If my understanding is correct, most fertilisers are made from oil/gas, and as the price of that increases and availability goes down, the price of food will rise.

Discussion about it here;

www.foe.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,4291.0.html

I wonder at what price bracket for oil per barrel we might begin to see serious effects on the price of food ?

As such, it concerns me that we need early on in the development of a proto-technate, some means to produce our own food in a way that is sustainable (perhaps recycling sewage waste as is done in India for example.) and at the same time, weather resistant.

Post edited by: Nanos, at: 2007/07/30 09:32

It's not just the fertilizers; gas is primarily used in deriving nitrate and phosphate fertilizers, oil is used in the pesticides and herbicides, the running of farm machinery, and the transport of foodstuffs from the point of growth to the point of consumption (farms to cities and population centres). Hydrocarbons are used at every single point in the growth of mass produced food. Keep in mind that the primary producers of food are heavily subsidised in most developed nations, so that may delay the price effects.

Oil is also used for plastics. Oil is used for many, many things. Of course, it's possible to make certain plastics and fertilizers out of other substances. In fact it's a shame we waste it to fuel our cars when we could use electricity or biodiesel (among other things).