Why the world has started stockpiling food again

By Susannah Savage – X

In the early 18th century, Finland was familiar with the fear of hunger.

A famine fuelled by an unpredictable climate had killed off a third of the population in the 1690s.

The Great Northern War with Russia further disrupted farming, as well as everything else, in the first 20 years of the century.

So in 1726, the country began setting aside grain to ensure it could feed the population in case of emergency. Long winters, a short growing season and disruption from clashing empires demanded it.