[quote name='thrustbucket']I disagree. If there were mass food shortages at grocery stores, or suddenly food prices skyrocketed, for a long period of time, especially if there was little or no power, many people that have lived in big cities their whole lives and survive off mcdonalds and starbucks would panic.
It's not as easy as you describe to grow enough for a family to have food year round. There is much more to it than reading instructions on seed packets, not to mention the hope that you have enough food storage to last you until your crops are ready.
There is another variation to the OP. What about the massive denutritionalizing of foods? You really don't have to take people's food away from them if you want to starve them to death. Just give them nothing but crap they can afford to eat, and it's almost the same.[/quote]
I will concede that a person with no survival skills other than how to "supersize it" would be at a disadvantage in any situation outside the modern pampered US lifestyle. I don't know a polite way to mention the people affected by hurricane Katrina here, but they're apt.
For a person who has been camping for at least a few hours or visited someplace without cable, I believe that person can gain enough knowledge to be self sufficient in a matter of months.
Having year round reserves of food isn't as simple as water and walk away, but it isn't hard either.
If one has access to a few thousand square feet of decent soil and adequate water, that area will produce vegetables within 120 days. There will be leftovers that can be canned and will last for a few years. One won't gain weight, but health won't deteriorate either.
If one has access to an acre of decent land, one can grow grains that can keep a family stocked in bread every day. If the grain is kept dry and away from vermin and fungus, it won't rot for years. Sealing it in a vacuum puts it at MRE levels. At this point, one can gain weight, but all of the sandwiches are meatless.
If one has access to a second acre of decent land, the grain from it can feed chickens year round. Now, one has eggs at every meal and plenty of nitrogen rich shit to replenish the several acres of soil.
Another couple of acres allows for a lot of fun by raising cattle. Now, one can have steak and hamburger at many meals, but there'll need to be fences to keep dinner on the property.
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If there was a prolonged major food shortage, there would be some pain in adjusting to an agrarian lifestyle. However, the only deaths would be those too old, infirm or stubborn to accept the new reality. Everybody else would lose some weight during the adjustment and bitch about how much better the old days of dieting and working were.
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Regarding the lack of nutrition in foods, there are always vitamins. They're almost as cheap as Ramen Noodles.
