I guess I have a slightly different perspective on the food supply issue than many might. My husband works in a job that requires him to order food supplies for the business he works for. When we talk about shortages with Costco, it's because he (with me present many times) talks to the order managers at Costco, to the wholesalers who supply the local grocery stores. Many of those people in the wholesale chain are seeing a change from "for a price you can order anything" to "no matter what price you might pay, there is just none available due to crop failures, shipping strikes, and other issues that we as Joe Consumer may not realize."

Did you know that Costco used to order the single largest customer of the Canadian Beef market, but thanks to Walmart and the explosion of the Walmart Superstore, Costco is now #2 (According to one Meat Manager at Costco). Because of that, what was once a proudly displayed "We sell 100% Canadian Beef" has been removed in many places since Costco will have to sometimes bring in beef from the US in order to meet demand by it's customers. It's now not uncommon to see USDA grading stickers on some Costco meat. While on the topic of US grades of meat, just thought I'd throw this in too for those who may not know: "Certified Angus Beef" is a trademark brand that reflects a grade of meat, not just a species of Cow http://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/brand/grades.php . One source said a cow need only show a 1/8th Angus breed in the bloodline to qualify for this "Certified Angus Beef" - assuming the beef meats the 10 other criteria they use. Or check out this drier but interesting explanation of the differences in US vs Canadian Beef Grading http://www.aamp.com/documents/USDAGradingSystem.pdf .

Bottom line, I'd like to think we're all in agreement that the majority of people (not on this site) sadly take the "I just have to go to the grocery store" mentality to their food supply. It would be my hope that signs like that one from Walmart - while really expressing a price increase - might wake some folks up to the fact that it doesn't have to be an apocalyptic, catastrophic, zombie filled end of the world in order for more people to realize they should think locally, be prepared, and looking after one's own food supply really does pay off.

This is a great post. I knew that I was having trouble getting fresh spinach but didn't know the bigger picture surrounding it.

Hadn't heard about the horsemeat thing at all. Gotta increase the garden size and get more seasonal...

Well let me toss a little into this along the lines of food, if I may.
I agree we are all in trouble if we depend on the stores to do our shopping for us, IF they can get it. And what they get sometimes I would not feed to my critters.

Now on to what I wanted to mention.
Seeds!
Has anyone noticed the last couple years the seeds are gone fast. OR some just not getting more in?

Last year, to stock up my # yrs reserve on seeds, I went to get more. I thought I was to early in the season as no one was really planting yet way to early. The reason I went early was I had noticed what was happening the year before.
Ok.. they were all sold out. I asked when the next shipment was due to come in. She said its not! I said none? She said their supplier was all out.

Keep in mind I save seeds as well so was not hurting yet.
BUT it waved one heck of a big red flag in front of me.

This year I asked when the other seeds would be in..she said, that's it.
Whooaaa... one miserable double stand of seeds and no more?
Keep in mind this is a place that always used to have mega amounts of them and still sold out.

This is of course due mainly to bad crops for at least a couple years running. Even my seed collecting hasn't been up to par due to cranky weather last year.

SIgn of the times...? Yes. When you see your store hurting for what they can get, you know its about past time to take steps to provide for yourself.

So if you see seeds, no matter where, grab them! Because this could be the difference in what you will be eating if you can't get or afford to pay at the stores.
And as Henry said :
For those that say, yup next year, I will, I got to start growing my own...
You may be SOL for seeds too.

Highlandsgal
Thanks for all the info.

http://www.seeds.ca/ev/events.php

I have to admit that I have not found that a issue at this time in my neck of the woods, I do agree that there has a been a huge upswing on seed buying, but my stores locally have in fact gone the other way, instead of having one , they now have three or four or five from different companies.

but locally, I have found that seedy saturdays are a great way to side step this issue as well, I find the prices are higher but if you get there early and talk to the gardener's you can often find seed that has had many years breeding and being saved in your climiate/soil, which is awesome, and if you go in with a couple girlfriends, you work a list and then split out the seeds for everything you really want, then we all do a little grow out of this or that in our gardens and then seed save and we split up the seeds between the group and often give away a few packages as well.

Hey HighlandsGal I get what your drinking 😀 And now I rant!

Go to any grocery store and you will see the increase in food products have jumped 200% and some case (broccoli) are 400%. I run a restaurant where we pride ourselves on foods made from scratch. Unfortunately I have seen my profit margins nose dive rapidly within the last 2 years due to high costs of natural foods. It is understood that cost of fuel and weather issues have alot to do with it but this scares me to the point of finally listening to my Wife's ambition to prep more in our own backyard. I beleive an Economic Catastrophe related to food is a more realistic SHTF scenerio then anything else and we should all get ready now. I know that government and corperate business propaganda plays a role as well, just look at our gas prices within a 30 km radius, some stations charge a difference of 8 cents a litre and are only 15 minutes apart WTH?

We as a free sociaty will soon find it unbearable to live within these means and hopefully will take to the streets same as Greece and Italy have to protest the insanity. I fear that the future for my small business is already doomed as I can only raise my menu prices so high to compensate before the loyal customers decide that I am no longer within their budgeting needs. I personally know of Farmers in my area that can no longer survive 2013 price increases. I feel for them as I am one that has recently contributed, shamefully I might add, to a part of their demize by going elsewhere for more reasonable priced products.

I wish there was a way to educate the John and Jane Q Public who still beleive that their food comes from - oximoronic phrase - the Supermarket and could see the real light and thus complain loudly along side the rest of us to stop the Monsantos of the world from taking over and destrying the very fabric of our food's future.

God help our Kids and the world we leave behind for them. Thanks for letting me rant 😮

The danger passed. The cold snap wasn't universally damaging.

Record setting harvest predicted: "Dan Crowley, sales manager at Well-Pict Inc. in Watsonville, CA, told The Produce News Jan. 22 that he expects “a very explosive crop” from about mid-March through April “with some historic yield numbers, in my opinion, from the southern district.”

http://www.producenews.com/index.php/news-dep-menu/test-featured/9635-california-strawberry-crop-has-potential-for-another-record-setting-harvest

A friend of mine back in Alberta, took me to a cattle ranch where he kept his horses. When I got there I commented to the farmer as I saw the few thousand cows, that BBQ night must be good. Later my friend told me the family won't eat cow, they raise horses to ride and eat...

I don't have a issue with it being horse meat, lots of cultures eat horse and I have myself done so, I have never eaten dog and I can honestly say that i hope I never need to make that choice but I have made a point of trying many, many kinds of food over the years.

Hey OurPlaceBFN. your posting on Feb.12 is 100% right.We use to get calls to help people with food 6 to 8 a week now we are having 6/7 calls a day.Some poor people are getting desperate.
Henry

Before horse were ridden, they were eaten, or ridden hard than eaten.

😆 I don't have an issue with the fact that it was horsemeat found, it is the issue that horsemeat was used without anyone's knowledge.

Around the world we live with the brainless understanding that Big Brother has our best interest at heart. We know deep down that this is total poppy-cock but seem to choose to ignore the truth our instincts tell us. Money is truly the route of all that is evil and Big Business continues to pull the wool over our eyes in the pursuet of profit. Much like the tobacco scandal of the 1980s and 1990s we are being fooled but with the worst of all commodity...our food supply.

But with the internet I can help my fellow Preppers further beleive in what they are doing is the right thing and for everyone else hopefully to just see the light. As a result of the recent horsemeat scandal, we have seen more issues related to our fine food industry crop up (pun intended). As part of our future we need to become self sufficient and be able to survive on our own when the SHTF. Problem is, the S has already HTF and we ARE on our own today.

Here are a few links that prove my point: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/03/01/wrd-iceland-horsemeat-meat-pie.html , or even still how about this article? http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2013/02/21/fake-fish-on-shelves-and-restaurant-tables-across-usa-new-study-says/ and for a laugh (which we all need once in a while) check out this link from Bill Maher even if you don't like him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p_gTYf4WQk Retorical question: how do these issues occur behind our backs? If you trust the government to watch your back you are truly blind to the world we live in - not a conspiracy theorist here just saying.

Sidebar: In kepping with my point http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-moss/coca-cola_b_2769116.html

The precceding was a paid rant by the OurPlaceBFN Foundation and all opinions expressed do not reflect the moderators' and their members' views. 😮

May 2013, ROME (Reuters) - Global food prices rose in April for a third straight month.... but cereal output is expected to be strong this year.

Food prices spiked during the summer of 2012 as the United States was hit by a severe drought and dry weather plagued other producers. After falling at the start of 2013, prices have been rising again in the past three months.

Producers of maize in the United States, the world's largest producer, intend to plant the largest area since 1936.

Crops in Europe and the Black Sea region are expected to contribute to higher wheat output, and producers in India and Indonesia are expected to drive a 10 million tonne increase in rice output this year, the Food and Agriculture Organization said.
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World population growth rate is expected to remain constant at 1.17 percent, (cereal production is projected to increase by 6 percent).

The world population is expected to gain another 1 billion people in the next 15 years. Supply must keep up with demand, which requires mother nature to unfailingly cooperate every year from now on.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 55.96 percent of the United States' land area is now in moderate drought or worse.

So everyone here is concerned at food production? Is that the message?

While affluent countries probably won't see food shortages (we can pay inflated prices) I read somewhere that Canadians pay the smallest portion of our wages for food. I would suspect that we'll be hit particularly hard with rising food prices. Producing more (much more) of your own food seems to me to be the best insulation against the erosion of our living standard. Your food will be healthier than store bought at the same time you would be temped to buy lesser quality due to the prices.

Food security should be high on the list of indicators for preppers to watch.

The factors in motion are rising global population, drought conditions brought on by rising temperatures, and weather-related effects on food production.

"During the 2007/2008 food price spike, which saw grain prices jump by as much as 100% in a one-year period, there were riots in some cities as people realized that basic foods, like tortillas and bread, were either no longer available or affordable."

http://www.mcgill.ca/globalfoodsecurity/conference/2012

It would be imprudent to think that these events only happen "over there".

"The combination of increased water scarcity, elevated energy prices, the diversion of food crops to biofuel production, climate change, and declining year-over-year yield increases are likely to mean increased food instability and general upward trends in food prices over the coming decades."

As indicated by declining water levels in the Great Lakes, North America is already in the midst of a prolonged drought.

http://www.earthyreport.com/site/midwest-drought-worsens/

One more.

This is of August 28, 2012, indicating significant drought in the U.S. Midwest (dark red areas) . Credit: NASA/Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio/USDA-ARS

An animation of plant stress patterns of the last three years can be seen here: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/plant-stress.html

If you want to follow this year's drought, copy this url to your favourites: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/