CHAPTER 7 - WEATHER DISASTER RIPPLE EFFECTS

Take the recent Texas droughts for example.  Because there was less grass for Texas chickens to feed on, the production of eggs decreased causing the price of eggs to increase. 

Higher costs of cattle feed and hay have caused an increase in the price of beef that can be felt across the country.  The cost of produce increased in the winter of 2011 because of the crops destroyed in Mexico and Florida through out-of-season freezes. 

Right now the price of peanut butter has risen sharply due to agricultural problems of drought and disease in the peanut fields along with grower’s choices to plant cotton instead as it was selling at record-high rates. 

Destruction from Hurricane Katrina affected food supplies outside of America because of the impact it had on the major port based in Gulfport, Mississippi which us used for Chiquita and Dole among others to export produce and other agricultural products across the ocean. 

No matter which disastrous weather incident occurs, the effects it can have on food supply both local and beyond are significant whether from the actual inability to get to food sources temporarily, or from certain food prices being increased or unable to be purchased at all. 

The advances in technology, etc. that have allowed the world to be so interconnected with each other also means the rippling effects of disasters on food supplies are just as interconnected and sometimes more so. 

Because there are so many ways our food sources can be compromised, it is vital that we prepare for the inevitable disruptions through adequate emergency food storage.