The news reported yesterday that there be a food shortage coming in the U.S. Prices are rising. The usual migrant agricultural workers weren't able to come this year due to Covid. The distribution chain has been restricted somewhat. So things could become worrisome as time progresses.
It won't be a quick fix. Crops left to rot in the fields can't be recovered at a later date. I'm not sure why, if unemployment is so high in the U.S. right now, they would be reliant on the absent migrant workers, because it seems to me they should be able to employ others who are currently out of work. (The work isn't terribly hard to learn to do. Is it unwillingness? Just lack of coordination?)
I see my humble little garden with fresh eyes, measuring out how much yield I think I'll get this year, and thinking about how to expand it next year. We own a building lot a couple of hours from here, and maybe I can figure out a crop to grow on it that won't take constant babysitting, so I can manage it from afar. I still have a lot of my bottled stuff left from last year, so I wasn't planning to do much this year, but maybe I should go ahead and do it anyway while I can. That way I can help feed my children and grandchildren and neighbours, if it comes to that. I will examine my inventory of food storage and figure out what I need to stock up on.
Back during WWII, people planted victory gardens. Maybe now is the time to push for people to plant Covid gardens in the spring.
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