Global Food Supplies Near 40 Year Lows, While Food Prices May Rise in China

Organic foods have been in the news lately. Here are a couple of reports:

For six of the last eleven years the world has consumed more food than it has produced. This year, drought in the United States and elsewhere has put even more pressure on global food supplies than usual. As a result, global food reserves have reached their lowest level in almost 40 years. Experts are warning that if next summer is similar to this summer that it could be enough to trigger a major global food crisis. http://etfdailynews.com/2012/10/16/global-food-reserves-have-reached-their-lowest-level-in-almost-40-years/

There are concerns about rising food prices in China, though some feel that this may not happen for nearly two decades:

Food prices in China may be relatively insulated from the volatile global food market and thus the country can ensure food security. But the country could become vulnerable to outside shocks in the future.

Oxfam’s research on extreme weather and extreme food prices shows how a drought in the United States (similar to one this year) in 2030 could temporarily raise the prices of corn and wheat in China by 76 and 55 percent…

Food prices in China will become increasingly vulnerable to price shocks driven by extreme weather in major crop exporting regions. More extreme weather is projected for regions exporting wheat (that is, the US) and rice (that is, East Asia, the US and India).

Food prices more often than not determine whether people get enough to eat, especially the poorest who spend 75 percent of their income on food. After decades of success of the global fight against hunger, the global food crisis of 2007-08 pushed back tens, even hundreds of millions of people into hunger and poverty. Since the 2007-08 crisis, the global number of chronically undernourished people has not been decreasing.

Now, almost 870 million people go hungry every day across the world according to revised UN figures published last week. China has been very successful in its fight against hunger, but it still has about 130 million undernourished people, according to a report of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization of 2011. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2012-10/16/content_15819772.htm

The Bible is tells of a time that there will be food shortages and much more serious food inflation:

5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:5-6)

Notice something that Ezekiel was inspired to write:

15 ‘So it shall be a reproach, a taunt, a lesson, and an astonishment to the nations that are all around you, when I execute judgments among you in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I, the Lord, have spoken. 16 When I send against them the terrible arrows of famine which shall be for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, I will increase the famine upon you and cut off your supply of bread. 17 So I will send against you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’” (Ezekiel 5:15-17)

Notice that this shows famine, then pestilence, and then the sword. The above sequence seems to be slightly different than that Jesus listed as part of the “beginning of sorrows” (Mathew 24:7-8) as the sword comes afterwards. But since the sword should begin the Great Tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), this may be part of how the beginning of sorrows ties into the Great Tribulation–this also may suggest hunger and disease problems for the Anglo-nations prior to the start of the Great Tribulation.

But how can China be at all relevant to this?

Notice an observation from a German source several years ago:

No country is immune to the effects of tightening food supplies, not even the United States.

If China turns to the world market for massive quantities of grain, as it recently has done for soybeans, it will undoubtedly look to the United States, which dominates world grain exports. For US consumers, the prospect of competing for the US grain harvest with 1.3 billion Chinese consumers with fast-rising incomes is a nightmare scenario. It would be tempting for the United States to restrict exports, but this is not an option with China which now holds well over one trillion US dollars. Like it or not, US consumers will share their grain with Chinese consumers regardless of how high food prices rise.

If the food crisis worsens, national restrictions on grain exports coupled with various bilateral arrangements could tie down much of the exportable supply of grain, making it increasingly difficult if not impossible for weaker, less affluent countries to find grain to import. Many countries heavily dependent on imports could be left out, and the result would be hundreds of millions of desperate people. Desperate people do desperate things: They riot, they fight over food, they overthrow governments, and they mass migrate to more food-secure countries.

In many countries the social order has already begun to break down in the face of soaring food prices and spreading hunger. Deadly food riots broke out in a number of countries in 2008. In Egypt several people died in fights in government-subsidized bread lines. Food riots in Yemen turned deadly, taking at least a dozen lives. In Cameroon the food riot death toll was twice as high (The Geopolitics of Food Scarcity. Spiegel – Feb 11, 2009 http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,606937,00.html).

The USA still owes China massive amounts of money. The time will come when the Chinese will want to be repaid and they likely will want at least some food. Americans act like this cannot happen, but it can. Hunger, in a broad way, will come to the USA.

We are seeing the stage being set right now, especially with the combination of rising USA debt and weather problems. And they will both likely worsen in the next several years.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Will the Anglo-Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people?
Canada in Prophecy: What Does Bible Prophecy, Catholic Prophecy, and other Predictions Suggest About the Future of Canada? There are prophecies that suggest involvement with Canada. And many are not positive about its future.
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West?
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States This is a 160 page book for people truly interested in prophecies related to Barack Obama and the United States, including learning about many that have already been fulfilled (which the book documents in detail) and those that will be fulfilled in the future. It also has a chapter about Mitt Romney. This book is available to order at www.barackobamaprophecy.com. The physical book can also be purchased at Amazon from the following link: Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States: Is Barack Obama Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic, Catholic, Kenyan, and other America-Related Prophecies? What About Mitt Romney?
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States–Amazon Kindle edition. This electronic version is available for only US$2.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon’s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States–Amazon Kindle edition.)