4 ms·

At some point enough harvests will be missed because of lockdown that famines become inevitable. The choice to risk it will probably me made too late. Not sure

At some point enough harvests will be missed because of lockdown that famines become inevitable. The choice to risk it will probably me made too late. Not sure why I'm getting downvoted. Food takes months to grow and needs to be harvested within a short window. By the time people realize there's a famine coming it will be too late. Just look at how we could have prepared in January for this virus if people weren't so shortsighted.

fock 7y ago
which country (except China in Hubei) actually locked down agriculture?
- pacman83 7y ago
  US relies on farm workers from Mexico and is not letting as many in, partly due to suspension of visa operations.
- jimmySixDOF 7y ago
  Kazakhstan suspends exports of food staples They are the #10 Global Wheat Exporter [1] https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/update-1-kazakhstan-suspends-exports-of-food-staples https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/update-1-kazakh...
  - fock 7y ago
    they are still producing though?
alexandercrohde 7y ago
I'm downvoting this because it's a huge claim without adequate evidence. Feel free to cite some sources showing what % of harvests have been missed, etc, and I'll change my downvote.
- twomoretime 7y ago
  Migrants can't make it to harvests because countries/states are locked down. Isn't that literally in the article? There won't be any sources for a while because this is literally just starting. I mean 3billion people are on lockdown of some sort globally right now. Not hard to imagine it may be hard for workers to get to farms across borders, or even within borders. CA alone will probably see a shortage of migrants. No, I don't know for sure but I'm speculating that it's quite likely. Supply chains have also been strained because people have been panic buying for what, 3 weeks now? You can't just snap your fingers and double your supply of vegetables.
  - 6510 7y ago
    So, to put it bluntly, people are sitting on ass and their food crops are rotting in the field? Even if you do nothing the market will probably fix it: Less food in the markets > high demand drives up prices > higher salaries > slightly lower prices At some point some people are hungry enough to get a... shall we say... real job? With some regulatory sanity we subsidize it a bit. Perhaps we should test and quarantine the farm workers when money stops being an issue.
    - jmalicki 7y ago
      So in other words, after one famine where a large fraction of the population dies, the market will be better afterwards? Especially with anti-price-gouging laws - this process is explicit forbidden from happening during a crisis.
      - 6510 7y ago
        nah, the regulators will move in and save us from ourselves.
        s1artibartfast 7y ago
        Regulators might be able to legislate food into existence in counties with strategic reserves, but not all places are so lucky. If there isn't enough calories produced, people would die. Most in low GDP countries which are net food importers.

fock 7y ago

which country (except China in Hubei) actually locked down agriculture?

pacman83 7y ago
US relies on farm workers from Mexico and is not letting as many in, partly due to suspension of visa operations.
jimmySixDOF 7y ago
Kazakhstan suspends exports of food staples They are the #10 Global Wheat Exporter [1] https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/update-1-kazakhstan-suspends-exports-of-food-staples https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/update-1-kazakh...
- fock 7y ago
  they are still producing though?

alexandercrohde 7y ago

I'm downvoting this because it's a huge claim without adequate evidence. Feel free to cite some sources showing what % of harvests have been missed, etc, and I'll change my downvote.

twomoretime 7y ago
Migrants can't make it to harvests because countries/states are locked down. Isn't that literally in the article? There won't be any sources for a while because this is literally just starting. I mean 3billion people are on lockdown of some sort globally right now. Not hard to imagine it may be hard for workers to get to farms across borders, or even within borders. CA alone will probably see a shortage of migrants. No, I don't know for sure but I'm speculating that it's quite likely. Supply chains have also been strained because people have been panic buying for what, 3 weeks now? You can't just snap your fingers and double your supply of vegetables.
- 6510 7y ago
  So, to put it bluntly, people are sitting on ass and their food crops are rotting in the field? Even if you do nothing the market will probably fix it: Less food in the markets > high demand drives up prices > higher salaries > slightly lower prices At some point some people are hungry enough to get a... shall we say... real job? With some regulatory sanity we subsidize it a bit. Perhaps we should test and quarantine the farm workers when money stops being an issue.
  - jmalicki 7y ago
    So in other words, after one famine where a large fraction of the population dies, the market will be better afterwards? Especially with anti-price-gouging laws - this process is explicit forbidden from happening during a crisis.
    - 6510 7y ago
      nah, the regulators will move in and save us from ourselves.
      - s1artibartfast 7y ago
        Regulators might be able to legislate food into existence in counties with strategic reserves, but not all places are so lucky. If there isn't enough calories produced, people would die. Most in low GDP countries which are net food importers.