In Venezuela, Mango Trees Are Becoming a Last Resort for Food

This will definitely make you grateful for dinner tonight.

My sister sent me a link to an article about how people in Venezuela are so grateful for mango trees. The mangoes are filling empty, empty bellies. People are starving as the price of food has risen

"Several TV shows, radio shows and digital reports people are seen having mangoes for breakfast, dinner or lunch, not just because they are delicious, but because they are “the only thing they can get” in Venezuela’s crisis of high food prices and food scarcity." https://panampost.com/ysol-delgado/2016/06/21/in-venevuela-mango-trees-are-becoming-the-last-resort-for-food/?cn-reloaded=1

Comments

  • Grammyprepper
    Grammyprepper Posts: 168 ✭✭✭

    I could not get the article to load. Noticed it was dated 2016. Can you imagine how much worse it must be for them now?

  • Alison
    Alison Posts: 179 ✭✭✭

    I think Venezuela's crisis should be something everyone is aware of. I mentioned it while standing in line at a grocery store a few months back to an older gentleman and he had no idea about what was happening there.

    Unfortunately most of the world is utterly unaware of the reality that entire nations face in regards to scarcity and literal starvation. I heard a news broadcast a few weeks ago say the govt there has made it illegal to say a person died of starvation. Whala! problem solved. Now no one dies of starvation there anymore....

    Stray dogs, cats and garbage are what sources are saying chunks of the population are surviving on. Reports say people are dying of starvation as they make their way to the border trying to flee.

    Very sad.

    Alison

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Agreed. If it isn't our reality, it doesn't really exist. You don't have to go far to see this phenomenon. It can be demonstrated right in our home (us or other family members), our little community, our city, county/province/state, country...

    Making it illegal? That is saving face, & a poor choice. I have never understood how the greed of power can be so shortsighted as to destroy the thing (in this case people) that you have power over. Once they are gone, so is your power. I have seen this mentality close by, just like the "not my reality" phenomenon, in a local sports club and it's governing & provincial body.

    It's all politics. Where there are people, these things will unfortunately always rear their ugly head.

  • Marjory Wildcraft
    Marjory Wildcraft Posts: 1,615 admin

    I went to Cuba a few years ago to interview the people who survived the "Specail Period" - that was the name the GOv't gave to the time when the Soviet Union collapsed and so did Cuba. The population there starved. The stories and memories were both heartbreaking and inspiring. They made it through -or the ones who didn't commit suicide did. It was an eye opener for me.

    I'll need to record a short video about how I got into all of this... creating the Grow Network. I was volunteering on a food to table program to get fresh, local, organic vegetables into a local elementary school. That project failed because there wasn't enough organic farmers to provide even part of the vegetables.

    I couldn't stop shaking knowing that nearby Austin had a population of near a million and there is only 4 days worth of food in the stores at any given time.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Please do a story on how you started. History is important.

  • An
    An Posts: 42 ✭✭

    Yes, America needs to pay attention. This will be our reality if we don't work to keep the same government policies at bay,,,,,,

  • bmaverick
    bmaverick Posts: 175 ✭✭✭

    OK, I tried quoting to get the bit about the Austin comment, but the new forum quoting method failed each time.

    For the most part, Austin isn't the only place. With my connections, this is almost everywhere now. JIT (Just-In-time) deliveries is where the money is at these days. Keeping an inventory negates profit. BUT, in an emergency, that region will suffer dearly.

    People thought we were overkill with growing and storing this past year. We have not spoken up to them that this year we are now 5X larger. WHY? Talking with our contacts around the country about the geoengineered weather and the solar minimum has turned the growing seasons into a hit-or-miss for all of us. Produce that was relatively easy to grow for the past 30 years WILL NOT. Some even are reporting that the 5G roll out in areas are affecting plant life. We already know that livestock animals are being affect by this now. We have a plan to help counter this, but it can only go so far.

    So, with the info from Venezuela, we need to place ourselves into that same survival mindset as this country is nearing a debt collapse and hyper inflation. We are also coming into an election year too. No one knows the day when really bad times would hit. Once they hit, you got NOTHING to draw from as reserves. 1 Timothy 5:8

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    A person has to plan wisely and not out of fear. Motivation based in fear can easily lend itself to poor decisions. Preparing, but not hoarding...there is a difference.

    This conversation reminds me of a comment from a man we knew from Croatia. He mentioned a man that had everything taken away...I think from the government. He begged that they let him keep his milk cow. He said that he could survive...as long as he had his cow. This story was followed by...I can't believe how people allowed the Canadian government to take away the privilege of buying, selling or even giving away milk. He was aghast. He said that allowing this (and other similar controlling laws) to happen is a huge loss and not wise.

    When people approach me about our real, raw milk, I encourage them if they can do it at all, to buy a bit of land & if they have land, great! Then I tell them to buy their own cow. That is power. Most people are "too busy," or I feel honestly, too lazy to proceed, saying, "But it will tie me down." It is sad. That is not a good reason...not even a good excuse...and is very selfish and short-sighted.

    Providing for yourself should be a basic human right and easy to attain if you put in the work. Sadly, nobody wants to put in the effort anymore, like the no-to-a-cow folks, etc. They want to be taken care of while they go play. We are like spoiled children...being a lazy, selfish, complacent society in NA and much of Europe. It is truly sad to trade freedom for baby food dependence. It is VERY dangerous.

  • bmaverick
    bmaverick Posts: 175 ✭✭✭

    In recent news, the media is pushing for bio-engineered milk generated by NO ANIMALS. It is a synthetic replacement. Also it's been reported that the huge amount of dairy farmers in WI has DROPPED to levels unheard of. It has dropped so bad, California now has more milk production. In this are too, the supporting farms for pasture hay and the like have suffered or closed their doors too. Ag up here in WI is hurt badly. BUT, on the bright side, hog farmers can't raise enough pigs to meet the demand.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Maverick, that is scary (more synthetic "food"...Ice cream & cheese are often dairy-less & synthetic now too), sad (shutting down hay production), and not a great bright side with the pigs. Large hog farms are known to contaminate water systems. Wisconsin has a lot of water to contaminate if I am not mistaken.

    Western Canada could use more hay since it has been so dry. Probably the Midwest US could too instead of using corn & soy (grass hay makes meat taste better). This past winter many cattle guys resorted to mixing chopped straw and other bulky things they normally wouldn't feed just to get their animals through until spring.

    I am wondering about the dairy thing though, as there was a lot of noise this past year about "dumping" excess US milk into Canada's dairy system, which supposedly has a "cleaner" (less contamination by feed additives, etc.) milk supply. So excess when there actually isn't? Many people, not just dairy farmers, here didn't want American dairy in our supply. It is interesting. Politics. Sigh. Buy a cow and then you know your milk's status.

    Obviously I don't support conventional dairy, only true small farms. I think the dairy industry did themselves in long ago by being threatened by the little guy (so collectively & systematically shutting down the families selling clean raw milk directly off their small farms), destroying milk so it is hard to impossible to properly digest (from feed supplements to processing) and letting the soy & almond industry take a strong foothold. I believe this is their true downfall. Greed is effectively shutting them down.

  • Marjory Wildcraft
    Marjory Wildcraft Posts: 1,615 admin

    @Laurie I love this quote A person has to plan wisely and not out of fear. Motivation based in fear can easily lend itself to poor decisions. Preparing, but not hoarding...there is a difference.


    @cre8tiv369 I just want to remind you that TGN is non-political :)


  • Cherlynn
    Cherlynn Posts: 169 ✭✭✭

    I suggest everyone should store food away as our country seems to be headed the same way.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Thanks, Marjory. I am humbled.

    My thoughts behind this statement come from observing so many in the preparedness movement (and many religious movements). They are like sheep (think about how sheep act)...and like the serial dieters. I am thinking specifically of the Atkins fad days, but this applies in so many other diets & situations. So many ate just meat, and tons of it. They never considered or questioned the soy component (I don't condone soy use), the balanced aspect of the diet (it was more balanced than the media & most followers touted), portion sizes, etc. I didn't fully agree with all aspects of it, but who actually took the time to analyze it before either diving in, or on the other end, ripping it to pieces?

    So many jump on a bandwagon, going all out without boundaries, not researching/analyzing fully & objectively and so "going off the deep end" (that never ends well). Have they questioned incoming information for source, true validity & actual chance? Are they following out of fear, hype, or because everyone else is doing it?

    There are many hoarders in the preparedness movement and many excitable people in it...and they might be really awesome people. But, I am always cautious when excitable and/popular fads, in any realm, rear their ugly heads. I try to look at things objectively and rationally, educate myself from all angles analyzing as I go, and carefully plan my path ahead with wisdom from there. Anything else will quickly get you caught in a snare of some sort.

    I only wish more people did this.

  • H_D
    H_D Posts: 384 ✭✭✭

    my parents ARE those "hoarding preppers". Storing food and being prepared are not the same thing and Id venture to say many preppers dont have as much food stored as one may think..

    As I keep trying to tell my parents, we prep for the "things" we need but PLAN for your food and survival..know what herbs grow on your property, identify what animals are around that could be of resource for you, keep your pond healthy etc. make sure you have soil (those of us in places like central NC cant grow anything in clay :) ) you need to grow food..we prep things like sleeping bags, ammunition (which is also a planning thing because once you run out, what then) things you simply cant live without, firewood, pharmaceutical medicines, (dont wait to see how natural medicines and herbs work for you in an emergency) proper clothing, decide and plan on the kind of energy source you will have and integrate it now, plan your existing electrical needs so easy shut off of the items which are not critical, know how to and be prepared to protect and defend your home, bug out location or property.

    IMHO one of the BIGGEST mistake a prepper makes is hoarding cans and cans of stuff or those that hoard hundreds if not thousands of #'s of dried beans, rice and legumes etc (lets be real when the SHTF, the first thing someone is NOT going to do is prep and cook dried beans or maybe there wont be enough resources to have such a fire going for such a long time.) not having existing plants (this leads to a few conversations about 1. growing food in general and 2 given our toxic environment, any given plant may simply not produce what you estimate thus leaving your family hungry at some point)..knowing this info ahead of time is KEY to your preparedness.

    It is NOT hard to become prepared, ultimately, become a self sufficient homesteader, before the SHTF not after :)

    Happy Healing

    Heather

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @Heather Duro It could come in handy to be prepared with these things in place even for the smallest unexpected event. It need not just be for a disaster as I am sure you'd agree.

  • Grammyprepper
    Grammyprepper Posts: 168 ✭✭✭

    I deliberately try not to get into politics in forums. i will only leave it at this. Those who think that a situation as is playing out in Venezuela cannot play out here, because 'Merica, need to wake up to what is going on. Those who homestead/prep are aware of what is going on. I

    I want to prepared for any eventuality, but I am a realist. I prepare for the weather related issues I am faced with. As do most of us. And that makes us better prepared than 99% of the country.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @Grammyprepper That is correct. I sometimes wonder about the city folks who are so disconnected from food, how to grow and harvest food (including caring for & butchering animals). Some don't even know what a cow and a bull are...not everything with horns is a bull...or where eggs come from. These people are ultra dependent on the stores, the grid, the everything within their cities. They are often perimeter bound and have no clue what life is outside their rat race cities.

    It has become such that city folks are buying up good country land for nothing more than sleeping in a house. Being oblivious to how life works at its core is not a virtue.

    I believe in keeping old skills and knowledge alive. I only wish that I knew more.

  • H_D
    H_D Posts: 384 ✭✭✭


    people should ALWAYS be prepared, know about their land and what is around and how and what grows well in your environment, what you and your family need to exist..them even in the most prosperous of times..you simply never know when the grid will fail, when floods will bring the food supply to a halt (maybe this winter actually), when mother nature strikes.. you just never know, and its impossible to plan for everything. SO, if you live sustainably and off your hard work now, it makes for a much easier transition when the SHTF, and it WILL :)

    I agree with @Grammyprepper .. when 'merica fails its going to fall hard and deep, if for no other reason than most of this country depends too much on everyone else and not enough on themselves. (government, grocery stores, pharmacies, medical doctors etc.)

    Heather

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

    re "people in Venezuela are so grateful for mango trees. The mangoes are filling empty, empty bellies."

    During ww2, family in Germany (before i was born) they survived by literally eating potato peelings, & only when they could get them. Hunger was normal. - And yet oldest sister birthed seven children later.

    Was raised that you always pay your bills, even if that means skipping meals, & for some time going hungry. I have gone without countless meals myself so kiddos could eat. --- Science tells us that 'calorie-RESTRICTION' prolongs life. Never bothered counting calories, but to this day eating the least amount to function, is still on-going....