Globalism http://addingunderstanding.com/taxonomy/term/251/atom/feed 2007-04-17T10:37:44-06:00 Local food and the global supply chain http://addingunderstanding.com/local-food-options.html 2007-05-21T06:00:00-06:00 2007-05-21T06:00:00-06:00 joshb Waking up listening to Weekend Edition Sunday is one of the best parts of the weekend. There are the features like the weekly puzzle with Will Short and there are some of the best stories on radio. This Sunday was no exception. A story talked about the possibility of finding locally grown foods and one couple's year-long experiment of eating a local diet. It started, as so many things do, as a necessity to put together a good meal from the locally available resources and turned into an exploration of the follies of the global food supply chain.

Recent stories about the pet food recall have pointed out some of the problems with getting food from the lowest bidder. Free marketeers will boldly proclaim that if we just leave the market alone it will correct the problem. Ultimately they are correct. The question is are we willing to pay the price? When the market is left to correct this situation on its own it will be a brutal correction. There won't be a simple soft landing and awareness of the need to change. Rather there will be a catastrophic failure of the supply chain and there will be thousands of people starving when the market makes the folly known.

]]> Waking up listening to Weekend Edition Sunday is one of the best parts of the weekend. There are the features like the weekly puzzle with Will Short and there are some of the best stories on radio. This Sunday was no exception. A story talked about the possibility of finding locally grown foods and one couple's year-long experiment of eating a local diet. It started, as so many things do, as a necessity to put together a good meal from the locally available resources and turned into an exploration of the follies of the global food supply chain.

Recent stories about the pet food recall have pointed out some of the problems with getting food from the lowest bidder. Free marketeers will boldly proclaim that if we just leave the market alone it will correct the problem. Ultimately they are correct. The question is are we willing to pay the price? When the market is left to correct this situation on its own it will be a brutal correction. There won't be a simple soft landing and awareness of the need to change. Rather there will be a catastrophic failure of the supply chain and there will be thousands of people starving when the market makes the folly known.

One of the ironies of the situation is that the groups who should have so much in common in this area are more often at odds than in harmony. The vegans, the ranchers, the environmentalists and the homeland security lobbies should all be united in fighting this fight. Instead each spends time putting down the other group instead of looking deeper and seeing that there is more in common than there is that divides us. Unfortunately until the last acre is paved and the last pineapple delivered from a jumbo-jet we won't get together and then it may be too late.

]]> Unintended consequences http://addingunderstanding.com/consequences-water-grab-snwa.html 2007-04-17T10:37:44-06:00 2007-04-17T10:37:44-06:00 joshb Many things we do have unintended consequences. Consider for example the research suggesting mobile phones may be killing off bee colonies. The consequences of this are particularly dire on our food crops. In spite of a great apricot blossom this year we appear to have few fruit set on the trees. What we didn't have to go with the blossoms were the bees to pollinate them.

Southern Nevada Water Authority's attempt to grab water from rural Nevada and surrounding states is rife with such unintended consequences. Consider the global food supply chain that feeds Las Vegas. With the destruction of the agricultural areas of the state Las Vegas will be totally dependent on this global chain instead of having the local resources to support the community in times of crisis. We have recently seen the effects of this global supply chain when a Las Vegas company sold contaminated wheat germ to pet food manufacturers and poisoned pets across the continent. With a food supply this fragile even small disruptions have huge consequences.

]]> Many things we do have unintended consequences. Consider for example the research suggesting mobile phones may be killing off bee colonies. The consequences of this are particularly dire on our food crops. In spite of a great apricot blossom this year we appear to have few fruit set on the trees. What we didn't have to go with the blossoms were the bees to pollinate them.

Southern Nevada Water Authority's attempt to grab water from rural Nevada and surrounding states is rife with such unintended consequences. Consider the global food supply chain that feeds Las Vegas. With the destruction of the agricultural areas of the state Las Vegas will be totally dependent on this global chain instead of having the local resources to support the community in times of crisis. We have recently seen the effects of this global supply chain when a Las Vegas company sold contaminated wheat germ to pet food manufacturers and poisoned pets across the continent. With a food supply this fragile even small disruptions have huge consequences.

The Nevada State Engineer yesterday released a decision that gives SNWA about half of the water they were looking to take from the residents of Spring Valley. The agency would like residents of Spring Valley to believe that it will spend tens of billions of dollars building a pipeline and abandon it the instant it has a detrimental impact on the state's breadbasket. With a once fertile portion of the state dried up to provide water for Las Vegas' uncontrolled growth Las Vegans will have no safety net when it comes to our food supply. Rural Nevada may never be able to completely support Las Vegas' food needs, but it is certain that without this important safeguard Vegas will be in even more peril.

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