Georgius Gotsis Fontes, dir. from Veggies From México – CAADES:
When we talk about National security It is not only about measuring how many tanks, aircraft carriers and submarines each country has. Nor how many elements make up its armies. National security It is also to determine if there are the means to feed those troops and to feed the country's population.
“Every society is 3 meals away from chaos,” Vladimir Lenin once said. In any population many things can be missing: where medicines are missing, ancestral herbs are used, where houses are missing, they are built with mud; but where food is lacking, there is disease, hysteria and terror. Hunger is not an option and the US Department of Home Land Security knows it.
Governments collapse when your population does not have to eat. In 1973, famine killed 300,000 people in Ethiopia and ended the monarchy. The terrible story was repeated in this country between 1983 and 1985 when almost 1 million people died due to the same circumstances.
What does it take to have food safety? Mild weather and fertile soil; prepared and sufficient people; adequate security and logistics to transport the food. And when this is not entirely possible, look for the right business partners and suppliers to make up the difference.
USA is highly dependent on Mexico in fruits and vegetables. In 2022, it imported $8.39 billion dollars from Mexico (and only exported $417 million to Mexico). The same with fruits, imported $7,990 million from our country, that is, 41% of the total imported. Without a doubt, we are a country of extreme importance, at least in fruits and vegetables for North America.
China is also aware of the importance of food for its national security. In 2009, President Xi Jimping mentioned that China's greatest contribution to the human race was to prevent its 1.3 billion people from going hungry.
One of the challenges for the United States to continue maintaining its food security is the limited availability of labor. They increasingly depend on workers from other countries, with Mexico being the main supplier of the H2-A program. Aggravating, by the way, the serious problems of labor shortages in Mexico. Currently, almost 75% of farm workers in the US are not Americans. Last year alone, 2.5 million hectares were not planted in their fields due to lack of labor.
Another variable that they have against them is the high increase in the value of land, which has encouraged many farmers to sell their hectares and use them for purposes other than agricultural production. In fact, since 1982, 12.5 million hectares have changed from agricultural to other purposes. And of course, a factor that has been tremendously accentuated in recent years and has worked against producers around the world has been the high costs.
We need to do something now. The growth in annual agricultural production (1.51%) is not keeping pace with its demand (1.76%); Therefore, this will represent a major challenge for food security in the world.
Mexico is there, in the game. It is in the top 10 of the world's main food producers; but he can't be distracted. Today more than ever, solid collaboration between farmers, government and buyers is needed not only to continue being leaders in food production and export; but also to ensure that every Mexican always has a hot plate of food on their table.
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