two meals away from starvation?
Having ancestors who were forced to join the mass emigration from Ireland after the Great Starvation of 1847 – and who never allowed their plight to be forgotten, passing their awful story of death and flight from one generation to the next in order to warn them of a similar fate – Jerri is more aware than the average person that most of us are barely two meals away from starvation.
"Forget about being two paychecks away from bankruptcy," says Jerri, "no amount of money will buy you food when none is available to buy - and this is the problem that all of us face when we live in crowded cities dependent upon supermarkets."
"All it takes is a transport crisis, a drought, a pestilence, a storm or any number of unforeseen events to expose millions of us to starvation."
“Ireland, the home of my ancestors, has 1,053,000 hectares of arable land and currently feeds its population of 4,159,100 million with reasonable security (3.95 people per arable hectare),” says Jerri, “but that’s only because so many millions of us perished or emigrated years ago.”
“In 1845, Ireland’s population was estimated at 8 million; by 1890 it had reduced by half and has remained relatively stable ever since,” says Jerri, “but if a hectare of arable land can only really sustain 2.4 people, Ireland risks becoming, once again, a nation of starving people.”
“Just imagine how horrible it must have been,” sighs Jerri. “Four million people – half the population – wiped off the map of Ireland, most either dying of starvation or emigrating, half starved, to any country that would take them.”
“If something similar were to happen again it would likely be a global problem, not just Ireland’s, and there would be nowhere to go.”
“Some of my relatives have taken advantage of Ireland’s ‘come back’ call and have contributed towards Ireland’s present prosperity,” says Jerri, “but it is not an option I would take.”
“I see echoes of Ireland’s great starvation of 1847 everywhere I go in the country and it depresses me.”
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"Forget about being two paychecks away from bankruptcy," says Jerri, "no amount of money will buy you food when none is available to buy - and this is the problem that all of us face when we live in crowded cities dependent upon supermarkets."
"All it takes is a transport crisis, a drought, a pestilence, a storm or any number of unforeseen events to expose millions of us to starvation."
“Ireland, the home of my ancestors, has 1,053,000 hectares of arable land and currently feeds its population of 4,159,100 million with reasonable security (3.95 people per arable hectare),” says Jerri, “but that’s only because so many millions of us perished or emigrated years ago.”
“In 1845, Ireland’s population was estimated at 8 million; by 1890 it had reduced by half and has remained relatively stable ever since,” says Jerri, “but if a hectare of arable land can only really sustain 2.4 people, Ireland risks becoming, once again, a nation of starving people.”
“Just imagine how horrible it must have been,” sighs Jerri. “Four million people – half the population – wiped off the map of Ireland, most either dying of starvation or emigrating, half starved, to any country that would take them.”
“If something similar were to happen again it would likely be a global problem, not just Ireland’s, and there would be nowhere to go.”
“Some of my relatives have taken advantage of Ireland’s ‘come back’ call and have contributed towards Ireland’s present prosperity,” says Jerri, “but it is not an option I would take.”
“I see echoes of Ireland’s great starvation of 1847 everywhere I go in the country and it depresses me.”
See also:
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