(NaturalNews) The global deep freeze now striking North America, Europe, China and other regions may lead to severe food shortages and price hikes throughout 2010. Right now, rare freezing temperatures are destroying root crops in their ground, wiping out citrus orchards and devastating food producers around the world. The upshot of it all? Expect food shortages and rising food prices throughout 2010.

This global deep freeze is all part of the extreme weather now being unleashed on the planet due to human beings polluting the world and altering the atmosphere. Scientists can't agree on whether the trend is global warming or global cooling, but no one can argue that something's wrong with the weather.

Rainfall and temperature patterns that used to be reliable are now going haywire. Where there were once reliable seasonal rains, there are alternating periods of drought followed by floods. Where temperatures were once mild and predictable, they're now fluctuating out of control, becoming too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.

All this adds up to escalating crop failures that are now poised to have a real, noticeable impact on the global food supply.

"Sub-zero temperatures have made it impossible to extract some vegetables from the ground. Producers of brussels sprouts and cabbages are all reporting problems with harvesting. Cauliflowers are said to have turned to mush in the sustained frost," says a story published in The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/j...)

It goes on to report:

"In Ireland, 6,000 acres of potatoes remains unharvested and there are claims that up to three-quarters of the crop may be ruined. Potato growers in Northern Ireland say they are facing some of the biggest losses in recent history because of frost damage."

The UK Press Association also reports, "Food shortages are feared as it emerged that farmers are struggling to harvest vegetables in the big freeze, which will lead to higher food prices and damage small businesses." (http://www.google.com/hostednews/uk...)

New is also surfacing that the world's orange juice supply may now be destroyed:

"Growers in the sunshine state fear an even worse arctic blast Sunday night will decimate their crop, which accounts for 40-percent of the world's orange juice supply." (http://www.necn.com/Boston/Nation/2...)

All this destruction of food is already causing prices to rise. "Greengrocers in some of the worst-hit areas are reporting shortages, with the price of carrots and parsnips reportedly rising by 30% in some small shops," reports The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/j...)

Similar reports are also coming out of China, which has been hit hard by freezing weather.

Global food supply is now threatened

The global deep freeze now devastating crops around the world leads to one inescapable conclusion: Food prices will rise throughout 2010. They were already on the rise in 2009, but thanks to the big winter freeze, they're headed much, much higher this year.

This may be much more than a one-time crisis, too. As reported in The Telegraph:

"For years, academics such as Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University, gave warning that we were 'sleepwalking' into a future where our food security was likely to be seriously undermined, whether by natural disasters, rising fuel costs, climate change or the massive pressures placed on the global food system by a rising population." (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodandd...)

The fact is that plentiful food depends on cheap oil, fossil water aquifers and predictable weather. And all three are coming to an end! Unpredictable weather, in particular, is upon us right now.

In the years ahead, radical weather patterns will continue to compromise food production around the world. Floods, freezes, hurricanes and droughts will all take their toll. The result will be increased food prices and decreased food supply.

During this crisis, more people will be forced to turn to low-cost processed foods that will further promote diseases like obesity, cancer and heart disease. Fewer and fewer citizens of the world will be able to afford fresh, organic produce because it is precisely the fresh produce that's more easily destroyed by radical weather events.

This means, of course, that food-producing land will greatly increase in value, especially if it can produce food year round. And that means people who own such parcels of land in Hawaii, California, Southern France, Mexico or even places like Peru or Ecuador will find their properties steadily increasing in value. Wherever fresh food can be reliably produced in the years ahead, properties will tend to increase in value.

Land in areas hit by drought, floods or fossil water shortages, on the other hand, will collapse in value. Some areas that used to be fertile farmland will turn to desert. Others will suffer severe soil erosion from rains and storms. The ability of the world to produce fresh food is going to be compromised by unpredictable weather events.

The era of easy food is over

Since the 1940's, we've lived in an age of easy food. But that food bubble is now collapsing, and as it does, it's going to catch most people off guard. Some will be able to compensate by simply paying much higher prices for the fresh food they need, but most people will not be able to afford to pay much more for food, so they'll turn to processed, long-shelf-life food instead. And before long, they will join the ranks of the diseased as a result.

Remember: Living food keeps you alive. Dead food makes you dead. The more fresh, living food you consume, the healthier you'll be. Sadly, our interference with the global climate is resulting in radical weather patterns that are destroying huge quantities of fresh produce, greatly reducing the supply of "living" food.

The alternative for individuals or families is to grow your own food. Grow as much as you can in your own gardens. Food security is the issue of the decade, I believe, and those who don't have the ability to grow at least some portion of their own diet may find themselves in an increasingly difficult position in 2010 and beyond.