And Now It's Oats

Because of drought in the plains states the oat crop in the United States will be the smallest since 1866! That is truly frightening. Think of all the ways we use oats. We eat oatmeal and overnight oats for breakfast, but that is just the tip of this iceberg. We also consume cold cereals, cookies, cakes, breads, oat drink as a milk substitute, protein balls, snack bars, flours, and even beer. Other uses are feed for livestock, facial scrub, soaps and even medications. As you can see a small crop will affect many items we use and rely on.

California grows more than 90% of America’s canned tomatoes and a third of the world’s supply. Expect much higher prices as the government has cut off water to the growers. Stock up if you love spaghetti sauce, pizza, taco soup, grilled cheese and tomato soup. All these crop failures affect so many things.

Extreme weather continues slamming crops across the world at a time when food prices are already near the highest in a decade. Grasshopper devastation in Oregon, flooding in China’s key pork-producing region, devastating rains in the EU are raising fears of widespread fungal diseases in grains. Russia, wheat crop expected to be low,

Brazil drought and rare freezing weather are hurting coffee-growing region, Brazil is the planet’s biggest exporter of sugar, orange juice and soybeans, also affected.

I think that is enough. I could go on and on but if you haven't already felt the urgency in light of the information we have been sharing the past few months then I guess you never will. As for me, I am stocking up. I know prices will rise but at least I'll have a cushion and time to prepare changes in my budget and time to grow my own food.