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''The
ch1ld on che wom.1n\ ann• ha<l
a .comach hangong ouc hkt o
plasuc bag full of water. Thc
ch1ld's skin was drawn 11ghc
around 1b forchcad and "' ey.. wcrt re·
c.,.,e<l. The mochcr force.! hcr way
througb che gu1dcs and beac on che car
window. Shc despcr:occly yelled
in
halung
Engbsh.
'M
y baby . dying' ..hungry:
"Wc bad beco cold spccofically noc co
govc anyonc anych1ng or else we could
cause
a
rioc.
1
was sboeked beyond de–
scnpuon.
1'11
nevcr forgcc chac ch1ld... ."
The>t wcre che impre.slons of Mr.
Thurman Gasloll. an lowa fanner, aner
a trip LO lnd1a.
Mr. Ga>kill chcn wcnc on co anend
che World Food Conference on Rome
!ase Novcmbcr whcrc
represcncn1 ivc.~
from ovcr
a
hundre<l nauons ga1hcrcd 10
asscss che world
food
problcon and
hopcfully 10 come up wich
~ome
solu–
tioos.
North Amerita - che
Only llope?
"TI1c only 1mmcd1atc hopc for 700
million peoplc around 1he globe who
raoe
starvi.l
tion
liQ
m thc
gran~uic.),
of
the
U. S.
and Cunada.
"rtn•
is che onc clcar-cuc eonclusion
tbac can be drawn whcn you stnp away
all the wondow drc»1ng ac che World
Food Confercnee hcre on Romc .."
("As
Fnmonc Spreads
What's co Be
Done,"
U. S
¡.¡..,..s ond World
R~port.
l'ovcmber 18. 1974, p. 87)
Bccausc of che humanuanan prochv–
IIICS
of the "'orth AmtrKan pcople. a
tremendous amounc of food and tiber
has airead) beco made available or
g~Ven
lo needy oountrics annually. Be·
twccn che ycars of 1965 and 1972. thc
U.S. ga'c a
~taggcnng
84%
of
•11
world
food aod. All other countncs world..,ide
gavc only 16%. Thos
1>
cenaonly a con>–
meodable trobucc to che Amencan
farmer and che Amerocan pcople.
Out Ct\n thc U.S. and Canada feed the
world?
A rceenl repon stated there is now •
food
crisi~
111 40 natoons around chis
world. Al che tune thc report was writ–
ocn. food graln stocks hJd dwindled
10
90 million tons ¡u>t cnough to lnst 26
days at prcsent ratcs of oonsumpcion.
This is the lowesc point in two decades.
and it wus cstimaced thnc within
a
fcw
months it would
be
down 10 n
one·week
food reserve.
The Uniccd Stale> nnd Cannda don't
prcsencly have chac pr<>blcm. They have
been blcssed wtth food suppUcs thal will
lnst considerably longcr. Bu1
m
ochcr
parts of the world, loterally hundrcds of
chousands of pcoplc have died from
malnutntoon aod starvatoon sonce che
World Food Confercnce. What are ohe
r~al
causes'
A.grkulture in Hlstory
Htstory shows tbat agrocuhure
os
che
backbone of
a
nauon The valley• of che
T1gns and Eupbratcs supporced sorne of
the hoghest of ancoenc emhzatoons. but
today the barren landscapc chere
i.•
doc–
ce<l wllh mounds repr=nung forgouen
cultures: thc anaent
irngat1on
works are
filled wotb S1lt, and the ancient
sea
pon of
Ur
is
now 150 moles from che sea, wub
ots old buoldongs buried under
as
much
as
35 fcec ofsih.
6
~umrnwmu~rnm
or
PliNTY?
by
Dale
L.
Schuner
The same soil degencration
is
evident
in Ccn1ral and South America. As Dr.
Lamont Colc cxplaincd. ''Arcbacolog.iscs
hnvc long wondered how che Mayas
mnnnged tO support what was obviously
a high civili7.ation on thc now-unpro–
duccove soils of Guatemala and Yuca–
tan. Evidently chey exploited thet.r land
a.
mcensivcly as possible until both its
fcnility and their civilizae ion colfupsed."
Bcfore the fall of the Westem Roman
Empore in A.D. 476, the agriculcural
re–
g1ons of ltaly were scvercly depopu–
latcd. Doscasc epidemics tool: a beavy
coll. and che e•haustcd. erodcd
so~
was
unable 10 yicld enougb retum to bear
che cerrific weight of impcrialcaxation.
H1scory demon>crnccs that
as
agricul–
cure gocs.
so
gocs the nation.
Food
•-s.
Population
1
n che past
300
ycars population has
mcrcao;ed from 500,000.000 to just over
4 bollion pcople. At the pr..enc roce of
increase (2.0 perccnt pcr year). obe world
population doublcs in only 35 ycars.
With
a
prcsenc population of about 4.0
b1llion (1975).this extrapolaces toa pop–
ulacion of 32 billion by 2080. "For
a
population of this size co be fed at che
sume inadcquatc leve! as that of 1oday
will rcquire a corrcsponding cighcfold
oncrcasc in food production" ("Food,"
Retodingsfrom Scienrific Americoro.
1973.
p.
183).
Thc Uniccd Natioos Food
and
Agri–
culture Organiuuion says that aU the
bese lands are already being fanned
in
thc world today. Only marginal land
thao is more subjcct oo
er~ion
is len on
which to expand production.
A nocher report says that in–
tensification by usong larger amounts of
feroilizer. pesticides, water. and farm
machinery pcr acre of cropland is the
only way we can bave any significan!
tncrease 10 production. Thus the only
real food reserves be squarely with the
producuve capacity of farmers.
Simultaneousty. according co
an
ex–
hausuve computer scudy. "The Limics to
Growtb," ncarly half of
al1
arable land
available for agricuhure will be con–
:.umcd by urban-industrial growth be–
foro thc year 2050.
"Will we be able co fccd
all
of cbose
pcople?
"The answer is
NO -
oot with coday's
farming practiccs
:os
thcy nrc \till being
carried out in much of' the world. Nm
with che lack of agncuhurnl rescarch in
che developing councnes. Not with
today'; lack or incenllve for fanne... m
many natoons. Not with today·s supplocs
of fertilo1ers. Not wich today\ :.upplies
of fuel. Noc w1th today\ scoragc and
dtstnbuuon methods" (from an addrcs.
by Sc:cretary ofAgroculture Earl L. Bucz
ac Expo '74 on Spokane. Washongton.
Occober
5.
1974).
Wcath..-: Th• Wild
Ca
ni
h lS
acknowledgcd the world over chat
the maJor hmumg factor govemong food
and 6ber productton. overshadowong all
ochcrs.
is
che
"EAml•.
Headhncs rcad·
"Oid Man Wcather Vents Hos Anger."
"Raons
Do
Lonle for Lace Season
Crops," "Abnomoal Weather." "Bad
Wcather," "Drougbt," "llcat Wavc.,' '
"Hall." "Kill.tng Frost," "M1Ihon t\cre
Flood ...
:•
"AII ot woll cake " normal weachcr.''
says one repon. buc "che new weuther
rcport
lS
unfavornble co crops."
U.S. Weather Burenu reoords 1ndicate
a
paucrn of ·•wet nnd dry" wcather that
secms to follow a 20·year cycle. Many
Amcrocans can remcmber the droughc of
the 30's and the dry
SO's.
Now in thc 1970's many parts of lhe
world are agnin expcriencing the expan–
sion of dry arcas causing droughc nnd
the
oonccntraLion
of rain in other
area~
causong floods. Adverse weathcr sccms
10 be reporced from cverywhere. To be
able to
conrrollhe
weaoher, lhen, would
be an imporcant place to begon in alter–
ing che
caust'
offood shortages
The
Key l o
W~athcr
Control
The Creator God revealed knowlcdge
of
h1>
laws to che anc1ent lsrachces. The
laws he gavc Israel were dcs1gncd to
produce happoncs.. pcace of mond and
the abundanc hfe. Th= laws can pro–
VIde a foundauon for
AU.
lnowledge,
indudong agncuhure. Nooiee what Ood
saod would happcn
10
the lsraelucs of
they obeyed h1m:
"lf
~ ~·alk
on
my
statut~.<,
and
k~~p
my
rommondmt'ntS. ond do
th~m;
tMn
1
Ki/1
8'"'
)'OU
roon
on
du~
.uason. and
th~
lond
sho/1 yit!ld
h~r mcrras~.
ond
th~ tr~s
of
the fieid sho/1 yitld thelr jru11. And yaur
threshing sho/1
~eh
unto the ••mtoge.
ond
rh~
l'lntoge sluJ/1 reach unto the so"–
ong 11m.: ond
)V
sluJ/1 eor your bnod
"'
1l1e
fu//, nnd
ih'ell
in your land wfely"
(U>ÍIIC:US 16:1·5).
No" lcc's funher
scc
whac God said
would befall the lsraeliccs if chey
d~>
c>beyed hom and brokc the covenant
chey had made wich bim:
"Bur
if
you
~·i/1
IIJ)t heorken unto
m~.
and
wi/1
nor do ollthese commandmtnts:
ond
if )"
sho/1 despise
"!Y
stotutcs. or
if
your soul ahhor my judgments. so th01
~
will
not
do oll my commandmenls, but
that yebrMk
ni)'Co•·~nonr
...
1
wi/1
break
tloe prldt ofyour power: and
1
wi/1 make
your
Jt~a1:cn
as iron.
and
your
earth
as
bross: ondyour strengtll sho/1 be spenr in
voin: for )ollr lond sho/1 no/ yie/d her
increase, neither shollthe
m:es
ofrhe land
yield their fruits" (Levilicus
26:14. 15. 19. 20).
Looking ao sorne of o day's wcnthcr
and agricultura! news, onc m1ght won–
der if some modern peoples are sulfcr–
ing from a ;imitar
curse.
But if
we
Americans
as
a people. in one city or
anothcr or in one farming area or an·
other. are obeyong God's laws. God can
give us rain in duc season. God is
a
great. omnipotent God. and he has che
power co prospcr
bis
servancs. He de·
tia
red 10 che lsraelites:
"/
taused
11
to rain upon one
city.
and
cau.sed
lt
not
10
rain upon anotlwr
Cll}':
Dn~
p1ece
M.W'
raíned
upon.
and
11t~
pit-ee
~hertUp<>n
it roined nor wirlu:rN. .•.
1
haw snutun .•-ou wíth blasting and mil–
d~: ~JJen
)'OUr
gardtns and
yqyr
vine·
)VJrtls
and ;our fig tr=
and
yaur oU'I't'
lf'HS
mcreosed.
tM
polmen.-onn del-ourt!d
them:
J~l ho\~ )~
nor
~turned
unto me.
souh
th~
I.Ard"(Amos
4:7, 9).
Abundante Woridwide
Somcday, God's blcs.ing of agricul–
tura! prospcrity will be
a
rcatity. Notice
the words ofAmos:
"Behold.
th~
do;•s
come.
soítlo rlu: I.Ard,
thor rhe plowmtJn sho/1 o•·ertoke tlu: rea·
ptr. and the treoder of grapes hím thor
sow~th
seed; and the mountains sha/1
drop sweet
~;ne.
ond o/1 the h•lls sha/1
me/t. ... and they (Jsraef]sho/1 plant••ine–
yards, at1d drink !he wine there<>fl thcy
sha/1 also make gordens, ond eor the fnlit
ojthem"(Amos
9:11-14).
Buc unt ilthe causes of Lbe curses thac
mankind is sufferi ng from are corrccced.
upscc weather. d.isease problems, malnu–
trition, hunger and scarvation are going
to grow steadily worse. However we, in–
dividually,
can
do someching coday
in
our Jives, in our
ramilies,
and in our
communi1ies- if we will. We can begin
to obey God and returo to him. buc he
won't force us co. He wancs us
10
obey
h1s laws as much as he wanced ancienc
Israel 10. Read about God's merciful
atticude toward the lsraelitcs:
••Return unto
m~.
ond 1 will rtturn unto
yau, soíth the I.Ard of hosts. ... And
1
wi/1
rebuke
rh~
devourer for your sakes.
and he sluJ/1 not destroy rlu:frutts of)'our
grouná; neither shoU
)YJUT
l"r"ne
cast
hu
fruu
~fo" th~ tim~
in the field .
.. "
(Mol
1:7, 11).
Personal actioo
can
be token on che
land whoch each of us controls. For fur–
cher tnfonnatooo about what you can do
now, wrice Ambassador
CoUege
Agricul–
ruu, P.O.
Box
111, Big Sandy. Texas.
75755.
o
WEEK ENO!NG SEPTEMBER
6.
197S