In Vietnam, this severe drought is shaping up to be the worst in a hundred years.  The truth is that there has been very little rainfall across the entire nation since last September.  Over half of Vietnam's estimated 44 million person workforce is involved in agriculture, so if this drought continues much longer it is going to be a horrific disaster.

The drought is also extremely severe in Thailand.  Thailand accounts for approximately one-third of all global rice exports, and analysts are now forecasting a decline of at least one million tons for this year.

That is bad news, but hopefully world food supplies will not be impacted that severely.  However, a few more body blows like this and we could start looking at a global food crisis.

So just what has been so bad about the winter of 2009/2010?

The truth is that for many areas of the northern hemisphere, it has been the most brutal winter in decades.  Record-setting cold temperatures and devastating winter storms have been sweeping North America, Europe and Asia with no apparent end in sight.  In fact, 877 snowfall records were set or tied in the United States in just one week in December alone.

At one point, 50 percent of the U.S. was already covered in snow in December.  That is extremely unusual for so early in the winter.

But things are not any better in Europe.  The death toll from brutal winter storms across Europe has risen to at least 80 people, as arctic temperatures and heavy snow continue to plague the continent.

Asia is feeling the effects of this harsh winter as well.  More than 30 people died in cold-weather related incidents in Northern India recently in just one 24 hour period.  Record setting snowfalls have been plaguing China and South Korea as well.

So what does all of this brutal winter weather mean for agricultural production?

Problems.

Big problems.

The U.K. has been experiencing the worst winter that they have seen in decades, and the extended cold temperatures there are absolutely destroying agricultural production in many areas as the Guardian recently reported....

"Sub-zero temperatures have made it impossible to extract some vegetables from the ground. Producers of brussels sprouts and cabbages are all reporting problems with harvesting. Cauliflowers are said to have turned to mush in the sustained frost."

In fact, the Guardian is reporting that the prices for some types of produce have already begun to spike in many areas....

"Greengrocers in some of the worst-hit areas are reporting shortages, with the price of carrots and parsnips reportedly rising by 30% in some small shops."

The unusually cold temperatures are having a particularly harsh impact on areas that are not accustomed to seeing below freezing temperatures.  For example, citrus crops throughout the state of Florida have been absolutely destroyed in many areas by the recent string of cold weather.

The New York Times describes the situation there this way....

"This was not the standard winter chill. For nearly two weeks, the Sunshine State felt like a meat locker with record lows north and south. Economists said the total cost to agriculture alone could reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, adding another bruise to Florida’s beaten-down economy."

So what will the weather in Florida mean to our food bills?

The agriculture expert quoted by the New York Times was very grim in his assessment....

"Tomatoes were down around $14 for a 25-pound box; now they are up over $20," said Gene McAvoy, an agriculture expert with the University Florida, who predicted $100 million in vegetable losses. "Peppers — just after New Years they were $8 a box; now they’re up around $18."

This all comes at a time when a U.S. government report is revealing that the nation's farmers planted the fewest winter wheat acres in any season since 1913.  According to the report from the Department of Agriculture, the total acres of winter wheat planted for 2010 is 37.1 million acres, which is down 14 percent nationwide from last year.

So what does all of this mean?

It means that there is going to be a lot less food grown.

A basic law of economics is that when supply goes down, prices go up.

That is exactly what is going to happen.

All over the world agriculture is being devastated this winter, and that is going to result in higher food prices all over the globe.

There will even be food shortages in many areas of the world.

So exactly how bad are things going to get?

Well, nobody knows for sure yet, but food isn't going to get any cheaper. 

You might want to run out and buy a few extra (or a few dozen extra) cans of vegetables.

Most Americans have never even heard of Ug99, but the truth is that it is considered by experts to be the most serious threat to the world food supply.

Ug99 is known as "stem rust" because it produces reddish-brown flakes on wheat stalks. It is incredibly deadly and there is no known cure for it.

The Los Angeles Times recently reported that The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico now estimates that 19 percent of the world's wheat crop, primarily located in Asia and Africa, is in imminent danger from Ug99. If Ug99 were to start spreading in the United States, it is estimated that approximately 10 billion dollars worth of wheat would be destroyed.

10 billion dollars.

That is a whole lot of bread.

The L.A. Times also reports that Rick Ward, the coordinator of the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., says that "A significant humanitarian crisis is inevitable."

Did you catch that?

He said inevitable.

When scientists start using the word "inevitable" it is time for all of us to sit up and take notice.

Apparently Ug99 has already jumped the Red Sea and has affected areas as far as Iran already.

Wheat Experts say that wheat rust is poised to enter northern India and Pakistan, and that the wind will inevitably carry it to Russia, China and even North America.

If it doesn't arrive in North America some other way first.

Jim Peterson, a professor of wheat breeding and genetics at Oregon State University in Corvallis, does not sound optimistic about this crisis:

"It's a time bomb," he told the L.A. Times.

"It moves in the air, it can move in clothing on an airplane. We know it's going to be here. It's a matter of how long it's going to take."

Are you all starting to get the picture?

This is very, very serious.

If the worst case scenario comes to fruition, and 80 percent of the world's wheat crop is destroyed, what will you and your family do?

Do you have an emergency food supply?

As if things were not bad enough, wheat experts say that Ug99 is becoming even more virulent as it spreads.

This quote from the recent L.A. Times article on Ug99 is very frightening.....

Scientists discovered a Ug99 variant in 2006 that can defeat Sr24, a resistance gene that protects Great Plains wheat. Last year, another variant was found with immunity to Sr36, a gene that safeguards Eastern wheat.

It is not like the world has enough wheat right now anyway.

The truth is that exploding populations, record droughts across the globe and dwindling strategic food reserves in the major industrialized nations have brought the world to the very edge of a catastrophic global food crisis.

World food reserves currently sit at a fifty year low, and many experts are warning that we are now facing a "perfect storm" that will cause a dramatic spike in world hunger.

Even the major industrialized nations are not immune. With U.S. wheat reserves now at a record low, USDA Undersecretary Mark Keenum had to admit last year: "Our cupboard is bare."

Things have become so serious that even Time magazine has now declared that we are in "a global food crisis".

Most Americans would like to think that "wealthy nations" such as the United States are completely immune from world famine, but the truth is that the U.S. only has enough wheat held in reserve to make half a loaf of bread for each citizen.

Half a loaf of bread.

How long do you think that will last you and your family if Ug99 sweeps the globe?

If you won't listen to us, perhaps you will listen to the United Nations.

In a stunning new report, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is warning that impoverished populations around the globe are feeling the pain of much higher food prices. The price of important crops such as rice, which is a key staple in many impoverished nations, spiked more than 400 percent last year. In fact, food riots broke out in many third world countries in 2008 when large numbers of people could suddenly not feed their families.

The effects of food shortages are not being seriously felt yet in the major industrialized nations where food represents about 10 to 20 percent of consumer spending, but in developing nations the poor often have to spend up to 80 percent of their meager income just on food.

Britain's chief scientist, Professor John Beddington, says that the global demand for food is going to increase by about 50 percent by 2030, and that this will cause massive global problems of unprecedented magnitude in the years ahead.

"It's a perfect storm," he told the GovNet Communications Sustainable Development 09 conference in London. "We're not growing enough food, so we're not able to put stuff into the reserves."

And his pessimistic forecast does not even include the impact of Ug99 on the world food supply.

The reality is that the world is quickly running out of food and more people than ever are hungry.  Just consider these facts.....

*1 billion people in the world go to bed hungry every single night.

*Every 3.6 seconds someone starves to death and 3/4 are children under the age of 5.

*More than 2.8 billion people, close to half of the world's population, live on less than the equivalent of $2 a day.

*About a third of all children in the world under the age of five suffer from serious malnutrition.

*The top fifth (20 per cent) of the world's people who live in the highest income countries have access to 86 percent of world gross domestic product. The bottom fifth, in the poorest countries, have about one percent.

*The assets of the world's three richest men exceed the combined gross domestic products of the world's 48 poorest countries.

When you add all of this up, the reality is that we could very well be on the verge of the worst global famine in the history of humanity.

If we are to take the scientists and the government experts seriously, then it is very likely that there will come a day when you will not be able to run down to the local Wal-Mart or the local McDonald's and grab all of the food that you want.

Food shortages are coming. Will you and your family be ready with an emergency food supply?

For those of you who are interested in preparing, we encourage you to check out the links and resources that we have provided for you on this site.

Let us hope and pray that things will not be as bad as scientists now fear they may be.

But if a devastating global famine does strike, you and your family will be in a much better position if you have stored up a year or two of emergency food.  Now is the time to build up your emergency food supply.

The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 was introduced by Democrat Rosa DeLauro back in February. Her introduction of this bill represents a shocking conflict of interest, because her husband, Stanley Greenburg, works for Monsanto. Monsanto is the world's biggest producer of herbicides and genetically engineered seeds, and they would massively benefit if thousands of small independent organic farmers were put out of business, because most independent organic farmers do not use Monsanto products.

You can view the full text of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 here:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-875

This horrible bill would establish a "Food Safety Administration" within the Department of Health and Human Services. The mandate of this new department would be "to protect the public health by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes."

Section 3 of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 defines what type of establishments would be subject to the regulations in this legislation. It that section, a "food production facility" is defined this way:

The term ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.

So, that definition would include.....

*All organic farms
*All small farms
*All family farms
*Even small family gardens if you sell a single piece of produce to anyone

When you read this bill, you will see that it gives the U.S. government the power to regulate what "safe" farming is, and therefore if organic farmers are not using enough herbicide on their plants to be "safe" or they aren't following the same "quality control" procedures as the big corporations, then they could be instantly put out of business.

In addition, it burdens small farmers with massive amounts of paperwork and administrative headaches that they simply cannot handle but that the big corporations can.

You see, that is how you put a horde of small competitors out of business - you get the federal government to pile on the paperwork and the regulations until they totally collapse.

That is the reason why Monsanto desperately wants this bill. Monsanto hates small, independent farmers and they want to take them all out in one ruthless strike.

Monsanto would eagerly deal with the burden of more regulations and more paperwork if it will put large amounts of their competitors out of business.

And why in the world would the federal government want to put any food producers out of business when we are on the edge of a massive global food crisis?

The truth is that it is more important than ever to be building up an emergency food supply.  The future looks more than just a little frightening.