Wednesday, April 30, 2008

since being short on food isn't enough....

According to today's New York Times, shortages in "the most essential ingredient of modern agriculture" is yet another reason world food prices are skyrocketing and that we could be (as a planet, not a country) in serious trouble. The cost of fertilizer, critical to producing the high yields in food we are accustomed to, has tripled in the last year due to serious shortfalls in supply.

Excerpt: "“This is a basic problem, to feed 6.6 billion people,” said Norman Borlaug, an American scientist who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his role in spreading intensive agricultural practices to poor countries. “Without chemical fertilizer, forget it. The game is over.”" (NYtimes)

(cough) eign (cough)

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