Could we be facing a food shortage crisis after Coronavirus?
Some nations such as Austria are preparing to reduce some of their lockdown restrictions, having taken a proactive stance in managing infection. There is some light at the end of the tunnel for citizens of those nations, at least for the summer.
However, we may be facing an another global crisis in the second half of the year – food pressures. The lockdowns in China lead to massive crop and livestock failures, as food could not be planted, harvested, taken care of, or brought to market due to lockdowns and a frustration of migrant labor.
A similar pattern of agricultural failures is emerging in other places affected by the pandemic, and some nations such as Vietnam and Kazakhstan have suspended exports of rice and wheat respectively in response.
Meanwhile, we have faced a massive swarm of crop-ravaging locusts in a belt all the way from Sudan to Western China.
Animal feed has been difficult to source, at a time when pigs have been mass-culled for contracting Swine Fever, and chickens and ducks infected with deadly Bird Flu.
Food of all kinds is likely to get noticeably more expensive in the second half of the year, and this will likely continue until the fall harvest replenishes stocks in 2021. This is particularly the case with foods that cannot be harvested by automated means, such as fruits and vegetables. Starches will be somewhat less affected, along with dairy.
Now that many of us have some free time at home, it's a good time to start planting a Victory Garden with fast-growing plants, and vegetables. Many flowers are edible also, even pansies and nettles.
2020 isn't quite done throwing curveballs at us, but we will, as always, improvise, adapt, and overcome.
Some further resources :
