eric Holder, the underling Negro in charge of enforcing the nation’s laws, does nothing to stop the free marijuana/gateway drug permissiveness now infesting WA, OR, CO and AK, with more on the brink. Because that might choke off some of the monetary contributions to Ø and his henchmen.
No politician except Trump vows to stop the cross-border narcotraffic, because that would be “racism.” Tens of millions of Americans and their families are being destroyed by this epidemic, yet there is hardly a whisper about it from the politicoes. All we hear is drivel about various politically incorrect phobias, and how we need to change the rest of the world into our slave (by military force, that is).
The corruption of the American government has reached abyssal levels. Recently it was announced that a gas station had been built in northern Afghanistan for $43 million dollars, when only $500,000 was needed. No one knows who authorized the expenditure or where other $42.5 million of the cash went. Dubai? Into the pockets of the Demonic Party and its RINO accomplices? And to all reports that theft was merely the tiniest tip of the long-standing corruption iceberg.
Given that Americans prefer to turn a blind eye to the failed state to our immediate south, or to the international crime organizations now threading their tentacles throughout our entire society, using “Christian values” as their disguise, it is hard to see how we can ever climb out of this deepening snakepit and avoid becoming a failed state ourselves.
GregT on Sun, 8th Nov 2015 1:58 am
“The U.S. bribe-ocracy lives not on agribusiness but on narcomoney. Five years ago it was revealed that Wachovia Corp., Bank of America, Wells Fargo & Co., London-headquartered HSBC Holdings PLC, Standard Chartered PLC., Citigroup Inc., Banco Santander SA (Spain), and Western Union Co. were laundering money for the Latino and international drug cartels.”
This is what whitey does theedrich. Capitalism and greed. It’s all about profit at any cost. Nothing personal, just business.
onlooker on Sun, 8th Nov 2015 5:52 am
Yes, Greg this has been exposed by various people for decades. I know one for sure who must be familiar to everyone here, that is Mike Ruppert RIP. Back in the 80’s as a Los Angeles Police detective he found out how the CIA was involved in drug trafficking. So yes this is all well documented and highly credible. Everywhere you look profit trumps everything including human, animal and planetary well-being.
Kenz300 on Sun, 8th Nov 2015 9:07 am
Climate Change, declining fish stocks, droughts, floods, pollution, water and food shortages all stem from the worlds worst environmental problem……. OVER POPULATION.
Yet the world adds 80 million more mouths to feed, clothe, house and provide energy and water for every year… this is unsustainable…
Birth Control Permanent Methods: Learn About Effectiveness
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/birth_control_permanent_methods/article_em.htm
apneaman on Sun, 8th Nov 2015 11:37 am
The Bases Lectures Graham Harvey: Dangers in Agriculture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBN62bLroVI