Quote:
Originally Posted by Legbreaker
The main problem the US has is water. If water could be supplied by rainfall or irrigation, many problems would be almost immediately solved (or at least when the harvest came in).
Yes there are other factors, but water really is the big one as illustrated in Kidnapped.
Howling Wilderness also reiterates this point in the description of the Great Lakes region - rainfall has fallen about half normal, but they're still able to grow significant amounts of food.
With the drastically reduced population (roughly half pre-war), total food production would be sufficient to feed the country, if only they could get it to rain! The first group that solves the water problem (or is lucky enough to occupy an area that receives decent and sustained rainfall) is going to have a huge advantage over the coming years. This is one of the reasons the information on the tapes in Satellite Down is so valuable.
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If one cannot make it rain, one must manufacture potable/irrigation water--from seawater. Desalination on a widespread, low-level basis could turn the tide (no pun intended) in getting water to crops, at least in the vicinity of tidal areas. New Jersey, whose sandy soils have historically been bountifully productive, would naturally benefit from multiple small and widely distributed desalination plants along its relatively close coast. With Ft. Dix in the north and Cape May Coast Guard base in the south, there are plenty of security personnel who would in turn be supplied by the crops and facilities they guard. And to tie it together, the Cold Fusion McGuffin would be the perfect small power source to drive the pumps for processing and distribution of useable water.
Slightly off-topic Note: the "Rock In Troubled Waters" article about South Jersey accurately relates the large correctional facilities in the southern part of the state: South Woods correctional facility meat and produce processing facility in South Bridgeton and the Bayside facility in Leesburg on rt 47. really exist. Considering the hostility of the world environment outside the walls, my guess would be that many prisoners would welcome a "work-release" points-toward-parole arrangement in exchange for raising and processing agricultural products, which would also be their sustenance. And the flip side would be that transgressions would be dealt with severely. Behave and work, and you get to eat, have protection, and earn your pardon. Otherwise....