Food cost will continue to raise. Global food system near collapse.

[EvilTofu]

World hunger has started increasing in 2015 after centuries of decline.
The way we farm, pumping fertilizers and destroying the soil is coming back to bite us.

If you guys aren't familiar, North Korea was once richer than South Korea when they were supplied cheap fuel and fertilizers by the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the Soviet, Russia didn't continue the deal. With the US sanction, North Korea is denied access to supplies and went hungry because their soil are destroyed by decades of poor farming practices. Their soil will no longer support organic farming, it had been ruined by artificial fertilizers.

We blame the Ukraine war, but that's just magnifying and speeding up an existing problem. Politicians want to assure us that this is all Russian's fault and if they stop, it will be over. But I fear food prices will keep raising. To be fair, our grandparents' generation had to spend nearly 20% of their income on food, we only spend about 10%. We have been spoiled for too long. Perhaps we should get ready to budget more for our food. Frugality is a strength, my friends.

Here's an article/podcast from the Guardian on this topic. https://www.theguardian.com/environm...ing-it-podcast

[Shwa Girl]

Yes, food prices are going up. That's why I like reading the brags of the great deals of Smartcanucks on this forum.
Yes, world problems including poverty and wars are on right now. That's why I am so thankful I live in Canada and thankful that Canada helps other countries when possible.

[Ciel21]

When the wheat prices and products made from wheat go up, I know there will be a shift in eating habits in many residences. The impact will affect donations to food banks as well (if donors don't eat wheat items due to price, their food contributions will likely exclude baked goods, cream of wheat hot cereals and more).

It's good that many members take an interest in growing their own herbs and vegetables but I think it's a rarity for anyone to grow their own wheat then mill it at home. Certainly there's a buffer on produce shopping when one has vegetables in the garden and maybe in home canned items.

One of the things that interests me is why so many housing surveys have coniferous trees as the main plantings in yards but not at least one berry bush or fruit tree. At the very least, birds get food and so do humans. I'm aware that it's usually against municipal park laws to pick actual fruit off of city trees but if it's there...who gets to eat it? I have in the past reached for mulberries off tree limbs hanging over city sidewalks for a sweet treat or small raspberries on a shrub growing just outside a homeowner's fence by the sidewalk

I don't know how expansive the volunteer groups are that work to harvest fruit from homeowner's apple or other fruit trees but that coordination nets some fresh produce for a community kitchen and owner gets a portion of harvested fruit too. Inner city Hamilton had some activity (it's more walkable too) in the community harvest but I have not heard of that program out in the suburbs.

[HermanH]

It's good that many members take an interest in growing their own herbs and vegetables but I think it's a rarity for anyone to grow their own wheat then mill it at home. Certainly there's a buffer on produce shopping when one has vegetables in the garden and maybe in home canned items.

One of the things that interests me is why so many housing surveys have coniferous trees as the main plantings in yards but not at least one berry bush or fruit tree. At the very least, birds get food and so do humans. I'm aware that it's usually against municipal park laws to pick actual fruit off of city trees but if it's there...who gets to eat it? I have in the past reached for mulberries off tree limbs hanging over city sidewalks for a sweet treat or small raspberries on a shrub growing just outside a homeowner's fence by the sidewalk

I don't know how expansive the volunteer groups are that work to harvest fruit from homeowner's apple or other fruit trees but that coordination nets some fresh produce for a community kitchen and owner gets a portion of harvested fruit too. Inner city Hamilton had some activity (it's more walkable too) in the community harvest but I have not heard of that program out in the suburbs.

I find it laughable, when I hear of folks who say that they started a garden plot for fear of food insecurity. Utterly laughable. To think that a couple of pounds of vegetables would amount to anything for even a single person over a growing season. To grow enough to feed a single person would take a football field.

I don't know of your municipality, but I think that no such restriction applies to Edmonton. I annually pick so much fruit off trees on public land that I cannot eat it all. I harvest as much as I can and try to give it away to everyone including the Food Bank and church groups. One group even told me to stop bringing any more, because they simply could not give enough away. I eventually stopped picking trees and just let the fruit drop and rot.

I got 700lbs+ of apples from a neighbour's tree and am still eating the apple sauce made from them. I suspect I'll still have some when it comes time to harvest in September! I hear plenty of similar stories around my city; fruit going to waste because no one wants/can eat them fast enough.

We also have an Operation Fruit Rescue program that deals with private trees, that shares the harvest with owner, volunteer harvesters, and charities.