When I spoke with Mitch McLeod a while back he attempted to share with me the studies he was involved with in University. Something to do with food grains, Canola, faster growing seeds and design of food stuff that will grow better in places on Earth where it is harder to grow things now… making it possible to live better.
Did you get that? If Mitch reads this – I hope I am not too far off track from what you told me… sorry.
Recently I heard that Mitch has just been accepted to McMaster University’s Doctorate Program in the same studies. Mitch will help feed millions more in this old Earth with the design and engineering of better food stuff. Canola Seeds are likely only the start – or may not even be on the list anymore…
(As a side line to this short article… Mitch was one of the first kids accepted into the Northview Dayschool at the Northview Pentecostal Church – and now he is entering his Doctoral Graduate Studies at a major University. WOW! Mom and Dad, Norma and Martin – have to be a wee bit proud of what is happening now.)
I connect Mitch to what I write about today… Food… and the Global Crisis that we are now facing.
The National Geographic Magazine featured a powerful and thought provoking story about food and the soon to be possible shortage for more and more people. I read it in their magazine – you can read with the link that is shown below.
I was interested in one of the men mentioned in the article – Thomas Robert Malthus – fellow man of “the clothe” – a clergyman that lived between Feb 13, 1766 and December 23, 1834. Along with preaching in the Anglican Church he was known for some controversial ideas of his day and age. People condemned him for his ideas on demography, economics and other ideas on population growth outstripping the food supply. Perhaps he was 200 years ahead of his time. People in the age that he lived through put him down and stated simply that his ideas were crazy – after all – look at what we have and the way that we are developing with a our food production.
Well… it appears that Mr. Malthus was not all that crazy to think these wild thoughts. The population growth in our world will soon (and already has) out grow the production of food supply – specially the grains supply of the world. There will not be enough grains to supply the demand.
The recent problem with “no rice” – or “not enough rice” made the prices sore… but the supply was not there to provide the staple that most of the world depends on. Asia felt it – the Western world heard about it.
But to understand it better – think about Canada… take away all the wheat and potatoes – let it be like there is none to be had. Every single grain and every single potato has been eaten… there is none left. That would be the equivalent to what has happened and may happen again with rice.
Now some will say – I would eat more meat – Beef, Pork, Chicken… Well if there is not enough grain there will not be any Beef, Pork or Chicken because they must have grain to eat and grow.
What happens when there is not enough? What happens when Thomas Robert Malthus’ theory is correct? What happens when there is not enough?
Mitch McLeod is certainly making a powerful choice of studies that will make a difference to millions – I am sure!
In a YouTube video you will see Zimbabwean people buying their bread and other goods for Gold they have collected or found. The money is no longer of any value… gold is all that matters. And Gold for bread is a real.
I can remember a way back an old preacher of long ago being lathered up with his preaching about the dire days to come – the last days – when things will be come very expensive and – one of them being Bread costing the price of Gold.
This story of Rev. Malthus definitely stirred some thinking in me.
The NGO story about the amount of pigs that will be needed in China to feed the people is amazing. In one factory it slaughters 5000 a day. I believe that their estimates are with the Population of China soon reaching 1.5 Billion – a daily need for 200,000,000 hogs per day. Now consider that they do not have enough grains now to feed the Hogs that they use now… what will happen when the population reaches the new estimated high?
And in the West – our meat consumption is higher than that of China… and it requires more of the grain to feed a cow than a pig.
Our massive Population Base will soon outstrip the supply… the “Malthusian Catastrophes” that was predicted and warned about by an oddly strange clergy man that lived 200 years before his time.
Now go have a good day. First eat a hardy breakfast – maybe with oatmeal… or some other grain based cereal. Then pop some toast in and butter it. You have now sued more grain stuff than many others have in this world now.
If you took away all the grain based food stuff that you will eat today… what would be left?
Oh boy… And I am hungry again…
~ Murray Lincoln ~
www.murraylincoln.com
Source:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/cheap-food/bourne-text
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Robert_Malthus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malthusian_catastrophe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ubJp6rmUYM
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