China is a low-income food-deficit country. The US is neither.
In other words, the US could literally starve China to death in the event of war.
This (the food deficit, not the war scenario) has to be one of the main reasons China is greatly expanding its hold on African agricultural production. I wonder how much of what officially counts as Chinese food imports is already "off-shore food production" on land leased by China. By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
As for food imports:
LJ Anderson: Rise in food imports heightens contamination risk - San Jose Mercury News
As computer jobs have gone offshore, so has the production and processing of food. In addition, the U.S. now imports more food than it exports -- with fresh produce, and fresh and frozen fish and shellfish among the leading imports. Mexico is the No. 1 exporter of fruit to the U.S., and China is in second place. This unprecedented growth in globalization of food sources is accompanied by concerns about health risks to consumers. Regulations governing food production in many developing countries are often negligible. For example, two-thirds of the world's production of farmed fish is grown in ponds fertilized by animal manure or human sewage.
As computer jobs have gone offshore, so has the production and processing of food. In addition, the U.S. now imports more food than it exports -- with fresh produce, and fresh and frozen fish and shellfish among the leading imports. Mexico is the No. 1 exporter of fruit to the U.S., and China is in second place.
This unprecedented growth in globalization of food sources is accompanied by concerns about health risks to consumers. Regulations governing food production in many developing countries are often negligible. For example, two-thirds of the world's production of farmed fish is grown in ponds fertilized by animal manure or human sewage.
There are a lot of vacant warehouses just south of Salinas, and many growers have shifted to growing grapes for wine production to replace lost lettuce and vegetable crops.
To be sure, the overall picture is still one of enormous agricultural productivity, but shifts are under way. And the world will live as one
Does this mean American growers would grow lettuce which would then be shipped to China and South America for packing and processing before being shipped back to the US for consumption? By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
Does this mean American growers would grow lettuce which would then be shipped to China and South America for packing and processing?
