Experts Predict Upcoming Food Shortages
By Best Life
From toilet paper to cleaning supplies, shoppers were rocked by major shortages in 2020 as a result of the pandemic and everything that came with it. But even as the COVID situation has improved, supply chain issues have continued, some with major consequences. Now, many experts are warning that we should prepare ourselves for several food shortages in the not-too-distant future. Read on to find out what you might not be able to find at your local grocery store.
Violent weather events have wreaked havoc on the nation this past year, including major floods, hurricanes, extreme heat, drought, and unusually large bouts of rainfall, according to USA Today. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that in 2022 alone, there have been 15 climate disaster events in the U.S., with losses exceeding $1 billion each.
That extreme weather has hurt harvests and devastated certain crops.
Erica Kistner-Thomas, PhD, a national program leader with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Institute of Food Production and Sustainability, told USA Today that it’s becoming more difficult for farmers to adapt to the increasingly common weather extremes. “One year they’ll have the best year ever and then the next year they’ll be hit with a major flooding event or drought,” she explained.
The end result is food shortages, with more on the horizon.
One of the foods most affected by weather extremes in 2022 is rice.
The Sacramento Valley of California is one of just four regions that produce almost the entire U.S. rice crop. California is the main producer of both medium-grain rice and short-grain rice, according to the USDA. But as USA Today reported, the western part of the U.S. experienced its worst “megadrought” in 1,200 years in 2022, and that had a serious impact on farming in California.
Roughly 7 percent of California’s crops were not planted in 2022 because there was a lack of water for irrigation. Rice was the hardest-hit crop because it relies on groundwater, resulting in more than half of the state’s rice acres going unplanted, according to the USDA.
Sean Doherty, a fifth-generation rice farmer from Colusa County, California, told USA Today that he was only able to plant four rice fields this year. In a normal year, he plants 20. “I’ve never experienced a year like this,” Doherty said.”There’s just no comparison to other years whatsoever.”
