[yxhuvud]

No, mass starvation would not ensue from having to fight weeds using mechanical means. It would take more work and more fuel, but it is eminently doable if the need is there. Especially if the change would be gradual.

Making do without artificial fertilizer would be a lot harder.

[bluGill]

Increased fuel means a lot more CO2. That is a very significant factor you cannot ignore.

[nozzlegear]

Perhaps if herbicides weren't viable, more work would've gone into developing the mechanical alternatives and we'd have had solar-powered machines removing weeds from fields.

[bluGill]

Soil resistance is worse than air resistance, but similar concept. It needs a lot of energy to overcome.

[yxhuvud]

More CO2 compared to what tractors use today, yes. But that is not a lot compared to the rest of the human civilization spend on transportation.

So no, it is not a very significant factor.

[gustavus]

Increased work and fuel means increased costs, increased costs means increased prices, increased prices means less food available for purchase by those on the margins, less food means starvation.

[jayd16]

So anything that effects food prices, regardless of magnitude, causes mass starvation?

[victorbjorklund]

No, not regardless of magnitude. But anything that have a large impact on food prices will decrease the ability of poor people to pay for it. It’s not rocket science.

[jayd16]

Then it's a discussion about magnitude and jumping to starvation is unfounded.

[XorNot]

Price increases due to disruption of Ukrainian grain shipments from the war substantially threatened African food stability.

Despite their being plenty of capacity elsewhere because the smaller redirects of trucking into the European markets crashed prices enough that it led to protests in Poland and discontent elsewhere (though probably with significant Russian psyops involvement).

[victorbjorklund]

People are already starving in the world. With higher prices the amount of people starving would be more. It's gonna be ten thousand more or a million more? That's up for debate.

[HDThoreaun]

Anything that causes food prices to rise a lot causes starvation yea, when prices go up people consume less.

[conductr]

We have resources for plenty of nonessential expenditures that could be diverted if avoiding starvation was our collective goal. I’m not always sure it would be, but the constraint isn’t a death sentence on its own.