In 2029, there will be enough food for the whole nation for 3 months. Prepare for the unimaginable! The Norwegian government has started to stockpile food
On the 25th, the Norwegian government announced that it had signed grain purchase agreements with four private companies to store at least 15,000 tons of grain in 2024 and 30,000 tons of grain by 2025.
Norway's Minister of Agriculture and Food Geir Polestad said that Norway's goal is to store at least 82,500 tons of food by 2029, enough for the entire Norwegian population to consume for three months. For this Nordic country, this is the restart of the food stockpiling plan after more than 20 years.
In the 1950s, Norway, which was in a state of disrepair after the war, implemented a grain storage plan. The plan was completely abolished in 2003 and all the built grain storage warehouses were closed.
Now, Norway plans to restart these storage facilities first to meet the recent demand for grain storage. The plan shows that in the future, the four private companies can decide where to build new storage facilities, but the ownership of the stored grain belongs entirely to the Norwegian government and can be mobilized at any time according to government orders.
"Emergency food reserves are designed to prepare for unthinkable situations," said Pollestad. "In the event of a major disruption in the international trade system or a failure in national food production, there should be additional safeguards, which is an important part of strengthening national emergency preparedness."
After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Norwegian government began to review and evaluate the necessity of restarting the food stockpiling plan. Experts believe that the continuous emergence of events such as global climate change, European geopolitical conflicts and pandemics shows that we should prepare for more extreme situations in advance.
After more than a year of tug-of-war, the Norwegian Parliament approved an annual budget of 63 million Norwegian kroner for the food stockpiling program.
Norwegian Finance Minister Slagsvold Widum said that food reserves are related to everyone's safety. "Even in the case of extreme price systems in the world market, we may still be able to buy imported food, but if we make preparations in advance, we don't have to succumb to high prices and can help stabilize global food prices."
In addition to food reserves, Norway has also established a global seed bank in the Svalbard Islands within the Arctic Circle as a "backup" for the world's biological genes.
Since 2008, gene banks and organizations around the world have deposited nearly 1 million seed samples in the seed bank to preserve plant continuity in the event of man-made or natural disasters. The Norwegian government funded the construction of the seed bank, and an international nonprofit organization pays for its operation.
In addition to Norway, the Danish government has recently asked citizens to stockpile resources such as water, food and medicine, and store iodine tablets at home to prepare for attacks or other potential crises.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Poulsen made it clear that "the reality is that Denmark is threatened by hybrid warfare and everyone should be prepared that we may not have access to basic necessities such as electricity and water for some time."
