Authorities are assuring us that all of these incidents are just “accidents”, and you can believe that if you want.
But to me it definitely appears that something very strange is happening. Recently, Zero Hedge republished a list of 97 disasters that have hit food production facilities in the United States that was originally published by the Gateway Pundit…
We can debate why this is happening until we are blue in the face.
But what everyone should be able to agree on is that we should all be getting prepared for what is ahead.
Are you ready for much higher food prices and widespread shortages?
Thanks a ton tallpine.
I’ll try to check into this. That’s a lot of fires.
Arson is responsible for many wildfires out West, some are climate activists, so judging by activist behavior in other realms, featuring extreme, very harmful actions in the name of their cause……this is a good place to look.
Looking and finding actual evidence are 2 different things though.
I'm about halfway thru the list and there's only 1 of these fires that was found to be the result of an arsonist:
9. 11/15/21 A woman is in custody following a fire at the Garrard County Food Pantry
All the other ones that really happened had explanations that made sense or were under investigation at the time of the articles.
The most concerning finding, however is that just over half of the incidents either did not happen or were greatly exaggerated...........which is almost all the ones with no links.
Not sure why they even mentioned this one below (other than to try to exaggerate and make the list look more impressive) because the derailed cars were completely empty.
88. 5/19/22 Train carrying limestone derailed Jensen Beach FL
There doesn't appear to be a major problem, other than Zero Hedge pushing another one of it's many conspiracy theories.
At this point, whether the legit ones(less than half) are more than usual or not in an 18 month period is less important than the fact that the source, intentionally created massive DISinformation to push a conspiracy theory which obliterates any credibility that source has on this topic.
A little more detective work and we have our definitive answer about this being total DISinformation, conspiracy theory stuff.
On Monday, the National Fire Protection Association pushed back on the rumors in a story in its magazine titled “Nothing to See Here.”
Susan McKelvey, an NFPA spokesperson, noted in an email that national data show the country averaged more than 5,000 fires annually at manufacturing and processing facilities, not just food plants, between 2015 and 2019. She estimated that there have “been approximately 20 fires in U.S. food processing facilities in the first 4 months of 2022, which is not extreme at all and does not signal anything out of the ordinary.”
“The recent inquiries around these fires appears to be a case of people suddenly paying attention to them and being surprised about how often they do occur,” McKelvey said.
Lisa Fazio, an associate professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt University, said most Americans wouldn’t know the frequency of such industrial accidents — which “means that it’s relatively easy to create a panic over the issue.”
With actual food shortages caused by the war, “everything they hear gets filtered through that lens and people start noticing things that they hadn’t paid attention to before,” Fazio said in an email.
Food industry experts don’t view the accidents as a crisis for Americans, either.
“There doesn’t appear to be any evidence connecting these fires in any way, and there is absolutely no danger to the US food supply because of a series of unrelated, unfortunate accidents,” Sam Gazdziak, a spokesperson for the American Association of Meat Processors, said in an email.
Lisa Fazio, an associate professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt University, said most Americans wouldn’t know the frequency of such industrial accidents — which “means that it’s relatively easy to create a panic over the issue.”
With actual food shortages caused by the war, “everything they hear gets filtered through that lens and people start noticing things that they hadn’t paid attention to before,” Fazio said in an email.
Food industry experts don’t view the accidents as a crisis for Americans, either.
“There doesn’t appear to be any evidence connecting these fires in any way, and there is absolutely no danger to the US food supply because of a series of unrelated, unfortunate accidents,” Sam Gazdziak, a spokesperson for the American Association of Meat Processors, said in an email.
Those who follow the food supply chain say while such fires can of course have an impact, they are not a major concern domestically or globally.
“The fires were definitely not at the top of my list,” said Phillip Coles, a professor of practice in supply chain management at Lehigh University.
Coles said labor shortages domestically and global issues such as the Russian war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China and shipping costs, are larger factors. He said while consumers in U.S. might not see certain items available, the issue isn't a shortage of food altogether.
David Ortega, a food economist and associate professor at Michigan State University, said it was “extremely unlikely” that the U.S. would experience food shortages from the Russia-Ukraine war.
While Russia and Ukraine are major grain suppliers, the U.S. produces enough domestically and isn't dependent on the region, Ortega said. Instead, he said, food shortages from the war would be felt in countries that depend heavily on the region for food imports, such as places in North Africa and the Middle East.
He added: “Beliefs that the U.S. will soon be low on food are simply unfounded.” ___
___
This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
Mike thanks for looking into this article in greater depth. I am very busy at this time of the year and did not have time to research the article to see if it was true of just more bs. I am reminded of an old saying I heard a long-time ago. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
You're very welcome tallpine.
If they gave out degrees in fact checking, I would have earned my PhD by now with all the bunk going around, like with Al Gores 2006 Nobel Prize winning(2007) movie that had a dozen scientific errors in it.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/oct/11/climatechange
Maybe I should apply for a job (-:
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/fact-checker-2316052
Seriously though. Fact checking is ALWAYS a learning experience for the fact checker especially for me on this topic.
I knew almost zilch about this topic prior to yesterday and now, have a few more facts loaded in my head to fight early dementia (-:
A disaster, but more of the heat variety. Heat stress blamed for thousands of cattle deaths in Kansas (yahoo.com)
Thanks much Jim!
And of course there is the cost disaster of trying to farm. Farmers have been hammered by inflation and there is no end in sight (msn.com)
Producers are always at high risks because of uncertain input costs and weather that are much higher than usual in 2022.
Also using/driving some EXTREMELY powerful machinery for many hundreds of hours/year.
https://www.ishn.com/articles/112748-top-25-most-dangerous-jobs-in-the-united-states
BLS Category: Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers
Fatal injury rate: 26 per 100,000 workers
Total deaths (2018): 257
Salary: $71,160
Most common fatal accidents: Transportation incidents
Farmers are responsible for producing crops and dairy products and raising animals for food. They are responsible for the process of planting and harvesting or feeding and caring for livestock. Additionally, farmers purchase supplies for their farms and purchase and maintain farming equipment. They also sell their crops or livestock on the open market.
Crashes, including tractor crashes, were the most common fatal injury for farmers.
for a discussion of the facts
Massive Fire Breaks Out At Poultry Farm, FBI Warns of Targeted Cyber Attacks On Food Plants - YouTube
The bottom line is as mike reports
Thanks for the additional contribution cutworm!