abundance.

I was briefly watching the news the other day, and they were talking about the drought across America, and how it will soon affect food distribution. It's incredible to me that there are millions of people starving because of a real food crisis, as in, there isn't ANY food, but we choose to pay attention as soon as our grocery store prices may hike up. That's when we take notice of starvation.

But anyway, I don't want to rant on and on about the American attitude. I really want to talk about food. I read this article, which I thought really explained the chain of events that the drought will cause. What amazes me is that the solution to the problem that the government has laid out here was to a) throw money at it, and bail governments out of what could be a global food crisis, and b) genetically modify our food even more to withstand floods and droughts. This is an incredible contrast to the way the people handled drought, flood, and famine in the Bible. Repent, pray for rain, and settle in with your storehouses for some famine. And pray some more.

This has motivated me not just to try learning more things like canning, but also to start focusing on things like eating and buying local. I am not an expert in agriculture or economics by any stretch of the imagination, but if you think about it, the Midwest of America having a drought is going to cause a global food crisis. One region of one country. And do you know why? The corn and the soybean crop aren't prospering. Two of the ingredients that go into pretty much every processed food out there. And this will affect our beloved beef and dairy industry, because our cows are fed with corn. Which is bad for them, and bad for us. Can I just say yay for the farmers who grass feed their cows? Sustainable farming is called sustainable farming for a reason. Because the other way is not, in fact, sustainable. You will eventually have a global food crisis. Again, this is the simple version. I do not know all that there is to know about farming and food distribution around the world. And I am not downplaying the impact it will have on the world's truly hungry. I am saying we should be conscious of our food choices.We are so accustomed to going to the store and getting absolutely ANYTHING that we could imagine or desire. Wow. We won't know how to survive if we have a food shortage.

Our garden is doing very well this year, minus one annoying groundhog that is eating our tomatoes at an alarming rate. In older, simpler times, this would mean a good year for us. Also, we could just shoot the groundhog. And probably eat that, too. We wouldn't be relying on corn growing in Indiana to feed the cows in Wisconsin, so that we could have meat here in Ohio. We would either have a cow, buy meat from someone who had cows, or eat something different. We would not have a crisis based on another part of the world, or even of our country. The thought of how far we have come in our "progress" blows me away.

So, anyway, that is my tangent about food. I'm sure there are many more intelligent and informative things to be read about it, from many perspectives. I hope you do read about it, and share your thoughts. I hope to read more as well, and continue to make small changes in my life to decrease my reliance on the crops not faring well in the Midwest. I'd really love to read some opinions from sustainable farmers. In the meantime, let's pray for rain for these farmers with failing crops!