Ug99, the Destruction of Wheat Crops, and Prices In Our Local Supermarkets
Only a few years ago, back in 1999, a fungus was discovered in Africa. This fungus, unfortunately, destroys wheat. This year 70% of the African wheat crop has been lost to Ug99 (also known as Puccinia graminis.) The effects are frightening. According to the Food and Agriculture Office of the United Nations, about 1/4 of the world’s wheat crop is affected by Ug99 this year.
Wheat isn’t the only crop in crisis. During the past year hungry people around the world have been rioting, concerned about the cost of food. In Asia the price of rice has doubled in the last two months and here in the USA, stores are preventing foreigners from buying extra large quantities of rice to send to relatives overseas.
We’re in trouble, folks. Time to think ahead. I’m serious.
A few days ago I went into my local supermarket to buy parmesan cheese, something I’ve purchased regularly for years. Suddenly the price is up from $3.50 to over $6. I took a long look at the shelf and sighed, and decided to price it at the larger markets outside our tiny remote town. For now, I’ll do without. I suspect the cost of gas will be driving up all food prices before long.
The pizza restaurant I work in is small and cozy - a comforting fixture in a town remotely located in a valley in the mountains in the center of a large forest. There, we rely on wheat to make the pizza dough, and the parmesan cheese is an essential condiment. People here would not like losing their pizza parlor, because there are few alternative restaurants locally. But I foresee that the owner may have to raise prices, perhaps drastically. He drives out of town once or twice weekly to get supplies like huge bags of white flour, parmesan cheese, and everything else we need. His gas cost has doubled in the last couple years. The price of gas locally is now $4.22. It didn’t seem quite so bad before it hit that $4.00 mark, but now I look at the pump and cringe. People expect to see gas priced at over $5.00 here this summer.
Ug99 and the wheat crop crisis comes on the heels of a corn crisis and a rice crisis. For all these formerly-abundant items we consider “staples” and “necessities”, the price is going up.
Prepare now for the future, for your families.
On a similar note, do you realize how dependent we are on the trucking industry for the diversity of foods offered in our stores? My significant other is an ex-trucker, so we think about this often. He expects the flow of food availability to halt sometime within the coming years. It is up to each of us to help our families by preparing with food storage. Another way we should prepare is to develop our gardening capabilities. Raise as much of the food you use yourself and you won’t be devastated when your favorite items disappear from the supermarket shelves, or get priced beyond your ability to pay.
A few years ago I fasted for ten days using the lemonade diet - a wonderful cleansing ritual that is amazingly healthy. The essential ingredients are lemons and maple syrup (the real stuff, not imitation). How was I to know that the next year lemons would be priced so high I’d cringe at the thought of buying them. I still want so much to do another lemonade cleansing diet, but every time I see that locally lemons cost 79 cents each, I realize it just isn’t a possibility for me right now.
Ug99 isn’t in the USA yet; that doesn’t mean it won’t be. We live in a global civilization and we need to be aware that what affects one person affects us all. Scientists are saying the fungus could spread as spores on the wind to reach other locations throughout the world including the United States.
Source: Wheat Crop Failures Could be Total, Experts Warn published on April 24, 2008 on MoneyNews.Com.
See also: Crisis In Food Prices Threatens Worldwide Starvation - Is it Genocide? by Richard C. Cook, published April 24, 2008 on Rense.Com.
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Pingback by Carnival of Ethics, Values, and Personal Finance - May Edition | Greener Pastures: Personal Finance — Thursday, May 1, 2008 @ 2:31 am
[…] of ‘conscious consuming’ are saying what I’m saying here: be a conscious shopper. Ug99, the destruction of wheat crops and prices in our local supermarket mentioned the price of Parmesan cheese is up from $3.50 to over $6. I have noticed myself the […]
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I find it inconceivable to use Rense as a, or any, source of credible information. If you want to talk about Genocide, or incitement to Genocide, then look no further than the hateful and insidious venom spewed at that site.
Lastly, I find it as well inconceivable that hoarding is in any way, shape or form, anything but a destructive way to deal with any alleged food shortages. It only creates panic.
Comment by David — Thursday, May 1, 2008 @ 8:40 pm
David, I didn’t know Rense was that controversial, and honestly, most of what he links to holds no interest for me and I don’t read it. But that he promotes some information that is either inaccurate or disagreeable to many doesn’t mean that nothing he posts or links to is true. And the article I linked to is by Richard Cook, not by Rense. I happen to believe there IS a conspiracy to impoverish Americans and that there are many who believe that the world’s population should be reduced by whatever means possible. The article is by a financial analyst who recommends that we grow vegetable gardens. Please, everyone, start a garden if you don’t have one yet!
Hoarding food? Why not? Let me tell you… I went to the store a few days ago and found a product I normally bought without concern had suddenly increased in price so much, I will possibly never buy it again. I WISH I had bought a case of it a month ago, or maybe even three cases. I’m already living at a poverty level and these price increases are hitting pretty hard. If I had bought three cases of this food, the store would have restocked it right away and nobody would have suffered because of it.
Thanks for reading my article, even if you took offense at a link source and didn’t agree that food storage is worthwhile. The specter of babies starving and young families unable to provide their children with meals hits my heart hard… I can’t help but want to warn people that the world is changing and some foods are getting more expensive and/or unavailable.
Comment by Linda — Thursday, May 1, 2008 @ 11:50 pm
Rense is beyond controversial–they are a KKK hate site. Be that as it may, I don’t think that there is a “conspriracy” to starve people but there is definitely a food price and supply crisis in the world.
You use the term buying in bulk, which I don’t have a problem with; other’s advocate actual hoarding which sows panic.
The rise in Commodity prices is genuinely real and the fact that it is affecting poor nations and people across the world is a very serious issue that deserves very serious attention.
For the most part, I think I have read enough of your site to think that you are coming from a good place, I would recommend to dump using Rense as you can find reliable articles–which could also be the same–from another source.
Comment by David — Friday, May 2, 2008 @ 9:11 pm
This article has been included in the latest edition of Mom’s Blogging Carnival.
Comment by Deborah Robinson — Saturday, May 10, 2008 @ 7:47 pm
[…] famine food posted at Esther Garvi aka Ishtar News. Linda Jo Martin tells us about a freaky fungus, Ug99, the Destruction of Wheat Crops, and Prices In Our Local Supermarkets posted at Country Kitchen Pantry | Herbs, Spices, Recipes, Cooking. Speaking of those food prices, […]
Pingback by Sixth “Tips for Green Living” Carnival « Green Your Apartment — Tuesday, May 13, 2008 @ 4:21 pm
In the UK it is hard for us to smpathise as we now pay over $12 for a gallon of gas. Food has been so cheap in much of the developed world that we collectively throw away half of what we purchase just because the sell by date has passed. If this changes peoples habits so they only buy what they need that can only be good for the planet.
Comment by Bill Green — Sunday, May 25, 2008 @ 3:10 am
Bill, thanks for the heads-up about gas prices in the UK. I wondered how bad it was getting over there. I wonder how people there have adapted.
For my part, I’ve gotten my bike out and started riding it. I live in a small town and can get around pretty well without using my car.
I wonder how people who work and commute will adapt. Will they have to give up their jobs because it is no longer economically viable to commute?
Comment by Linda — Sunday, May 25, 2008 @ 11:30 pm
Freaky fungus.. isn’t that abit extreme? The rust disease has been around since the early cultivation of wheat. The ancient Hewbrews and Romans even thought that it was a punishment from the gods for their sins. So this is not something new.. it has always been there.
Nature has its own way of doing things. Nature does not want anything to become extinct.. be it people, insects or even diseases. Whenever there is a threat to a species, individuals of that specie has to adapt and try to overcome this threat to ensure its survival. This is exactly what has happened..
We have been breeding new wheat cultivars to control diseases and keep them out of the fields… In return the diseases adapt and try to overcome the resistance. The result: a strain called Ug99.. which has overcome many of the resistance genes that has been effective for several decades..
But this cannot be avoided.. It is part of nature and we have to accept it. However, wheat breeders have to seek new sources of resistance to once again keep the disease under control. An epidemic such as this should make us aware of our surroundings and nature.. We tend to forget the little things and take everything for granted.. Yet now, a disease.. where a single spore is not even visible to the naked eye.. is threatening our food supplies.. Are we still the superior species on this planet? Or are we just one of the charms on natures huge chess board?
Comment by Krishna Naicker — Thursday, June 12, 2008 @ 5:13 am
Well thought, Krishna… you bring up good points about the adaption of plant diseases to the conditions we put them in. Man vs. nature - who will win?
Comment by Linda — Thursday, June 12, 2008 @ 12:00 pm