Could the Dust Bowl Happen Again?

The Dust Bowl was the name given to the Great Plains region devastated by drought in 1930s depression-ridden America. The 150,000-square-mile area, encompassing the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and neighboring sections of Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, has little rainfall, light soil, and high winds, a potentially destructive combination. When drought struck from 1934 to 1937, the soil lacked the stronger root system of grass as an anchor, so the winds easily picked up the loose topsoil and swirled it into dense dust clouds, called “black blizzards.” Recurrent dust storms wreaked havoc, choking cattle and pasture lands and driving 60 percent of the population from the region. Most of these “exodusters” went to agricultural areas first and then to cities, especially in the Far West.

The American agricultural system came close to ruin during those perilous years; in fact, some contemporary experts began warning that the American family would soon have to start spending nearly 40% of their income just to get enough to eat. Fortunately, they were wrong; today the average American family spends only 7% of their income on food.

But even so, there are many scenarios in which your food budget could skyrocket, either temporarily or for a long time -- such as natural disasters or civil disturbances that disrupt the food supply chain. Hikingware.com suggests that you should keep on hand a full supply of nutritious and long-lasting emergency rations for your family.

Can the Dust Bowl happen again? Historians tell us that, to a lesser extent, it can happen again at any time:

In response to the original emergency, the federal government mobilized several New Deal agencies, principally the Soil Conservation Service formed in 1935, to promote farm rehabilitation. Working on the local level, the government instructed farmers to plant trees and grass to anchor the soil, to plow and terrace in contour patterns to hold rainwater, and to allow portions of farmland to lie fallow each year so the soil could regenerate. The government also purchased 11.3 million acres of submarginal land to keep it out of production. By 1941 much of the land was rehabilitated, but the region repeated its mistakes during World War II as farmers again plowed up grassland to plant wheat when grain prices rose. Drought threatened another disaster in the 1950s, prompting Congress to subsidize farmers in restoring millions of acres of wheat back to grassland.

With global warming and continuing drought in many parts of the United States, the day may come sooner than expected when your food budget will double or even triple.

So having an ample supply of basic food stuffs on hand, as well as emergency rations for the whole family just makes sense.

As Groucho Marx once said: "Food for thought doesn't do you much good when you're hungry for a hamburger!"