I think it truly is a matter of what will get us first….lack of easy energy, lack of fresh water, or lack of enough fertile soil to feed everyone. If ever a picture was worth a thousand words, this one fits the bill:

http://www.chattoogariver.org/index.php?quart=Su2006&req=watercrisis

This was taken in California in 1977.

We find ourselves having to decide whether to keep our cars going or whether to have food to eat (when dealing with bio-fuels) and we have to decide whether we want nice places to live or have food on our tables. I think its called being caught between a rock and a hard place.

There was a story (on NPR maybe) a few months ago about American midland farmers moving their operations to South America. One reason small farms are disappearing is because they can’t compete with large agribusiness which is buying them out. (And I would suspect its large agribusiness that is contributing to losses in fertile soil more so than the smaller farmers who have more vested in their farms for themselves and their children.)

Here’s one story:

http://www.howellfarms.com/farms_brazil.html

Lise

“They’re making more people every day, but they ain’t makin’ any more dirt.” — Will Rogers

Vanishing Farmland: How It’s Destabilizing America’s Food Supply
Bonnie Erbe