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.

It is now being projected that global demand for food will more than double over the next 50 years.  Right now there are over 6 billion people on earth.  Around 2040 or so there will be 9 billion people on earth.  By the 2060s, there would be over 11 billion people on earth.  So where in the world are we going to get the food to feed all of those people? 

A global food shortage is coming.  There is no possible way that the world can produce enough food for that many people under the current system.

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

Already somewhere in the world someone starves to death every 3.6 seconds and 3/4 of them are children under the age of 5.

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

And the bad news is that the world simply does not have enough water to grow much more food.

Just consider the following quote from IWMI director general Colin Chartres....

"Current estimates indicate that we will not have enough water to feed ourselves in 25 years time, by when the current food crisis may turn into a perpetual crisis."

Not only that, but because of overfarming and pollution, we are rapidly losing farm land.  Today almost 25% of the world’s farm land is affected by serious environmental degradation.  That is up from 15% two decades ago.

In some of the biggest countries in the world the environmental situation is absolutely nightmarish.

For example, it is estimated by authorities that 75 percent of India's surface water is contaminated by human and agricultural waste.  The truth is that there is over a billion people in India, but sanitation is still only just starting to be developed in many areas.  So many people there just "use the toilet" wherever they can.  In fact, according to a UN study on sanitation, far more people in India have access to a mobile phone than to a toilet.

But it just isn't places like India where rampant environmental degradation is a problem.

It is happening in the United States too.

It turns out that many big American cattle farms actually feed chicken manure to cattle because it is so inexpensive and because we produce far too much of it to properly dispose of as fertilizer.

So are you eating beef that is from cattle that were fed chicken manure every day?

How would you know?

Not only that, but the world cannot get much more food out of the oceans either.  29 percent of world fisheries are in a state of collapse according to Canadian scientist Boris Worm, and in the years ahead the world fishing industry may actually produce less food rather than more food.

But much more food will be needed in the years ahead.

The really sad thing is that we waste so much food right now.  In developed countries we throw away anywhere from one-third to one-half of all food produced.

Considering the fact that so many people in the world are suffering from a lack of food, that is absolutely criminal.

In the years ahead we won't be wasting that much food.  That is for certain.  We will look back on these days when there was plenty of food with longing.  These are still good times.  Even though the world economy is starting to spin out of control, the truth is that we haven't seen anything yet.  A devastating world economic collapse is on the way, and a global food shortage will follow shortly thereafter.

Are you ready?

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.

So what does all of this mean?

Just think about how many foods contain either rice, milk or sugar.

If the price increases that are projected by these experts hold up, that means that all food products that contain rice, milk or sugar will dramatically increase in 2010.

For families on a budget (or that are already breaking their budgets) that is really, really bad news.

The truth is that hard times are coming.

In fact, they are almost here.

There is a reason why millions of people are building up an emergency food supply.

Unfortunately, for millions in developing nations already on the edge of starvation, building up a supply of emergency food is not an option.

So what is going to happen to them when food prices skyrocket in 2010?

What is going to happen is that we will probably see more food riots like we did in 2008.

In fact, they may be far worse than 2008.

Don't let your family be caught unprepared.  Now is the time to get ready for 2010.

The truth is that as Monsanto has gained an increasing market share in the seed market, prices for the Monsanto-patented genetically modified seeds have steadily increased.  In fact, those prices have approxmiately doubled over the past decade.

Competitors of Monsanto claim that they have "ruthlessly" stifled competition in the seed industry.  They want the government to consider antitrust action against Monsanto.

But they are not the only ones who are upset.

Many farmers are fed up with Monsanto's ruthless use of litigation.  All over the United States, the wind is carrying Monsanto's genetically altered seeds into neighboring fields.  Monsanto regularly sends out investigators to visit farms and to test whether any Monsanto strains have shown up on those farms.  If they have, then Monsanto proceeds to sue the living daylights out of those farmers.

Other activists are concerned about the environmental impact that Monsanto is having.

You see, once genetically modified crops are released into the environment it is virtually impossible to ever contain or recall them.  Insects, birds, and the wind easily carry genetically modified seeds into neighboring fields and beyond. Pollen from genetically modified plants ends up cross-pollinating with natural crops and wild relatives.  In fact once this becomes widespread enough, the natural crops can be bred into extinction.

You can't put the genie back in the bottle.

Has it been wise for the U.S. government to allow so many bizarre genetically modified crops to be released into the environment especially when the long-term health and environmental impacts of these crops are not known?

The truth is that many natural health experts claim that there is a growing body of evidence that genetically modified foods have a link to food allergies, intestinal damage, autoimmune disorders, anemia, diabetes, infertility and even cancer.  Independent scientific studies done on the effects of genetically modified have produced some incredibly troubling results.

However, independent scientists and even government officials that have dared to question the safety of genetically modified foods have been harrassed, threatened and in some cases even fired.  Someone out there wants to make sure that only one side of the genetically modified food debate is told to the public.

With billions of dollars in profits to be made, it certainly would be inconvenient for the truth about genetically modified food to get out to the American public.  The reality is that the monumental greed of the "mega corporations" that we have created is going to end up killing a lot of people.

If these genetically modified crops start failing or find themselves more susceptible to crop diseases than natural versions could we end up with a massive food emergency on our hands?  If it does eventually come out that some of the massive increases in disease that we are seeing this decade are due to genetically modified foods, what will that do to the demand for organic seeds?

There are a lot of unanswered questions like that.  Many people are becoming increasingly aware of genetically modified crops and are wishing to avoid them, but the reality is that they are virtually everywhere and they are found in an increasing number of food products so it is almost impossible to completely avoid them.

It is tougher than ever for those of us who seek to eat right and to live an organic lifestyle.  Hopefully someone in Washington D.C. will wake up before it is too late.

So just how bad are things around the world?

*India has announced that it has suffered its worst drought in 37 years, with total rainfall 23 percent below average at the end of that nation's four-month monsoon season.  Approximately 65 percent of India's farms are unirrigated and depend on rainfall during the monsoon season, so the lack of rainfall is hitting those farmers particularly hard.

*In east Africa things are even worse.  The drought there has reached its fifth year, and it is estimated that 23 million Africans in that region are on the verge of starvation.  In a statement, Paul Smith Lomas, Oxfam's East Africa Director said this about the situation: "This is the worst humanitarian crisis Oxfam has seen in east Africa for over ten years."

*The drought in Australia has gotten so bad that it is being called the new "dust bowl" and a recent dust storm in Sydney was so severe that it actually turned the sky red.

*In Texas, farmers and ranchers are desperately hoping for rain as the extreme drought has cost the agricultural sector billions of dollars.

*The water crisis has gotten so bad in California that the Obama administration has urged California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to call state lawmakers into a special session just to deal with it.

*Saudi Arabia had been producing enough wheat to be self-sufficient for over 20 years, but in 2008 they realized that the non-replenishable aquifer they had been pumping for irrigation purposes was nearly depleted.  So in response that nation decided to reduce their wheat harvest by one-eighth every year.  Wheat production there is scheduled to cease entirely in 2016.  After that they will be importing all of the wheat that their entire nation depends upon.

So what does all of this mean?

It means two things.

#1) The world is running out of water.

#2) The world is running out of food.

If things don't turn around dramatically very, very soon millions of people are going to starve.  There simply will not be enough food to feed everyone.

Those who are able to buy food for their families will notice much higher food prices.  That is what happens when demand continues to go up while supply drops like a rock.

Even in our technologically advanced society, extreme drought means famine.

We are facing a true global food emergency.  The world demand for food is going to be much higher than the world supply of food in 2010.  Not everyone is going to make it.

Are you ready?

Even in such technologically advanced times, the reality is that the food supply is not immune to droughts and plagues.  Even the United States has been dramatically affected.  Just consider the following examples.....

*All time record breaking heat and drought continues to plague the state of Texas. In fact, extreme drought conditions can be found in many agricultural areas throughout the United States this summer.

*If the drought conditions were not bad enough, a disease known as "late blight" is absolutely devastating tomato and potato plants in the eastern half of the United States. The prices for those two staple foods could shoot through the roof, hitting already hurting American consumers really hard.

*In addition, farmers all over the United States are reporting very disappointing harvests. For example, the very weak wheat harvest this year is seriously disappointing farmers across the state of Illinois.

But it is not just the U.S. that is experiencing serious agricultural problems. In fact, the news from the rest of the world is even more troubling.

*Agricultural scientists fear that Ug99, a devastating wheat fungus also known as stem rust, could wipe out over 80 percent of the world's wheat crop as it spreads out from Africa.

*Harvests all across the globe are frighteningly low. Just check out the following troubling reports from the Market Skeptics blog.....

------

1) Bulgaria harvest will be around 20% lower than last season's output.

2) Argentine farmers will plant just 2.6 million hectares of winter wheat for the 2009/10 season, a stunning 2.1 million less than was planted in 2008/09 (down nearly 45%).

3) Part of the reason behind lower plantings is a two fingered salute to the government and their export restrictions.

4) Brazil, the world's third largest wheat importer, bought 51,000 MT of US wheat last week, more than it bought in the entire first six months of the year.

5) With the Brazilian real strengthening against the dollar, Brazilian millers that are being forced to look for supplies are finding US wheat fitting the bill quite nicely.

6) Canadian crop development lags with 60% of winter grains are behind normal development. Spring grains development is even further behind, with 75% of crops affected.

7) Ukraine will only produce 35 MMT of grain this season, 35 percent less than last year.

8 ) 3.3 million hectares of the Russia’s spring crops have been badly damaged by drought. Production this year is seen lower at around 55-60 MMT from 63.7 MMT in 2008.

9) Sugar hit it's highest in three years last week.

10) The lack of monsoon rains in northern India was the main driver of the rally in sugar. World demand is outstripping supply by over six million tonnes at the moment, and India is set to potentially become the world's largest importer this year.

11) Spanish wheat output is now projected 32% lower this year at 3.8 MMT.

12) Rain is damaging crops in the UK and across Europe.

------

When you add up all of the recent agricultural news stories it means one thing: a massive food crisis is on the way.

Harvests around the world are going to be much smaller at a time when world demand for food is at an all-time high.

In other words, there are going to be food shortages.

Very serious food shortages.

Are you all starting to get the point.

In just a few months, the world is going to have a lot less food than what it needs.  When people around the world find that they can't feed their families, there will likely be food riots that will make the food riots of 2008 look like a walk in the park.

In the United States, there will not be shortages of food - at least at first.  But what this will mean is that there will be dramatic price increases at the supermarket.

Are you ready?

Now is the time to ensure that you and your family are prepared for the food crisis that is ahead.

We encourage you to take advantage of the low prices on emergency food that are out there right now while you still can:

http://theemergencyfoodsupply.com/emergency-food

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.

We are destroying the habitats of thousands of species and we are now seeing animal extinctions at an unprecedented pace.

We are raping the earth's resources and are depleting them at a staggering rate that much of humanity simply still does not understand.

We are depleting the oceans and the topsoil so rapidly through overfishing and overfarming that the ability of humanity to feed itself in the future is very seriously in question.

We are genetically modifying crops, plants, animals and almost anything else that we can get our hands on. In doing so, we are permanently altering our ecosystem, our food supply and our genetic future.

And if all of that was not enough, the use of depleted uranium munitions and other illegal armaments is causing catastrophic environmental destruction of a kind that we have never seen before in human history.

The truth is that we are destroying the beautiful earth that God gave us.

Do any of you think that God likes us being so destructive and so wasteful?

Do any of you still have any doubt that we are the most wasteful society in the history of the world?

For those of you who have ANY doubt that we are the most wasteful bunch of slobs in the history of the world, please watch this 20 minute video entitled "The Story of Stuff":

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

The truth is that we are gluttons and pigs and horrible caretakers of this planet that God gave to us.

But the God of the Bible is the ultimate environmentalist.

You are doubtful?

Consider some of the following examples from the Scriptures.....

Exodus 23:10-11

"For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove."

Not even the most wacked out environmentalist would suggest making farmers rest their land once every seven years.

But the truth is that our topsoil has almost been completely depleted.

Now we stand on the very edge of some of the greatest famines that the world has ever seen.

You see, there is a reason why we are urging you to store up an emergency food supply for you and your family.

If we had followed God's laws, we would have never gotten into such a mess.

Perhaps the God of the Bible knew what He was doing after all.

But of course we refuse to listen to Him.

Let us consider another example.....

Leviticus 19:19

"Keep my decrees. Do not mate different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material."

Surely this commandment must be unreasonable!

So no polyester?

No nylon?

No genetic engineering?

No genetically modified crops?

Only 100 percent biodegradable clothing for everyone?

No clothing and other junk filling up landfills forever and ever?

Perhaps God knew EXACTLY what He was doing after all.

The truth is that God has known exactly what is best of us all along, and when we do our own thing we really, really mess things up.

And the truth is that the Scriptures say that God is going to judge those who destroy the earth....

Revelation 11:18

"The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great— and for destroying those who destroy the earth."

The reality is that we all need to repent for our incredibly greedy and selfish ways.

God entrusted this planet to mankind and told us to take care of it.

But we didn't.

Instead, we have raped the earth.

Not only that, but we have broken God's laws in just about every single way imaginable.

We have all sinned greatly, and we all stand guilty before God.

But the good news is that there is forgiveness for our sins if we are willing to receive it, and that forgiveness comes through the Son of God, Jesus Christ:

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1049/1049_01.asp