An Unprecedented Plague Hits Oranges and Another Hits BananasMichael Snyder Citrus greening disease has been a steadily growing problem that has reached epidemic levels this year. Because of this disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is projecting that orange production in the U.S. this year will be down 18 percent compared to last year. Here is more on this horrible plague from Yahoo News Another plague that is affecting our food supply is a virus known as porcine epidemic diarrhea. It has already spread to 27 different U.S. states and has already killed up to 6 million pigs since first being spotted in the U.S. last May. As a result of this virus, pork production is going to be down substantially this year, and it is being estimated that Americans could pay up to 20 percent more for pork by the end of the year. And of course perhaps the worst plague of all that we are experiencing at the moment is the nightmarish drought in California that never seems to end. Conditions are so dry that it is being estimated that California farmers may leave up to 800,000 acres fallow this year. In other words, they are not going to grow anything at all. Needless to say, this is going to result in much smaller overall harvests. Just check out these numbers from the New York Times And it isnt just rice and cotton that we need to be concerned about. In aprevious article, I included the following information which shows how dependent the rest of the U.S. is on fruits and vegetables grown in the state of California The lack of fresh produce is already being felt in California. Usually, fresh produce accounts for about half of the food handed out at food banks in the state, but these days fresh produce is in short supply By themselves, each one of these plagues is very serious. Taken together, they represent an emerging perfect storm which could have a dramatic impact on our food supply. So why is all of this happening? Why is our food supply being hit with so many plagues? Please feel free to share your thoughts by posting a comment below Related selfnews Post Article: This article first appeared here at the American Dream. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here. 