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Food self-sufficiency is the extent to which a country can satisfy its nutritional needs from its own domestic production. But it does not just mean any type of food. It refers to these seven main groups: fruits, vegetables, dairy, fish, meat, plant-based protein and starchy staples. A study conducted this year assessed the self-sufficiency levels of 186 countries and found only one that fulfilled the requirements.
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Why country calling codes make no sense. Use my code LUKE5 for $5 off with eSIM io: https://esim.io/tr/influencer/LUKEOSU… Watch more of this series: • Unwondered and more: • Pretty mad, that • Ones you should watch
Hi, my name’s Luke. I answer questions nobody asked and find things that make me say ‘pretty mad, that.’
Based on the map by Maximilian Dörrbecker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Co…
Stock photo credits:
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Building icon: Buildings icons created by Freepik – Flaticon https://www.flaticon.com/free-icons/b…
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Now, I am completely willing to have this fight…but as I was thinking about what technologies have been most foundational, I came up with:
Language – Agriculture – Cooking and Fire – Containers – Stone tools
Language is the only one of these that does not have /direct/ connection to cordage and textiles. In terms of multipliers to human ability, being able to turn a fiber into twine (and then, from there, thread, rope, baskets, knots, binding, textiles, clothes, etc etc) had impacts on pretty much all human abilities (including stone tools being connected to hafts.)
Of course there’s no way to objectively measure this, but certainly when it comes to the space between how much the average person thinks of it as a foundational technology and how foundational it actually is…the fiber to cordage to textiles is certainly a top foundational technologies of humanity.
Thanks so much to Virginia for having a nice long chat with me! Her book is available in places where there are books, though, because it has been out for a while, it’s probably not available at a local store.
BookShop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-fabr…
Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Fabric-Civiliz…
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Joseph Whitworth (1803-1887) revolutionized manufacturing through precision measurement and standardization, developing tools accurate to millionths of an inch and creating the British Standard Whitworth thread system that enabled interchangeable parts and mass production. His innovations in flatness verification, precision measurement, and manufacturing standards became foundational to modern industrial engineering. Beyond technical achievements, Whitworth invested his fortune in engineering education, establishing scholarships and technical schools that democratized access to engineering careers. His legacy persists in modern quality control, metrology standards, precision manufacturing, and the fundamental principle that measurement and standardization are prerequisites for industrial progress.
SOURCES:
Institution of Mechanical Engineers historical archives on Joseph Whitworth
British Standards Institution documentation on thread standardization history
Science Museum London – Whitworth measuring instruments collection
“The Life and Work of Sir Joseph Whitworth” by Samuel Smiles
Journal of the Royal Society of Arts historical papers on precision engineering
Manchester University Archives – Whitworth Institute records
National Portrait Gallery biographical materials
Patent Office records for Whitworth’s measuring instruments and standardization work
Great Exhibition 1851 official catalogue and contemporary reports
Victorian engineering journals including The Engineer and Engineering magazine
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msamba 