Food Price Watch Thread

User avatar
Yuli Ban
Posts: 4631
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:44 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by Yuli Ban »

funkervogt wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 10:59 pm Once household robots are common, people will be able to tell them to create backyard gardens, which will boost global food supplies and give people more control over the inputs that go into their own foods.

https://www.theseasonalhomestead.com/th ... er-acre-1/
Getting close to independently rediscovering my old showerthought about the probability of the rise of a technological "helot" class.

If I have a household robot that can plant a garden outside my home, why wouldn't I sell its services so that it also worked at a larger fully-automated municipal farm that could allow for a much larger surplus of food? And why stop there: I could sell its services to the city for it to do multiple things when I don't need personal service from a robot. But if I'm not willing to sell its services, the city could have its own helot droids that run a collective farm all the same so that there's never a food shortage. After all, I live in an apartment, so my prospects for a backyard garden aren't great... but I could always rely upon these helots for backup.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
User avatar
raklian
Posts: 1747
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:46 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by raklian »

funkervogt wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 10:59 pm Once household robots are common, people will be able to tell them to create backyard gardens, which will boost global food supplies and give people more control over the inputs that go into their own foods.

https://www.theseasonalhomestead.com/th ... er-acre-1/
I concur with Yuli Ban's helot idea. There's going to be landlords who won't allow tenants to grow crops on their properties, so it's going to be a patchwork of farming at home and indoor/vertical common farms in the local community.
To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
User avatar
funkervogt
Posts: 1171
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 3:03 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by funkervogt »

If I have a household robot that can plant a garden outside my home, why wouldn't I sell its services so that it also worked at a larger fully-automated municipal farm that could allow for a much larger surplus of food?
It would probably be more cost-efficient for the large farm to rent larger, more expensive farming robots from big companies, or to buy them. If you only have a 1/4 acre yard, obviously a smaller, cheaper robot will be the best option for you if you want to create a garden. That type of machine will be suboptimal for a large farm.

It would make more sense if you rented your small farming robot to people in your neighborhood so it could make gardens in their yards. It would be like sharing a lawnmower.
And why stop there: I could sell its services to the city for it to do multiple things when I don't need personal service from a robot.
The key insight you should incorporate into your thinking is that not all robots will be equal. Depending on the type of task and the scale of the task, it will make sense to use different kinds of robots. Renting small, privately-owned robots from random citizens to do big tasks will be inefficient for most large enterprises.

For example, say there's a large university campus with several large, grass fields. It wouldn't be efficient for them to hire 50 local people to come there each week and mow different parts of the fields with their push mowers. The best choice is to hire one professional landscaping company that uses extra-wide, zero-turn mowers and can get it all done in one day.
But if I'm not willing to sell its services, the city could have its own helot droids that run a collective farm all the same so that there's never a food shortage. After all, I live in an apartment, so my prospects for a backyard garden aren't great... but I could always rely upon these helots for backup.
The best arrangement for you would be to rent space in a community garden or vertical farm community garden, and to send your robot there to tend the crops and bring them to you when ready.
Tadasuke
Posts: 510
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2021 3:15 pm
Location: Europe

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by Tadasuke »

funkervogt wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 4:31 pmIt would probably be more cost-efficient for the large farm to rent larger, more expensive farming robots from big companies, or to buy them. If you only have a 1/4 acre yard, obviously a smaller, cheaper robot will be the best option for you if you want to create a garden. That type of machine will be suboptimal for a large farm.
An android tending a garden/small farm could be multi-functional AGI, that could do at least everything a human can. So you wouldn't buy a robot only to take care of your small garden.
Global economy doubles in product every 15-20 years. Computer performance at a constant price doubles nowadays every 4 years on average. Livestock-as-food will globally stop being a thing by ~2050 (precision fermentation and more). Human stupidity, pride and depravity are the biggest problems of our world.
User avatar
citali_
Posts: 69
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2022 10:06 pm
Location: Rhode Island, USA

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by citali_ »

I think junk food will not be popular foods in 10 or 20 years. Foods like potato chips, sodas, snack cakes, with high fat, sugar, and caffeine. To me the future of food looks very plant and soy based. I once saw a YouTube video about a baking company that makes cockroach bread instead of regular bread because it supposedly contains more protein...but I don't think it will be a very popular food item in the future. Fingers crossed, it will all just be plant based! I don't want to eat insects. :?
Indie singer/songwriter
https://youtu.be/Q_NhbSsz9ko
Vakanai
Posts: 313
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:23 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by Vakanai »

citali_ wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 7:13 pm I think junk food will not be popular foods in 10 or 20 years. Foods like potato chips, sodas, snack cakes, with high fat, sugar, and caffeine. To me the future of food looks very plant and soy based. I once saw a YouTube video about a baking company that makes cockroach bread instead of regular bread because it supposedly contains more protein...but I don't think it will be a very popular food item in the future. Fingers crossed, it will all just be plant based! I don't want to eat insects. :?
If everyone I know or have ever known is any evidence, including those of the younger generation, junk food ain't declining in popularity that much. There'll be more and better healthy options, but potato chips and chicken nuggets will remain pretty popular. And that's okay. Junk food will probably always be popular, but health foods will also increase in popularity. So it'll achieve a balance I think.

Or maybe all the kids and teens in my family are the exception to their generation.
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by wjfox »

citali_ wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 7:13 pm I don't want to eat insects. :?

I tried a bag of "crisp" insects a few years back. They tasted delicious, almost like bacon!

They were crickets, I think. Doubt I'd try cockroaches, though... that's just too icky.
User avatar
raklian
Posts: 1747
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:46 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by raklian »

wjfox wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 8:29 pm
citali_ wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 7:13 pm I don't want to eat insects. :?

I tried a bag of "crisp" insects a few years back. They tasted delicious, almost like bacon!

They were crickets, I think. Doubt I'd try cockroaches, though... that's just too icky.
Think we'll ever make an insect burger? You know, a tightly packed mass of crickets between buns made out of insect flour? 8-)
To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
User avatar
funkervogt
Posts: 1171
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 3:03 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by funkervogt »

I ate fried crickets in Mexico and Thailand. The bugs themselves have no taste, and take on the taste of whatever they're seasoned with. The problem is that the texture of crickets can be weird. I'd compare it to the feeling you get in your mouth after eating a handful of popcorn and realizing there are a bunch of tiny husks and fragments stuck in your gums and between your teeth.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12967
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by weatheriscool »

A food insecurity expert predicts that there's only 10 weeks of wheat supplies left in the world as
Source: Insider

The world has about 10 weeks of wheat supplies stored as Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth month, a food insecurity expert told the UN.

Sara Menker, the CEO of agriculture analytics firm Gro Intelligence, told the UN Security Council that the Russia-Ukraine war was not the cause of a food security crisis but "simply added fuel to a fire that was long burning."

Ukraine is considered the world's "breadbasket" and Russia and Ukraine combined account for almost a third of the world's wheat exports.
Read more: https://www.insider.com/world-has-10-we ... rns-2022-5
Post Reply