Agflation, Plant a Garden, Raise A Clam, Save a Farmer, Save Your Own World

I spent a little time in my tiny, but productive garden this morning, which got me obsessing over one of my growing concerns….the inflation of food prices around the world and the traumatic impact further problems with food pricing and delivery will have on each of us.

I’m not getting out of the fraudclosure fight, but I’m conceding that the problems in our courts and economy are so bad that they cannot be resolved in any orderly fashion.   I am losing faith that our courts, and by extension our government, have the will or the ability to solve the systemic and catastrophic problems that are on full display in foreclosure and bankruptcy courtrooms all across this country.   And while there are principled attorneys and advocates that are fighting an epic fight to preserve your rights and defend our court and our country from the economic and Constitutional massacre that is occurring, we are losing this war.   We’re losing the war every time we are defeated on motions in courtrooms.   We’re losing every time a homeowner does not hire an attorney to properly defend their case.   We’re losing every time we appear before judges that are granting foreclosure judgments that are contrary to long established rules of law and of court.   We’re losing the war when the attorneys and advocates who are fighting this fight are targeted with lawsuits, with intimidation, with Bar complaints.

Speech isn’t Free and Dissent Must Be Punished.   Those who run this formerly free country have too much to lose to allow dissent to fester too successfully.

The corporations and interests that own our government will get their settlement.   They will indeed moonwalk away from the crimes and the collusion and the corruption.   It will not cost them $20 million dollars….it will cost them far less.   But make no mistake the settlements, the cover up, the diversions will cost every single one of us and our children and our grandchildren far more than we can comprehend.   But enough about all that, let me get to the real heart of this post.   You think Wisconsin means something? The numbers they’re arguing over are minuscule compared to what we’re all really facing.   Just wait until there is a systemic or economic disruption in our tenuous food supply system.   Yesterday, a friend mentioned a conversation with a federal official who confirmed that one of our government’s biggest fears is even a brief disruption in the security and distribution of one particular foodstuff, dairy.   Dairy is the biggest concern because it is the most vulnerable to storage and delivery disruptions.   But that’s just one area, let’s look at the whole picture:

” Higher food prices set off the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and the mass protests in countries like Algeria, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain and Iran. People in these countries buy more unprocessed foods and spend a much higher percentage of their income on food, so they have been severely impoverished by Bernanke’s QE2.”

Of course, being an American, all I really care about is how it affects me, an American, and American prices, and how in the hell I am going to afford higher prices on my American income which has, as he said earlier, gone down when inflation-adjusted. In that regard, Joel Bowman, Managing Editor here at The Daily Reckoning notes, ” Wholesale prices jumped 0.8% in January. The producer price index (PPI) has now jumped 3% over the last four months. And no, that’s not an annualized figure.”   I was hurriedly shutting the bunker’s door when I heard Mr. Bowman go on, ” Note that the PPI headline number is for “˜finished goods’ ““ stuff that’s ready to be sold direct to consumers. In the category of “˜crude goods,’ the figures are far worse ““ up 3.3% in January, and up a staggering 15.8% over the last four months.”

Food Price Inflation

and

Egypt’s problems have been simmering for years, but food inflation has brought it to a boil. Remember: food inflation is behind much of the unrest, not just in Egypt but all over the world. Commodity prices have been rising for months, and many countries have already seen unrest over higher food prices.In November, overall inflation in Egypt topped 8.58 percent for the year, its highest level in 19 months. But food inflation has been much more pronounced.

CNBC

But enough about all of that.   Let’s talk about what we can do to help distract us from the problems that we’re facing.   I continue to reach out into our rural communities and particularly those parts of these communities that are producing for themselves and supporting the critical basics that we’ve all disastrously been diverted away from.   As I have in so many other posts, I again reach out to the farmers and producers in Florida.   If you’re a small farmer producing food and supporting our local economy, I will consider representing you if you’re facing foreclosure or other creditor problems that compromise your ability to fulfill your vital function in this economy.   Now take a look at three business that are producing and which are supporting our communities.   Let your imagination and dreams fly with thoughts about what how we could start to make things right by getting back to the principles embodied herein:

Myakka Nurseries: Crowley Nursery

We have 20 acres at the end of a dirt road.   I had a vision of beautiful gardens.   Even though we were far away from the city and experiencing the ups and downs of life, the vision of a nursery became reality.   I drove an hour from our home every day to my dream, getting home again in the dark.   We finally sold our home, and moved to the property.

We started out by joining the Rare Fruit Society to learn about the edible plants one could grow in Florida. Today, we belong to many Rare Fruit Tree Societies.   If you can eat it and grow it here, we have it, or usually, can get it for you.   And, if it does not grow   here successfully, we will let you know.

Crowley’s Nursery

Bay Shellfish

Hemmel, 44, is Florida’s clam king. The owner of the Bay Shellfish Co., he collects clams from murky water, studies clams in his lab, and manipulates light and water temperature so his clams will reproduce according to his own busy schedule. At his hatchery, the largest in the South, he annually produces about 300 million baby clams for restoration, research and food. Clam farmers from coast to coast buy from him. His goal: at least a dozen clams in every Florida pot.

Florida’s Clam King

Florida Native Plants

We come to know a place by the subtle cues we take from nature. Here it’s pine flatwoods, oak and palm hammocks, sand dunes and sea oats. The Real Florida! Beautiful places are being lost to development. That doesn’t have to be. We can bring back natural Florida by using native plants in our landscapes.In Florida you can be outdoors year-round. It’s a glorious place to garden. Plants don’t take years to mature — you can watch them grow. In three years you can make a difference. What you do matters.

Florida Native Plants