Now Even Some Mainstream Sources Are Talking About Food Shortages

Discussion in 'In the News' started by Don Alaska, Apr 26, 2022.

  1. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    My daughter was stationed in Afghanistan for a while, and she said that it was terrible. There were people just sitting along the road, nothing but skin and bones, and no way to have a job or earn any money or work for food. She said that money that is sent there just goes to the rich people running the country and nothing helps the starving poor people.
    She said that the Taliban was the only way that the people could do anything and earn money to feed their families, and often, they did something, knowing they would die, but hoping that it gave their family some money to buy food with.
     
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  2. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    It's pretty bad when a person can't even "give to the needy" for fear they are supporting some foul (and I mean that in the worst sense of the word) government :( Your daughter is a very brave gal, and tell her I said may God bless her for serving her country. I don't think there are many young people today, or ever have been, thinking of doing that today. Those that do are America's finest [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
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  3. James Hintze

    James Hintze Very Well-Known Member
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    I spent a better part of a lifetime as a student, teacher, college and university prof. reading, writing, teaching and correcting scholarly essays. Can I still write one? We'll see:

    I don't recall when I first read about it, but I do recall wondering about the logic of using corn to produce biofuel As a person who had spent many teenage hours on a farm tractor, my question was: Does it as much, or even more, energy to produce biofuel as is in it????

    My question now, after several months of the Russia-Ukraine war, should our US politicians and decision makers be thinking about helping the European and World's likely shortage of grain supplies resuliting from the likely lack of Ukraining production? It's certainly much too late to switch our biofule corn ackerige to to wheat. Could the biofuel corn somehow be converted to food production?

    This is certainly not the essay I thought it might be, but I still think the idea is whorthwhile to think about.
     
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  4. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I believe that I've read that the production of ethanol is a net-negative...that it takes more energy to produce than it yields.

    I have a comment here somewhere where I read that field corn is inedible by humans. So converting it to human food is possible, there's just critters as part of the process ;)
     
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  5. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    I disagree about the field corn. Although I won't eat it because of the glyphosphate, it is edible early on. And sweet.
    my handyman told me NOT to use ethanol in older vehicles, mowers and machinery. It destroys the rings and rubbery stuff in them. I am thinking it is a good way to get them off the road for ev's when cash for clunkers did not work.
     
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  6. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    I know young field corn is edible, but when mature it can be made into flour and meal and still be used. Corn as a whole is mostly carbs, at least the digestible part, so it is good at fattening both livestock and people.
     
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  7. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    This what I believe, and don't consume anything "corn". The main thing I understand about corn is that is is practically indigestible at all. I don't feed my dog anything that has corn on the label either. I don't know about vehicle-usage, but at least that's not human consumption. That's not to say I did NOT love eating corn, especially off the cob ;)
     
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  8. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    Sweet corn is selected and bred for human consumption, but field corn is bred for livestock and is grown in much larger quantities. Mushers here never feed their dogs any dog food containing corn, as they claim rightly that it is indigestible for dogs.
     
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  9. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    Well, Sophia on Golden Girls said, and I quote "corn is the enemy" :D:p Just joking, and your explanation sounds pretty encouraging except the carbs for me, I have to keep an eye on ;) thanks Don;)
     
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  10. James Hintze

    James Hintze Very Well-Known Member
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    We have close-by access to ethanol free gasoline. I ALWAYSE keep a stash for my garden tractor and chain saw. It's very harmful for those engines. I also remember that once I was shocked about how expensive the filling of my pickup was. I saw that I had mistakenly filled it with the ethanal free gas. The milage was much better.
     
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  11. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    I don't see how America got so dependent on other countries unless someone wanted us to be and that was their goal. Well they succeeded didn't they. What were we doing, napping when the takeover happened? No need to answer, I know it already :rolleyes: And now, we're setting up everything so people from other countries won't even have to learn English.
     
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  12. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    If you are near an airport that services small planes, you should be able to get leaded, alcohol-free gasoline. The FAA does not permit ethanol to be used in general aviation aircraft.
     
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  13. James Hintze

    James Hintze Very Well-Known Member
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    I have to comment on the "learn English" part. Wife and I have traveled considerably during the past decade. In Russia, many (most?) people under 40 speak some English. Students have to demonstrate English speaking and reading to exit secondary school. Book shops are full of books in English (and some in German). In Greece teenagers jumped on us to practice their English. We had no problem touring Tokyo on our own. English is the language of the world as Latin once was in the western world.
     
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  14. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    That WAS true. But I think it would not hurt us to learn another language like Spanish because as Rome fell, so will we, the way things seem to be going.
     
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  15. Shirley Martin

    Shirley Martin Supreme Member
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    Field corn is made into hominy, grits and corn meal.

    The outer husk of any corn is indigestible but it is fiber which helps keep things moving in the intestines.
     
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