4 ms·

Don't they have massive pork reserves?

tekno45 8y ago
It takes time to get to where it needs to go. There would still be a shock.
bluGill 8y ago
I doubt it (but I don't know). Pork doesn't store well, your best best is freeze it, but that requires constant energy. You can salt it as well. Either way though after 1 year quality goes way down. China does have large stores of Corn and Soybeans, which they can feed to pigs. Grain stores fairly well once you dry it, no need for expensive refrigeration. Quality goes down over time, but you can still get several years. Since most of this is feed to animals quality loss is not as big a deal (poison of a few animals is an economic issue - moral concerns can be hid from consumers much easier)
- avar 8y ago
  > Your best best is freeze it, but that requires constant energy. Making up the difference between freezing and the ambient temperature requires constant energy. China has access to a lot of land where the mean average temperature gets close to or below freezing[1], they've also got access to permafrost[2] areas. Whether they have long-term strategic stockpiles of meat is another matter, but I don't see why running such a stockpile wouldn't be relatively cheap for them given their access to cold areas. Once you decide to store meat long enough it makes sense to put it on a train to Tibet instead of paying to keep it in a freezer in the heat by the coast. 1. https://www.topchinatravel.com/china-map/average-annual-temperature-map-of-china.htm https://www.topchinatravel.com/china-map/average-annual-temp... 2. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Distribution-of-permafrost-and-seasonally-frozen-ground-in-China_fig3_248243349 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Distribution-of-permafro...
  - politician 8y ago
    Does the US have long-term strategic stockpiles of meat?
    - jmpman 8y ago
      I have a couple cans of SPAM in the pantry. Should last me a few years.
    - avar 8y ago
      A strategic stockpile of luxury goods would be silly. In the event of a major war or other event that causes supply problems you need to provide people with their basic food needs. Doing that with canned goods or even protein bars/powder to the extent that a balanced diet requires some amount of protein is much more cost-effective and reliable. Similarly you'd stock up on something like canned lentils or chickpeas if you're worried about the carbohydrate supply, not stock up on frozen bread. But China might enact such a policy of stocking up on luxury goods since they're continually paranoid that their dictatorship is balanced on the knife-edge of "don't mind the totalitarianism as long as the trains run on time".

It takes time to get to where it needs to go. There would still be a shock.

I doubt it (but I don't know). Pork doesn't store well, your best best is freeze it, but that requires constant energy. You can salt it as well. Either way though after 1 year quality goes way down. China does have large stores of Corn and Soybeans, which they can feed to pigs. Grain stores fairly well once you dry it, no need for expensive refrigeration. Quality goes down over time, but you can still get several years. Since most of this is feed to animals quality loss is not as big a deal (poison of a few animals is an economic issue - moral concerns can be hid from consumers much easier)

avar 8y ago
> Your best best is freeze it, but that requires constant energy. Making up the difference between freezing and the ambient temperature requires constant energy. China has access to a lot of land where the mean average temperature gets close to or below freezing[1], they've also got access to permafrost[2] areas. Whether they have long-term strategic stockpiles of meat is another matter, but I don't see why running such a stockpile wouldn't be relatively cheap for them given their access to cold areas. Once you decide to store meat long enough it makes sense to put it on a train to Tibet instead of paying to keep it in a freezer in the heat by the coast. 1. https://www.topchinatravel.com/china-map/average-annual-temperature-map-of-china.htm https://www.topchinatravel.com/china-map/average-annual-temp... 2. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Distribution-of-permafrost-and-seasonally-frozen-ground-in-China_fig3_248243349 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Distribution-of-permafro...
- politician 8y ago
  Does the US have long-term strategic stockpiles of meat?
  - jmpman 8y ago
    I have a couple cans of SPAM in the pantry. Should last me a few years.
  - avar 8y ago
    A strategic stockpile of luxury goods would be silly. In the event of a major war or other event that causes supply problems you need to provide people with their basic food needs. Doing that with canned goods or even protein bars/powder to the extent that a balanced diet requires some amount of protein is much more cost-effective and reliable. Similarly you'd stock up on something like canned lentils or chickpeas if you're worried about the carbohydrate supply, not stock up on frozen bread. But China might enact such a policy of stocking up on luxury goods since they're continually paranoid that their dictatorship is balanced on the knife-edge of "don't mind the totalitarianism as long as the trains run on time".