I havebeen listening to some serious talk from folks that?

There's no way to know for sure but it's possible. The rumor I've been hearing is that because of the credit crunch, farmers have been unable to get loans for pesticides and seed. This is serious if true, because in the modern business of agriculture, almost all farmers have to take out a loan before they can put in a crop.

The whole "Great Bailout" thing was supposed to settle issues like these but because of corruption, it hasn't happened. Instead the big banks have been using the money they were given (by the Federal Government) to buy out smaller banks, instead of making loans to people like they were supposed to.

So, yeah, this is potentially serious....

There's also a whole issue related to oil and the way we grow crops in the modern world (below). The bottom line is that the way we here in the US grow and process food uses a crazy amount of oil. If anything happens to cut off our supply of fuel or our ability to pay for it, we could literally starve.

In the last Depression, most food was still being produced the old-fashioned way, using animal and human muscle power. To the limited extent oil was used in the growing and processing of food, it was oil from the United States. The US actually supplied most of the world's oil between about 1900 and 1950. But that was then, this is now....

If there's another Depression, and it sure as hell looks like there will be, the food situation may be very, very different. Both my brother and I take this really seriously and we've both stored away about a year's worth of food. We've used several different companies but the one we've found most useful is:

http://www.safecastleroyal.com/

They sell a wide variety of survival-related equipment and supplies but as far as food, the specific products we've found most useful are "Mountain House Preserved Foods". MH sells these large cans which are guaranteed to last thirty (30!) years, I kid you not.

They also have it's own site which you can order directly from if you prefer:

http://www.mountainhouse.com/

If you need more advice on all these matters, try the "Green Living" category on YA itself; it's a subsection of the Environment Category. You could also join these either of these forums:

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?s=...

http://www.doomers.us/forum2/

I hope all this helps. You're smart to be thinking about this issue; don't let anybody tell you different.

the only reason we may have a food shortage is because the folks will not have any money to buy the food they need!!! the farmers are reaping larger than ever amount of crops!!!

That rumor was probably started by a grocery store owner.