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Baby formula shortage 2022 -

Hundreds of thousands of parents in the US were scrambling to find formula for their babies in 2022. The nationwide shortage of formula began with pandemic-related labor and supply-chain disruptions, but it was kicked into overdrive when Abbott Nutrition voluntarily recalled several widely sold baby formula brands, which knocked out a huge part of domestic supply. The shortage is proving to be an example of the problems that arise when few large suppliers and their exclusive contracts have a monopoly on the industry.

President Biden had to invoked the Defense Production Act to boost production of baby formula, and authorized the Defense Department to help fly formula in from overseas. The first of those shipments—over 70,000 lbs of Nestle hypoallergenic formulas—arrived from Europe in Indianapolis on May 22 2022.

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Christmas tree shortage of 2017 - The recession that lasted from 2007 to 2009 took an immense toll on individuals and businesses around the world, and some of its effects are still felt today. While the market crash touched nearly every facet of every industry, some victims might surprise you.

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Christmas tree shortage of 2017 -

One seldom-considered and much-delayed effect was the Christmas tree shortage of 2017. Ten years before, in the midst of the recession, many farmers chose to drastically scale back their operations. Ten years later, when those trees began reaching prime Christmas height, the shortage was felt nation-wide and prices skyrocketed.

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Norwegian butter shortage of 2011 - Until recently, many of us took for granted the precarious systems that produce our pantry essentials. It doesn’t take much deviation from expected conditions to produce massive shortages. 

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Norwegian butter shortage of 2011 -

Norwegians found this out the hard way in 2011, when most of Northern Europe experienced incredibly high amounts of rainfall during the summer, which resulted in less and lower-quality grazing time for their dairy cows. This in turn had a damaging effect on their milk output, and butter became a rare and valuable commodity for the rest of the year.

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Firewood crisis of the 1500s -

In the 1500s, firewood was very high up on the list of essentials for any English home. No other heating system had come about yet, and the English winters could be long and brutal. Unfortunately, forest conservation had also not quite caught on yet, and as industry hurdled forward the English forests were eventually almost entirely depleted.

The absence of firewood surely caused many to perish during the long English winters. Some historians also credit the great English firewood shortage with pushing many of the earliest colonists out of Britain and across the Atlantic to the Americas, in hope that the forests there would be able to sustain them through the winters.

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The Scottish cadaver shortage & the Burke and Hare murders - A great step forward in the civility of Scottish law came in 1823 when the Judgement of Death Act was put on the books. This law greatly decreased the number of crimes that were punishable by death. However, there was one corner of society that suffered greatly from this change: medical students.

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The Scottish cadaver shortage & the Burke and Hare murders -

In 19th-century Scotland, medical schools were only allowed to dissect the bodies of criminals who were put to death. Once hangings and executions stopped being such an everyday occurrence, the medical field’s supply of cadavers quickly began to run dry.

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The Scottish cadaver shortage & the Burke and Hare murders -

Two residents of Edinburgh, William Burke and William Hare, saw an opportunity in this shortage. The pair went on a killing spree, suffocating at least 16 victims in total, and sold them to medical departments across the country for anywhere from seven to 10 English pounds each.

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The Twinkie catastrophe of 2012 - Twinkies, a pastry held dear by many Americans, almost disappeared in 2012 when their parent company, Hostess, declared bankruptcy. Twinkies are notorious for allegedly staying fresh indefinitely, and devotees of the cream-filled treat flooded supermarkets across the country to grab as many as they could. Before long, there wasn’t a single Twinkie left on shelves.

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The Twinkie catastrophe of 2012 -

Just one year later, however, Hostess was bought out by private equity firms. Twinkies, HoHos, Sno Balls, and all the other beloved snacks of the Hostess canon returned to shelves by the summer of 2013.

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Kimchi shortage of 2010 - In 2010, a particularly destructive monsoon season on the Korean peninsula caused swaths of Napa cabbage fields to be completely wiped out. While not an essential source of nutrients, Napa cabbages hold significant cultural importance as the principle ingredient in kimchi, a side dish adored on the peninsula and beyond.

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Kimchi shortage of 2010 -

The South Korean government took steps to lessen the blow of the cabbage shortage by temporarily suspending import duties from China, another major grower of Napa cabbages. The prices became so exorbitant that locals started calling kimchi “geum-chi”, substituting the prefix “kim” for the Korean word for gold.

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The first helium shortage of 1958 - The year 1958 saw what was at the time the worst helium shortage the world had ever seen. While many think just of birthday balloons and high-pitched voices when they think of helium, it is in fact a very valuable and finite natural resource, used in everything from airbags for cars, to MRI machines.

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The first helium shortage of 1958 -

The main and most important use for helium in the 1950s was as a coolant in rocket fuel, and all available helium was used for this purpose when the shortage hit, leaving many balloons deflated. The shortage was perhaps most obvious to the public during the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, when giant floats in the likenesses of Pinocchio and Mickey Mouse were filled with normal air and carried through the streets suspended by cranes.

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The first helium shortage of 1958 -

The world has seen a number of other helium shortages since the 1950s, as recently as 2022. There are only 14 liquid helium refineries in the world, the largest of which is in the United States and owned by the US government. This site, in Amarillo, Texas, has seen a decline in production in recent years, causing prices to rise steadily.

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Toilet paper spook of 1973 - While many parts of the world seemed to be on the brink of a toilet paper shortage when the emergence of COVID-19 caused the hoarding of many essentials in 2020, there was a brief moment in 1973 when the rumors became reality.

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Toilet paper spook of 1973 -

Partially sparked by popular talk show host Johnny Carson telling a few jokes about an “acute shortage of toilet paper,” and also caused by a general misunderstanding of the difference between “commercial” toilet paper and “consumer” toilet paper, citizens across the country rushed to their local stores to buy every last roll on the shelf. 

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Operation Pig Bristle - The end of World War II saw Australia entering a period of economic growth. A housing boom in 1946 saw new residences being put up at an unprecedented rate. The only problem was that there was a severe shortage of paintbrushes in the country, and many of these new houses were being left unpainted.

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Operation Pig Bristle -

This burden was put on the backs of the Australian Air Force’s No. 38 Squadron, and they were sent across the sea to China, tasked with bringing back 25 tons (23 tonnes) of pig bristles, an essential material for the production of paintbrushes. The military mission was aptly code named Operation Pig Bristle.

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Japan's 2011 tsunami caused a shortage of camera film - The earthquake and consequent tsunami that hit Japan in 2011 had catastrophic effects on the country, destroying numerous coastal towns and disabling three separate nuclear reactors. It also had an effect on the film and television industry.

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Japan's 2011 tsunami caused a shortage of camera film -

At the time, the global standard for videotape was Sony’s HDCAM-SR, widely used across the world, Hollywood included. When the earthquake hit, the tape was produced at just one single facility, which happened to be in the coastal town of Miyagi. News of the earthquake caused astronomical price inflation in the market, and before long there was no tape left. The situation remained that way for a while.

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World War II banana shortage - World War II saw widespread rationing across the world, from sugar and coffee to bacon and biscuits. The stock of these items were prioritized toward the war effort and the soldiers in the war, and were rationed according to the civilian population.

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World War II banana shortage -

One unexpected shortage that affected England in particular was their banana shortage. It wasn’t that their usual banana supply was being redirected to the war front, but that the fleets of ships that were normally used to transport bananas from the warmer climates where they grew were all busy supporting the war effort.

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KFC ran of of chicken in 2018 - One fateful week in February 2018, the unthinkable happened: Kentucky Fried Chicken ran out of chicken. When the United Kingdom and Ireland division of the fast food chain switched delivery companies, something went terribly wrong, and the entire region missed their regular poultry shipments, forcing more than 600 stores to close for the better part of a week.

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KFC ran of of chicken in 2018 -

KFC was able to calm most of the understandably confused public through a clever ad campaign, complete with full page spreads in a number of magazines apologizing for the company’s blunder.

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The colonial paper shortage -

The Stamp Act of 1765 was one of many reasons that the American colonies chose to fight for their independence. The price of paper was already prohibitively high, and the crown’s decree that all official documents must be stamped just added insult to injury.

Once the War of Independence began 10 years later, the paper shortage was still raging on. In an attempt to curb its effects, paper mill owners and workers were exempt from military duty to make sure enough paper was being produced as possible.

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World War II nylon shortage - Nylon stockings had become a household necessity just a few years before World War II broke out. Nearly overnight, citizens across the United States couldn’t imagine life without them. Once the war broke out, however, they once again became a distant luxury, as all of the nylon being produced was going straight into parachutes.

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World War II nylon shortage -

Nylon stockings were being sold on the black market during wartime, and when rationing finally came to an end, the people took to the streets demanding that nylon stockings become readily available at once.

Sources: (The Atlantic) (CNN) (The Guardian)

See also: The impact of COVID-19 on the global food chain

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