The Death of Grass

A.W.U.K.

A.W.U.K.

Joined
Sep 27, 2002
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BBC radio 4 this week is running a dramatisation of the novel The Death of Grass by John Christopher. It is a dark story but an interesting scenario. What would you do if a virus or other disease was to spread over the earth eliminating all types of grass: Both for grazing animals and rice, wheat, etc.
What would be your personal survival plan?
There is actually something like it happening, though on a much less drastic scale.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_rust#Ug99

Ug99, which has the designation of TTKS, is a race of black stem rust (Puccinia graminis tritici).[2] It is virulent to the great majority of wheat varieties.[3] Unlike other rusts, which only partially affect crop yields, UG99 can bring 100% crop loss. Up to 80% yield losses were recently recorded in Kenya. [4] The blight was first noted in Uganda in 1999 and has spread throughout the highlands of East Africa. In January of 2007, spores blew across to Yemen, and north into Sudan. In March 2007, FAO announced its concern regarding the spread through Iran based on Iranian authorities report.
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...There are still plenty of healthy, farm-raised people (a.k.a. "long pig").

Thanks to the Sheriff here, we ain't never gonna go hungry again...
 
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Is this novel related to No Blade of Grass?

Oh, wait, I see that was its US title. Never mind.
 
I'd have to say that if all the plants on earth died off and there went the grazing animals, I'd jack the nearest boat and live off of fish :D

And I'd keep my cat with me on the boat so that some crazy person doesn't look at her like she's lunch :p
 
man...if corn went as well...dont know how civiliation would adapt...MANY things come from corn...
 
storl said:
Maybe we'd finally get cane sugar back in our soft drinks. :D
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Sugar cane is a type of grass, too- IIRC. Beet sugar only!

Edit: Mapper66 beat me to the punch. Oh well.

For survival- I'd be eating whatever meat I could scrounge up. Squirrels, chickens, democrats...
 
The story itself -- I've read the book and seen the old movie -- is incredibly depressing, but fascinating.
 
Sharp Phil said:
The story itself -- I've read the book and seen the old movie -- is incredibly depressing, but fascinating.
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Is it something like that old nuclear war movie where it shows how people would make it afterwards? I think it was called "the day after"

Very depressing movie. I kept waiting for an uplifting moment that never came. Everyone just slowly started dying off.
 
J's Knives-N-More said:
Is it something like that old nuclear war movie where it shows how people would make it afterwards? I think it was called "the day after"

Very depressing movie. I kept waiting for an uplifting moment that never came. Everyone just slowly started dying off.
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I was surfing channels the other day and saw 'On The Beach'. Man, I was depressed for days. And after reading 'The Road', well, just don't do them both in the same week. ;)
 
Algae I reckon would be the next thing for me to graze on. I'm sure they're already doing something like that in Africa to combat starvation.

The amount of people who would die would surely lead to most carnivores getting fat and the ground being enriched with whatever was left to decompose so I dare say that a substitute plant would step in to fill the gap. Anyway might not be too bad a thing if the population was thinned a bit.
 
A quote from Kevin Duffy (with which I agree :thumbup:):

"The herbicide industry has convinced most consumers that a manicured lawn of lush weed-free grass is a desirable healthy plot of earth. Nothing could be further from the truth. The next time you go into a lawn and garden centre, take a close look at the warnings on those pesticide products. There are many times more words devoted to the hazards of these products than to their application. The other prevalent type of products promoted by the industry are various dicot killers which prey upon the evil dicots (non-grasses), e.g., dandelion and its cohort in crime, plantain. It makes me cringe to see these two wonderful plants maligned. Destroying all plant life except for the monocot grasses results in a monoculture that is unnatural and unsustainable. A manicured lawn is basically a wasteland in nature's balance."

Doc
 
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