Fortune: Flight of the honeybees

Fortune: Flight of the honeybees - September 3, 2007:

"We wouldn't starve if the mysterious disappearance of bees, dubbed colony collapse disorder, or CCD, decimated hives worldwide. For one thing, wheat, corn, and other grains don't depend on insect pollination. But in a honeybee-less world, almonds, blueberries, melons, cranberries, peaches, pumpkins, onions, squash, cucumbers, and scores of other fruits and vegetables would become as pricey as sumptuous old wine."

Farmers are the often-forgotten story of the Great Depression. They were hurting when Wall Street and Main Street were partying. Today's farmers live in a completely different world, of course, but risks to the supply of affordable food are still ominous for the larger economy. The honeybee thing has been in the news for about a year now and scientists are just figuring out what's causing it.

I tend to think of our economy kind of like a family. A family with some assets (or natural resources) and decent jobs can make some financial mistakes and come out alright. You can overpay for your house and do just fine as long as you keep your jobs, right? You might not be getting ahead, but you're holding steady. It's when things are close to the edge, and then multiple bad things happen, that families lose ground. You're not making enough, you're paying too much, you're still fine, then, bam, the insurance company turns down your medical claim, then, bam, your car breaks down, then, bam, something else and suddenly you teeter over the edge. Our country is overspending, under-saving, and it's committed to some pretty big expenses along the way. Hopefully, we'll keep doing just fine. Hopefully.

But if food becomes a challenge? Global wheat prices are rising, the Italians are protesting the high price of pasta, the Chinese are sending us tainted food products, and we're wasting tons of corn on gov't-subsidized ethanol, but it's just worrisome right now. If squash, cucumbers, and onions became pricey luxuries (squash? have you ever grown squash or zucchini? you can't give that stuff away as fast as it matures!), what happens to the produce that becomes cheap-by-comparison? Increased demand, increased prices. What happens to the leisure product production jobs when every dollar is being squeezed til it screams just to feed, house, heat, and transport your family?