The other side...

[Hobbyfarmer]

Countries across five continents have called states of emergency. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, other countries seriously affected by El Niña

• Ethiopia – an estimated 10.2 million people need food assistance this year. Malnutrition rates remain extremely high.
• Somalia – drought has been declared in Puntland and Somaliland(pdf), where some communities have not experienced normal rains for up to four seasons, spanning two years. Nearly 4.7 million people are food insecure.
• Sudan – 4.6 million people are food insecure, primarily due to the effects of El Niño, and this is likely to increase due to below-average agricultural production last year, rising staple food prices and continued conflict.
• Haiti – an estimated 3.6 million are food insecure. The 2015 cereal harvest was the lowest in 12 years, with losses as high as 90% in most-affected areas.
• Central America – the worst drought in decades has hit the region, affecting food insecurity for a second consecutive year. More than 3.5 million people need humanitarian assistance after suffering major crop losses due to prolonged drought.
• Fiji – crop damage from recent cyclones is combining with unusual rainfall patterns to intensify food security risks.
• Papua New Guinea – a third of the population – 2.7 million people – are affected by drought and frost.
• Vietnam – more than 83% of the country’s area has been affected by drought

The temptation to make a comment about over populating one's environment is almost overwhelming.

The number two problem is no way to compensate the providers of food. It may be cheap here but still costs something, then there is getting it,halfway around the world.

[sw363535]

Hobby be thankful you are old enough to remember how much "humanitarian aide" the US gave in excess grain inventory to countries around the world back in those times when our leaders say we were too isolationist.

But these days we can see that every poor child around the world can have a cell phone and the internet....  Let them order it by ups.

We could send them a picture of grain in storage...    Or let them do a little "face time" with a pile of cheap wheat...   And give them an award for using only clean energy transfering those pictures....

The world is so lucky to have us since we have stopped being isolationist....

[rawhide]

With every bushel of wheat you get free cheese too  http://700wlw.iheart.com/articles/politics-104707/congress-asks-usda-to-bail-out-14959312/