Chapter One

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,606937,00.html

Summary:
This article is about diminishing food production. There are many environmental trends that are slowly destroying our food economy especially falling water tables, eroding soils, and rising temperatures. The earth has 70 percent of all water used for irrigation, but the drilling of millions of irrigation wells have pushed water withdrawal to be unable to be renewed from rainfall. In six of the last eight years, the world's grain production has fallen short of consumption. In 2008, world grain prices have climbed to the highest ever. It all began when wheat exporting countries limited or sometimes even banned exporting wheat in an attempt to counter domestic food price rises. Recently, the United States's use of grain for ethanol has nearly doubled from 19 million metric tons to more than 36 million metric tons.

Connection:
The connection between the article and chapter one is scarcity. With food sources declining, we should not waste food or take it for granted. Due to it being scarce, we have to decide how much we are going to eat and try to finish it. On Average countries like the US and Canada, the annual grain consumption is close to 800 kilograms per person, but about 90 percent is consumed as meat, milk, and eggs. The demand for grain will soon increase even further making it so that the prices will continue rising. With the demand increasing and the supply declining, we may need to find another source of food.

Reflection:
With the Saudis phasing out wheat production by 2016, it makes me wonder what the world will resort to. Food is essential for our life. Without food we will not survive. We can try to preserve as much wheat as we can. That can be done by not wasting food, and the rest is up to nature to tell how well the wheat production will be. With great demand for wheat, we should try and find a different major source of food to rely on. The question now is how much longer will wheat production continue until it ceases.