The Washington (DC) Post is somewhat of a left-wing newspaper, so I’m not on its subscription list, nor its Christmas Card list. And it’s a little bigger than this paper. That’s partly what makes me mad at them. They’re stealing my lines, my thunder. They should leave a little guy alone.
Their headline on a recent edition read ‘Iran war is crushing Asia’s farmers, threatening global food supply.’
Food supply is my issue, not theirs.
The Post didn’t spend several weeks talking about food supply. This paper did. This space did. I’ve got a right to be mad.
Maybe, though, I should take another approach.
Maybe I should just be complimented that when they saw the articles in our paper, they decided to copy us, and that, as they say, is one of the finest forms of flattery. Or something like that.
It’s interesting to me, at least, that more and more articles seem to be showing up on the issue of food supply. If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t bring it up here again. I’m sure you’re bored with it. But even in Canadian media, it seems to be getting some attention from people who are smarter than most of us.
The articles I see about food supply seem to be reasonable, not the issues that extremists would bring up. Things like supply chains, simply getting food to our kitchens, as opposed to us finding empty shelves at grocery stores. And there are cost issues, such as freight costs, which are important. There are value-added opportunities being lost, greenhouse technology improvements that could make growing more viable in our climate, and other things that are all part and parcel of food issues.
Do you know that Canada imports $65 billion worth of food every year? That’s a lot. Enough that we should be paying attention, especially when the real issue here is the first one in the paragraph above, simply making sure that we have a guaranteed source of food. Costs are the second priority, but nothing is more important than simply being able to get it to our tables.
My real reason for bringing this up again, though, is that I am coming to believe that this issue of trade disputes with the US is not going to go away soon. In fact, I think that many Canadians are kind of holding their breath, thinking that as soon as Trump goes away, things will revert to the old trade patterns that we had with the Americans prior to his arrival.
I don’t think so.
The Americans have learned that their economy was vastly mismanaged by the Biden Democrats, and they won’t let it happen again. The whole world can expect much tougher negotiations with the US in the future, Canada included. And while Trump will go away someday, his footprints in the snow regarding trade will not soon melt away. The US will be much tougher to deal with, perhaps forever.
So the Americans have learned a lot from Donald Trump.
We should too!
One of those things is that a foreign country can cut off our supply of anything, including food, anytime they want to.
And that means we need to produce more of our own food.
So, as you scan the media these days, you may notice more discussion regarding food supply. We really do need to start growing our own broccoli.
…………….
A column like this is probably better if it includes some light reading once in a while, and I know you don’t get much of that from me. So I thought you might like this little diversion. It was sent to me by a gal who has been a friend of mine for over 70 years. She and I were the two leftover kids on our street when it came to groups of kids who played together, so we played with each other. I was eight, and she was nine. We still talk, and occasionally, even get together. And when she sees something amusing, she often sends it to me. Here is one.
Did you hear about the Texas teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put on his cowboy boots? He asked for help, and she could see why.
Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn’t want to go on. By the time they got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat.
She almost cried when the little boy said, “Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet.” She looked, and sure enough, they were. It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on, this time on the right feet.
He then announced, “These aren’t my boots.”
She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, “Why didn’t you say so?”, like she wanted to. Once again, she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet.
No sooner had they gotten the boots off when he said, “They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear ‘em.”
Now she didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. But, she mustered up what grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again.
Helping him into his coat, she asked, “Now, where are your Mittens?”
He said, “I stuffed ‘em in the toes of my boots.”
She’ll be eligible for parole in three years.
