Academic

A 21ST CENTURY LAND RUSH? ?The move toward securing farmland in faraway places can be seen not only?

By Glenn Reynolds

A 21ST CENTURY LAND RUSH? “The move toward securing farmland in faraway places can be seen not only as a bet on increasing food prices, but also as a hedge against a breakdown in world trade. . . . In the period shortly after World War II, the world had food stocks in storage equal to 365 days of use. Now, we have about 35 days? worth of food stocks, a level that the United Nations estimates is only half of that needed to protect against bad harvests. . . . The disconnect between America’s discussion of food and the way food supply is seen in the rest of the world is almost complete. The experiences of 2007 and 2008 have faded from our collective memory, and we Americans continue to focus on the way food is produced rather than the terrifying prospect of scarcity. With all the focus in the United States on the drawbacks of plenty, what’s happening in the rest of the world is not just a reminder of our good fortune, but also a cautionary tale.”

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on September 23, 2010 (boomark / email).