Fertilizer Crisis

Today and every day this week we are looking at some aspect of food security and the major shifts that are putting enormous strain on our global food supply. We are already experiencing acute shortages all over the world. If you like Chicken, then don’t try to order it in a restaurant in Singapore. If you like Dijon mustard, don’t try to order it in France.

On Monday’s show we talked about how dietary preferences have increased the demand for grain on a global basis as more and more people shift from plant based diets to consuming more animal protein.

On Tuesday’s show we talk about how more and more farm land is being diverted from food production to growing for bio-fuels like Ethanol and biodiesel.

On today’s show we talked about how energy markets are affecting the supply of fertilizer and how fertilizer use is down 5% so far this year which is expected to have an immediate 2% decrease in global food yields. That decrease in yield is in addition to the other factors that are already putting pressure on food supply. So we have not one, not two, but three factors negatively affecting our food supply. As we will learn on Thursday’s show, there’s more.

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Host: Victor Menasce

email: podcast@victorjm.com