NationStates

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2018 11:59 am**

So this is essentially the opposite of my draft about malnutrition from having too little food!
This is basically an issue for nations that are extremely agricultural, and in fact I took a queue from the US. Hope you enjoy :3c
(tell me what you think of option 6; it's by far the weirdest option here.)

Draft 1.13

Title: More Food Than We Know What To Do With
The Issue: @@NAME@@ has a massively successful agriculture sector, supplying food and financial success throughout the nation. However, as farming season is about to come back around, your Minister of Agriculture noticed that there's still so much food available that there'll literally be no room for all of next season's crops, with unwanted remains being used for food fights and building useless, stinky mountains.
Validity: Nation has a very strong agricultural sector at least partially kept afloat by subsidies

Option 1: "While this productivity is a dream come true, we sadly must trim it down," begins your Minister of Agriculture, looking at a 'potatoes × time' chart. "We need to discourage these farmers from producing too much food. Increase the price of equipment, decrease the land farmers may use, and allocate some of our subsidies elsewhere. We can then use the extra space for more urban development and, most importantly, new food storage."
[effect] rural farms are converting some of their land into ten-story shopping malls selling only grain

Option 2: "What are you talking about?" worries your Chief of Global Progress, showing you an 'international wealth gaps × time' chart. "This food could be used to save the starving children of foreign countries, like Tasmania, Bigtopia, or the United Federation! Sure, we'd be losing a bundle of money, but it's better than letting this all go to waste!"
[effect] food gifted to other nations is often times used for food fights

Validity: Must not have autarky
Option 3: "Better my butter!" exclaims your Minister of Finance, tightly gripping a '@@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ × time' chart as if it were threatened. "We should definitely give to other nations, but not for free! You should encourage trade overseas in exchange for expensive goods that we don't specialize in over here. Just you wait until @@REGION@@ tastes what we have to offer!"
[effect] food is traded for even more food with lower quality

Validity: Must have autarky
Option 4: "Better my butter!" exclaims your Minister of Finance, tightly gripping a '@@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ × time' chart as if it were threatened. "We should definitely give to other nations, but not for free! You should open our economic barriers and encourage trade overseas in exchange for goods that we're currently lacking. Just you wait until @@REGION@@ tastes what we have to offer!"
[effect] food is traded for even more food with lower quality
[Flag Change] Autarky is removed

Option 5: "Why are you so focused on using this stuff as food?" questions @@RANDOMNAME@@ of the "Yellow is the New Black is the New Green" environmental group, displaying a tiny 'carbon emissions × time' chart. "We could make our farmers produce loads of corn that could then be turned into ethanol, cotton to be turned into biodegradable clothing, and trees to help fight deforestration. I can't think of anything better!"
[effect] petroleum and shaving cream have been replaced with cotton and candy

Option 6: "Or, you could make everyone eat more!" proposes moustachioed local pizza pagoda manager and Pizza Cult member @@RANDOMNAME@@, reading from a 'pizza converts × time' chart. "Everyone'll be comin' to places like mine all the time! It'll be a dream come true, and fulfill the prophecy of His Immaculate Munchiness! I mean, fill the stomachs of @@NAME@@! Simply delicious!"
[effect] globglogabgalabs are causing a deficit in the supply of tomatoes

Title: More Food Than We Know What To Do With
The Issue: @@NAME@@ has a massively successful agriculture sector, supplying food and financial success throughout the nation. However, as farming season is about to come back around, your Minister of Agriculture noticed that there's still so much food available that there'll literally be no room for all of next season's crops, with unwanted remains being used for food fights and building useless, stinky mountains.
Validity: Nation has a very strong agricultural sector at least partially kept afloat by subsidies

Option 1: "While this productivity is a dream come true, we sadly must trim it down," begins your Minister of Agriculture, looking at a 'potatoes × time' chart. "We need to discourage these farmers from producing too much food. Increase the price of equipment, decrease the land farmers may use, and allocate some of our subsidies elsewhere. We can then use the extra space for more urban development and, most importantly, new food storage."
[effect] rural farms are converting some of their land into ten-story shopping malls selling only grain

Option 2: "What are you talking about?" worries your Chief of Global Progress, showing you an 'international wealth gaps × time' chart. "This food could be used to save the starving children of foreign countries, like Tasmania, Bigtopia, or the United Federation! Sure, we'd be losing a bundle of money, but it's better than letting this all go to waste!"
[effect] food gifted to other nations is often times thrown away due to mistrust of quality

Validity: Must not have autarky
Option 3: "Better my butter!" exclaims your Minister of Finance, tightly gripping a '@@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ × time' chart as if it were threatened. "We should definitely give to other nations, but not for free! You should encourage trade overseas in exchange for expensive goods that we don't specialize in over here. Just you wait until @@REGION@@ tastes what we have to offer!"
[effect] food is traded for even more food with lower quality

Validity: Must have autarky
Option 4: "Better my butter!" exclaims your Minister of Finance, tightly gripping a '@@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ × time' chart as if it were threatened. "We should definitely give to other nations, but not for free! You should open our economic barriers and encourage trade overseas in exchange for goods that we're currently lacking. Just you wait until @@REGION@@ tastes what we have to offer!"
[effect] food is traded for even more food with lower quality
[Flag Change] Autarky is removed

Option 5: "Why are you so focused on using this stuff as food?" questions @@RANDOMNAME@@ of the "Yellow is the New Black is the New Green" environmental group, displaying a tiny 'carbon emissions × time' chart. "We could make our farmers produce loads of corn that could then be turned into ethanol, cotton to be turned into biodegradable clothing, and trees to help fight deforestration. I can't think of anything better!"
[effect] petroleum and shaving cream have been replaced with cotton and candy

Option 6: "Or, you could make everyone eat more!" proposes moustachioed local pizza pagoda manager and Pizza Cult member @@RANDOMNAME@@, looking at an "All hail His Holy Crustiness" pamphlet. "Everyone'll be comin' to places like mine all the time! It'll be a dream come true, and fulfill the prophecy of His Immaculate Munchiness! I mean, fill the stomachs of @@NAME@@! Simply delicious!"
[effect] globglogabgalabs are causing a deficit in the supply of tomatoes

Title: More Food Than We Know What To Do With
The Issue: @@NAME@@ has a massively successful agriculture sector, supplying food and financial success throughout the nation. However, as farming season is about to come back around, your Minister of Agriculture noticed that there's still so much food available that there'll literally be no room for all of next season's crops, with unwanted remains being used for food fights and building useless, stinky mountains.
Validity: Nation has a very strong agricultural sector at least partially kept afloat by subsidies

Option 1: "While this productivity is a dream come true, we sadly must trim it down," begins your Minister of Agriculture, looking at a 'potatoes × time' chart. "We need to discourage these farmers from producing too much food. Increase the price of equipment, decrease the land farmers may use, and allocate some of our subsidies elsewhere. We can then use the extra space for more urban development and, most importantly, new food storage."
[effect] crops are so tightly packed that they're almost impossible to harvest

Option 2: "What are you talking about?" worries your Chief of Global Progress, showing you an 'international wealth gaps × time' chart. "This food could be used to save the starving children of foreign countries, like Tasmania, Bigtopia, or the United Federation! Sure, we'd be losing a bundle of money, but it's better than letting this all go to waste!"
[effect] food gifted to foreign nations is often times thrown away due to mistrust of quality

Validity: Must not have autarky
Option 3: "Better my butter!" exclaims your Minister of Finance, tightly gripping a '@@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ × time' chart as if it were threatened. "We should definitely give to other nations, but not for free! You should encourage trade overseas in exchange for expensive goods that we don't specialize in over here. Just you wait until @@REGION@@ tastes what we have to offer!"
[effect] food is traded for even more food with lower quality

Validity: Must have autarky
Option 4: "Better my butter!" exclaims your Minister of Finance, tightly gripping a '@@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ × time' chart as if it were threatened. "We should definitely give to other nations, but not for free! You should open our economic barriers and encourage trade overseas in exchange for goods that we're currently lacking. Just you wait until @@REGION@@ tastes what we have to offer!"
[effect] food is traded for even more food with lower quality
[Flag Change] Autarky is removed

Option 5: "Why are you so focused on using this stuff as food?" questions @@RANDOMNAME@@ of the "Yellow is the New Black is the New Green" environmental group, displaying a tiny 'carbon emissions × time' chart. "We could make our farmers produce loads of corn that could then be turned into ethanol, cotton to be turned into biodegradable clothing, and trees to help fight deforestration. I can't think of anything better!"
[effect] farmland is becoming infertile as corn is repeatedly grown to fuel engines

Option 6: "Or, you could make everyone eat more!" proposes moustachioed local pizza pagoda manager and Pizza Cult member @@RANDOMNAME@@, looking at an "All hail His Holy Crustiness" pamphlet. "Everyone'll be comin' to places like mine all the time! It'll be a dream come true, and fulfill the prophecy of His Immaculate Munchiness! I mean, fill the stomachs of @@NAME@@! Simply delicious!"
[effect] globglogabgalabs are causing a deficit in the supply of tomatoes

Title: More Food Than We Know What To Do With
The Issue: @@NAME@@ has a massively successful agriculture sector, supplying food and financial success throughout the nation. However, as farming season is about to come back around, your Minister of Agriculture noticed that there's still so much food available that there'll literally be no room for all of next season's crops, with unwanted remains being used for food fights and building useless, stinky mountains.
Validity: Nation has a very strong agricultural sector

Option 1: "While this productivity is a dream come true, we sadly must trim it down," begins your Minister of Agriculture, looking at a 'potatoes × time' chart. "We need to discourage these farmers from producing too much food via increasing the price of equipment and decrease the amount of land farmers may use. We can then use the extra space for more urban development and, most importantly, new food storage."
[effect] crops are so tightly packed that they're almost impossible to harvest

Option 2: "What are you talking about?" worries your Chief of Global Progress, showing you an 'international wealth gaps × time' chart. "This food could be used to save the starving children of foreign countries, like Tasmania, Bigtopia, or the United Federation! Sure, we'd be losing a bundle of money, but it's better than letting this all go to waste!"
[effect] food gifted to foreign nations is often times thrown away due to mistrust of quality

Validity: Must not have autarky
Option 3: "Better my butter!" exclaims your Minister of Finance, tightly gripping a '@@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ × time' chart as if it were threatened. "We should definitely give to other nations, but not for free! You should encourage trade overseas in exchange for expensive goods that we don't specialize in over here. Just you wait until @@REGION@@ tastes what we have to offer!"
[effect] food is traded for even more food with lower quality

Validity: Must have autarky
Option 4: "Better my butter!" exclaims your Minister of Finance, tightly gripping a '@@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ × time' chart as if it were threatened. "We should definitely give to other nations, but not for free! You should open our economic barriers and encourage trade overseas in exchange for goods that we're currently lacking. Just you wait until @@REGION@@ tastes what we have to offer!"
[effect] food is traded for even more food with lower quality
[Flag Change] Autarky is removed

Option 5: "Why are you so focused on using this stuff as food?" questions @@RANDOMNAME@@ of the "Yellow is the New Black is the New Green" environmental group, displaying a tiny 'carbon emissions × time' chart. "We could make our farmers produce loads of corn that could then be turned into ethanol, cotton to be turned into biodegradable clothing, and trees to help fight deforestration. I can't think of anything better!"
[effect] farmland is becoming infertile as corn is repeatedly grown to fuel engines

Option 6: "Or, you could make everyone eat more!" proposes moustachioed local pizza pagoda manager and Pizza Cult member @@RANDOMNAME@@, looking at an "All hail His Holy Crustiness" pamphlet. "Everyone'll be comin' to places like mine all the time! It'll be a dream come true, and fulfill the prophecy of His Immaculate Munchiness! I mean, fill the stomachs of @@NAME@@! Simply delicious!"
[effect] globglogabgalabs are causing a deficit in the supply of tomatoes

Title: More Food Than We Know What To Do With
The Issue: @@NAME@@ has a massively successful agriculture sector, supplying food and financial success throughout the nation. However, as farming season is about to come back around, your Minister of Agriculture noticed that there's still so much food available that there'll literally be no room for all of next season's crops.
Validity: Nation has a very strong agricultural sector

Option 1: "While this productivity is a dream come true, we sadly must trim it down," begins your Minister of Agriculture, looking at a 'potatoes x time' chart. "We need to discourage these farmers from producing too much food by increasing the price of seeds, equipment, and fertilizer, and decrease the amount of land farmers may use. We should also be investing more in preservatives and storage construction."
[effect] crops are so tightly packed that they're almost impossible to harvest

Option 2: "What are you talking about?" worries your Chief of Global Progress, showing you an 'international wealth gaps x time' chart. "This food could be used to save the starving children of foreign countries, like Tasmania, or Brancaland! Sure, we'd be losing a bundle of money, but it's better than letting this all go to waste!"
[effect] food gifted to foreign nations is often times thrown away due to mistrust of quality

Validity: Must not have autarky
Option 3: "Better my butter!" exclaims your Minister of Finance, tightly gripping a '@@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ x time' chart as if it were threatened. "We should definitely give to other nations, but not for free! You should encourage trade overseas in exchange for expensive goods that we don't specialize in over here. Just you wait until @@REGION@@ tastes what we have to offer!"
[effect] food is traded for even more food with lower quality

Validity: Must have autarky
Option 4: "Better my butter!" exclaims your Minister of Finance, tightly gripping a '@@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ x time' chart as if it were threatened. "We should definitely give to other nations, but not for free! You should open our economic barriers and encourage trade overseas in exchange for goods that we're currently lacking. Just you wait until @@REGION@@ tastes what we have to offer!"
[effect] food is traded for even more food with lower quality
[Flag Change] Autarky is removed

Option 5: "Why are you so focused on using this stuff as food?" questions @@RANDOMNAME@@ of the "Yellow is the New Black is the New Green" environmental group, displaying a tiny 'carbon emissions x time' chart. "We could make our farmers produce loads of corn that could then be turned into ethanol! That'll not only save the farmers' jobs, but it'll push out the environmentally damaging oil as well as bring gas costs down. It's win-win!"
[effect] farmland is becoming infertile as corn is repeatedly grown to fuel engines

Option 6: "Or, you could make everyone eat more!" proposes moustachioed local pizza pagoda manager and Pizza Cult member @@RANDOMNAME@@, looking at an "All hail His Holy Crustiness" pamphlet. "Everyone'll be comin' to places like mind all the time! It'll be a dream come true, and fulfill the prophecy of His Immaculate Munchiness! I mean, fill the stomachs of @@NAME@@! Simply delicious!"
[effect] globglogabgalabs are causing a deficit in the supply of tomatoes

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:09 pm**

I like this issue; if anything it's more relevant than your issue about malnutrition.

~~The thing that gets me though is that these options do not align very much with what nations actually do in these circumstances.~~
On second thoughts, that's not quite right... but I still can't put my finger on it. Something seems missing.

Perhaps it's because you have nothing here about stockpiling of any kind. Does @@NAME@@ not have long term granaries? Or, for that matter, does it not dump excess produce a la infamous butter mountains and coffee lakes?

Jutsa wrote:globglogabgalabs

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:20 pm**

Unless my history book or my memory's wrong, I believe option 1 was actually practiced in the US at one point. Not sure what people do now,
but the idea for my draft is that even with all the storage you have, there's still too much food. (Plus idk how long all of it'd last

)

Modern day US of course just tosses a huge portion of the food it supplies, plus goodness knows how much of the food we even buy goes to waste.

I look at this approach as the "dismiss" button, although I think option 6 might come into play a wee bit,
and I suspect options 2-4 might be attempted more if our food quality didn't suck.

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:24 pm**

Please use "×" instead of "x" for Cartesian products.

Chan Island wrote:~~The thing that gets me though is that these options do not align very much with what nations actually do in these circumstances.~~

Before reading the issue, I tried thinking of what options I think would make sense. I came up with these:
1. Select only the highest-quality produce, throwing out anything with even the tiniest blemish.
2. Scale down food agriculture, repurposing the farmland for [nature reserves | suburban expansion | non-food agriculture, such as flowers, cotton, dyes, lumber trees, etc.] (possibly even as three separate options).
3. Donate the excess food to poorer nations.
4. Food fight!
(Yeah, I forgot to include the "sell it" option, but it is a pretty obvious one.)

I don't think that last one is "what nations actually do in these circumstances".

Chan Island wrote:Perhaps it's because you have nothing here about stockpiling of any kind. Does @@NAME@@ not have long term granaries?

Jutsa wrote:The Issue: @@NAME@@ has a massively successful agriculture sector, supplying food and financial success throughout the nation. However, as farming season is about to come back around, your Minister of Agriculture noticed that there's still so much food available that there'll literally be no room for all of next season's crops.

The implication is that the nation is already stockpiling as much as it things it might possibly need, and now the room in the granaries is running out.

Chan Island wrote:Or, for that matter, does it not dump excess produce a la infamous butter mountains and coffee lakes?

That is a horrible solution and the fact that anyone does it is a shame upon humanity.

It could be brought up in the issue description as the current state of affairs, to give a motivation to come up with a better solution.

Or suggestion 1 from my list above, which tries to recast it as a good thing by pointing out that it gives you better quality control.

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:32 pm**

Eh, again, kinda feels like a "dismiss button", which I can't really afford to add given how many other options I've got.

That said, I do like a couple suggestions, the first being the coffee lakes and butter mountains in the description,
and the second being your suggestion for option 1. I mean, it's partially covered in present option 1,
but I like the idea of repurposing it for certain other things like cotton and stuff.
Kinda think option 5's still viable, given I suspect Brazil does that (though I could be 100% wrong).
idk if I should have "put less into food but rather other products" into 1 or 5, though... kinda thinking 5 since that's sorta what it currently proposes.

Also, going to replace xs with ×s. :3

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:49 pm**

And updated. Made option 1 mention repurposing the land and option 5 suggest more than just ethanol.
Also replaced ×s and added both food fights and mountains to the description.

Not easy, trying to think of ways to make the text as comparatively brief as possible without destroying the character.

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2018 1:10 pm**

Jutsa wrote:"We need to discourage these farmers from producing too much food via increasing the price of equipment and decrease the amount of land farmers may use."

Make that "decreasing" for consistency.

Jutsa wrote:"This food could be used to save the starving children of foreign countries, like Tasmania, or Brancaland!"

I assume that Brancaland not actually being a third-world nation is an intentional joke? (EDIT: Although I guess their cold climate might make farming difficult.)

Jutsa wrote:[effect] food gifted to foreign nations is often times thrown away due to mistrust of quality

I doubt real third-world nations would do that. Beggars can't be choosers, and all that.

When I brought up "quality", I meant in the sense of an abundance of choice encouraging overly-picky fusspots throwing food away over minor cosmetic blemishes, not that there's actually anything wrong with the food.

Jutsa wrote:Option 5: "Why are you so focused on using this stuff as food?" questions @@RANDOMNAME@@ of the "Yellow is the New Black is the New Green" environmental group, displaying a tiny 'carbon emissions × time' chart. "We could make our farmers produce loads of corn that could then be turned into ethanol, cotton to be turned into biodegradable clothing, and trees to help fight deforestration. I can't think of anything better!"
[effect] farmland is becoming infertile as corn is repeatedly grown to fuel engines

If you're growing multiple alternative crops rather than just corn and more corn, then you can use normal crop rotation, so the effect line doesn't work anymore.

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2018 4:00 pm**

1) Thanks!
2) That was the idea, but them being cold actually ruins the joke a little. Maybe I should replace them with Dàguó? :rofl:

3) Eh, maybe not... but that's not to say first-world nations wouldn't do that.

4) Yeah, I noticed that before I left. No idea what I'm going to do now, so if you or anyone else has any suggestions, I'm all ears. :blush:

Ed: All updated! Also changed "mind" to "mine" in that last option.

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2018 4:09 pm**

Jutsa wrote:2) That was the idea, but them being cold actually ruins the joke a little. Maybe I should replace them with Dàguó?

While China isn't exactly poor, they are overpopulated (or they claim to be), which could lead to shortages.

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2018 4:10 pm**

Crud... United Federation? :blush:

Posted: **Sun Apr 29, 2018 6:52 am**

A possible angle on this, to tie it to a real life situation, would be to have it occur in nations with high business subsidies AND high agriculture, then to emphasise that the butter mountains are occurring because of incentives making it sufficiently profitable to grow food without selling it.

Posted: **Sun Apr 29, 2018 10:07 am**

Ahaah! Yes, that'd make more sense.

Updated, though it was mainly just an adjustment to the validity and option 1.
(I also noticed I never changed decrease to decreasing, but that's irrelevant now)

Posted: **Sun Apr 29, 2018 1:08 pm**

This is much better!

However, I think you should review those effect lines. They don't make too much sense anymore, or are just not that funny.

Posted: **Sun Apr 29, 2018 4:31 pm**

Or you could take a page from Queensland's book and host a melon festivle seriously though. Food wastage is a serious problem which is under-address. Good job bringing light to it. You also need to mention "ugly" fruit and are wasted during regular growing seasons

Posted: **Mon Apr 30, 2018 1:06 am**

Australian rePublic wrote:Or you could take a page from Queensland's book and host a melon festivle seriously though. Food wastage is a serious problem which is under-address. Good job bringing light to it. You also need to mention "ugly" fruit and are wasted during regular growing seasons

I think ugly fruit have become a case of 'being too comprehensive'.

Posted: **Mon Apr 30, 2018 1:34 am**

Assuming by "ugly" you mean fruits that can vary in shape from individual to individual within the species and where some just happen to turn out weirdly-shaped, that's covered by my mention of throwing out fruit with minor cosmetic flaws.

Fruits which are always ugly aren't an issue, if people don't like 'em then they won't grow 'em.

Posted: **Mon Apr 30, 2018 7:20 am**

That said, there are actually fruits called ugly fruits which I imagine most people don't eat.

I like them, but they're sold at a store I don't go to often so... *cries*

Posted: **Sun May 06, 2018 7:53 am**

Bump~

Posted: **Sun May 06, 2018 7:55 am**

Chan Island wrote:However, I think you should review those effect lines. They don't make too much sense anymore, or are just not that funny.

Posted: **Sun May 06, 2018 8:23 am**

Confound it, I forgot about that. Yeah, I'll do that :blush:

Posted: **Sun May 06, 2018 8:37 am**

Uh, how are these? I only changed 1 and 5, tbh.
Effect lines for this one aren't easy to think of, I've gotta say.

Posted: **Sun May 06, 2018 1:10 pm**

The effect lines for options 2 and 3 seem a bit contradictory. So does @@NAME@@ have good or bad food? And if bad, then what unthinkably disgusting foodstuffs are we buying here?!

Also, aw, option 6 doesn't keep the charts running gag. Though I suppose the pamphlet is close enough.

Posted: **Sun May 06, 2018 1:18 pm**

Chan Island wrote:Also, aw, option 6 doesn't keep the charts running gag. Though I suppose the pamphlet is close enough.

'toppings x time' chart?

Posted: **Sun May 06, 2018 1:26 pm**

The Ferret Lands wrote:
Chan Island wrote:Also, aw, option 6 doesn't keep the charts running gag. Though I suppose the pamphlet is close enough.

'toppings x time' chart?

Perfect!

Posted: **Sun May 06, 2018 2:12 pm**

I could also do "converts × time" since he's kinda part of a cult, although I did kinda want to make him break from the theme.

It doesn't matter how good or bad your food is; there'll surely be nations that throw it away if they don't trust it being shipped for how long.

Admittedly, if your food is literally garbage, 3's effect line is a little odd... but that does open up the imagination as to what exactly could be "worse".

I won't make any adjustments right away; I'd like your thoughts on my thoughts first. If you still disagree with my thoughts, I'll change the things said thoughts address.
I think.

NationStates

[SUBMITTED] More Food than We Know What to Do With

[SUBMITTED] More Food than We Know What to Do With