As David Barber, a partner at the firm of food and agricultural investors Astanor Ventures, told me when I was preparing my latest piece as David Barber, a partner at Astanor Ventures, told me. Modern been built on three fundamental foundations: low-cost energy, water that is free and constant weather. Think about those three things and then contemplate what happens when any one be it all three of them are under threat.
“The whole system does not function without that,” Barber said to me. “It reveals some of this for the house of cards that it is.”
A few cards have already beginning to fall. There were at least 2,000 cattle killed in Kansas were killed in June, during the sweltering heat. The escalating cost for water across New Mexico and Arizona has livestock ranchers and other meat-producing enterprises looking to get out of the industry. In Texas the western counties have seen the lowest amount of precipitation since around the turn of the century, droughts are the main reason for the deteriorating condition of around 11 percent of Texas’s crop.
These signals aren’t random. It is part of a larger pattern that other data points can help to illuminate in turn. This story also draws inspiration from Data Commons, an extremely ambitious Google initiative led by the man who invented RSS that combines several difficult to use data sets about hunger, climate change and health. It also makes analysis easier for users. Additional data regarding drought, nutrition, and the viability of crops is expected to be added over the next few weeks. I’m looking forward to playing with the charts and discover the interesting stories in the pipeline to be discovered.
At the moment I’m thinking about the stories I’m able to make with my grill, and the jokes I’m storing in my pocket to prepare for a few cookouts scheduled to take place this coming weekend. I wish you a happy enjoyable and relaxing holiday!
