I mean, you are still better off than the countries that literally CAN’T grow enough food to feed their population. Like China, which imports 80% of its food.
No, you’re not. Food in California does not automatically help hungry people in West Virginia.
fwiw, I made this big step 25 odd years ago … and you seem to take this whole ebb-and-flow conversation way to personal …
Trump and company are busily deporting the people who normally harvest all that food, not to mention dumping the water that’s supposed to sustain it. So I wouldn’t assume that America will have much of a food surplus anymore.
American exceptionalism in its purest form.
Tell me, why do you import oil from Canada, and labour from Mexico and South America? I mean, the exceptional USA is “self sufficient”, right?
I said can be, not is. We import oil because we rather let other countries ruin their land than ruin ours.
sorry, but that is hilarious
The US is a net exporter of oil, to the tune of about 1.6mbb/d
Oil moves around based on efficiency and infrastructure. It can be more efficient if (say) there are export terminals in CA to send the US crude over to Asia while importing from Canada to cover domestic demand.
Furthermore, the US refineries are set up for certain types of crude. So, for instance, it may be that Canada is producing the kind of crude refinery X needs, while the crude from the Bakken is better served going off to Japan.
Those are both made up specifics, but the sort of infrastructure constraints they illustrate are very much in play in the US.
Not taking a side in the argument, just fighting ignorance.
It was more of a snarky comment than anything, but thanks for the clarification anyways. The point still remains that if every border was closed tomorrow we would not lack for energy.
The selection of fossil fuels uses all the crude they can. If tar sands oil makes enough very crude diesel, good for cargo ships from Asia, it leaves more diesel (various sources) to be sold domestically to diesel trucks. Most of tar sand oil, processed, is exported from the US port near new orleans. Canadian pay us for the processing.
Er… having actually spoken to some of my progenitors who emigrated no, it wasn’t “oh, let’s go to the land of opportunity” so much as “if we stay here these people will kill us, is there anywhere else we can go where they won’t kill us outright?” It wasn’t about “promise and future” as much as just bare survival.
No, it’s not. What arrogance! I mean, yes, the US is (in theory) self-reliant in food… if you don’t mind eating a LOT of corn and soy because a good chunk of our fresh fruits and vegetables are imported. Get used to a lot of those things going back to having very narrow seasons and living off canned/frozen in between. But, aside from that - plenty of other places are also able to feed themselves. Any place that’s a net exporter of agricultural products is, arguably, able to feed itself.
Yes, the US is a remarkable place. But it’s not as “exceptional” as many Americans are convinced it is.
Given the USA is not self sufficient in providing the potash it needs for fertilizer, I’m not sure you could even say it is self reliant in food theoretically.
Mass quantities of potash are needed, in part, to sustain the excess production that is exported for profit. If the US stopped selling food to other people it would need to produce less. Is there a break-even point there? I don’t know.
I do think we could be self-sufficient in food… but the food supply would look quite different. I already noted noted some things would be come very seasonal. Others would disappear entirely, or become the domain only of the super-wealthy due to minimal ability to grow certain items like coffee. We’d probably see a lot more backyard gardens and home canning.
The transition period would not be fun.
Over a third of the food supply in US is garbage. The country could probably feed itself adequately just by getting that issue under control.
Little Netherlands is US rival
the Netherlands is the second-largest exporter of agricultural products globally, only behind the United States. The Netherlands is a small country, yet it’s a powerhouse in agricultural exports, utilizing advanced technologies and efficient farming practices. They are a leader in sustainable agriculture and known for high-quality agricultural product
You are allowed to feel chastened. It is an astounding read
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/netherlands-agriculture-technology/
According to this 6-year-old graphic,
it is even worse than that: Netherlands has the largest net export-import balance, close to the same value as the US net except with the opposite sign.
And it is a tiny, heavily subsidised and polluting part of our economy. (1.4%)
what would you call the embarrassment the US is.
I’ll take the Dutch for the win
They are a leader in sustainable agriculture
SUuggested watch is Kiss the Ground to see how it COULD be in the US