“It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth — and listen to the song of that syren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.” –Patrick Henry, speech in the Virginia Convention, 1775

Patrick Henry may not have been talking about a food crisis, but he had it right about knowing the whole truth in order to provide for it.

In How to Cultivate a Food Crisis, Robert James Bidinotto states:

As any shopper knows, food prices this past year have been rising faster than the overall rate of inflation.  “Fears of a global food crisis swept the world’s commodity markets as prices for staples such as corn, rice and wheat spiraled after the U.S. government warned of ‘dramatically lower supplies,” the Financial Times reported in early October.”

He also discusses the impact of the inflating of energy costs on the price of food.  And what, you ask, might inflate energy costs?  Well, as Obama said in 2008:  “Energy prices will necessarily skyrocket under my Cap and Trade Plan.” Here’s the video in case you doubt the veracity of the article. 

The Tenth Amendment Center published an article Stopping the Federal Food Police at your State Line Josh Eboch discusses the Food Safety and Modernization Act.  Beside the fact that it is unconstitutional this Act gives the Department of Homeland Security and the Food and Drug Administration greatly expanded power; power, the author points out, to smother small farmers and local food producers in bureaucracy and red tape. 

He goes on to outline some disturbingly authoritarian doctrines which were made the FDA in a recent lawsuit.  My favorite is:  “There is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food.” Hmmmm…I wonder if they consulted Michele Obama on that one? Seems to me her goal of eliminating “food deserts” is in direct conflict with the FDA’s view.

There is an article that can be found at The Salt Lake Tribune:  Food Safety Advocates Have Read the Law Wrong that discusses a proposal in the state of Utah that would exempt Utah food from federal regulation.  The author states:

If anybody thinks that the recent “Food Safety Act” is only about food safety, I challenge them to read it. I’ve read the full thing, and see plenty of warning signs.

Though limited exemptions are offered for small producers, the heavy, regulatory hand of government permeates the law. Farmers should be (and are) worried about the voluminous and costly mandates that will soon follow.

Then there is the case of Criminal Gardening in Georgia where a man was prosecuted for growing too many vegetables.  This case was about zoning, but it reminds us that the great new “food safety” bill in essence seeks to prohibit (or make darn difficult) for you to grow and consume your own food without government approval.  What!?

Add to all of this the fact that FEMA has ordered $1 Billion in dehydrated food. There is additional discussion on this at eFoods Global.  Is this true?  Is FEMA stockpiling emergency food supplies at record rates?  So far I cannot absolutely confirm this, but for the sake of this discussion let’s assume it is true.  Do I want them to plan for emergencies?  Well, yeah.  However, it would be great to understand WHY they are stockpiling at record rates now?

It seems to me that if there is an impending food crisis we would want to use an “all of the above” approach to increasing food supplies.  We would want to foster innovation and make it easier for the ingenuity of the American people to take on this task.  It seems, however, that our government is setting up more and more roadblocks to that ingenuity AND taking on greater and greater control of the food supply.  Why would they do that?  If you have any good answers for that please share them with me.

Will we experience a food crisis in 2011?  I don’t know. I don’t have a crystal ball.  However, what I do have is common sense.  I see what has been happening at the grocery store.  I read and listen to the news and I consider what I would need to do to be prepared.

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst is not bad advice.  Another piece of good advice is to face the truth and not dismiss information just because someone might think you are being crazy or paranoid.

And remember:  Truth has no agenda.