The Global Food Crisis

[K. A. Pital]

I think the food rationing talk I've been hearing about lately smells a wee bit of alarmism.

For the First World, maybe. For us all it's already in effect for the poor and might just be in effect for everyone else if inflation continues undaunted.

[Xisiqomelir]

Terrifying stuff. Food production is luckily one of the few things the megacorps haven't been able to offshore, and it's just about the only thing America can still churn out masses off.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Pricing people out of the market is bad enough, you'd don't need actual rationing if you're unable to feed your family with your current salary. With food taking up a bigger chunk of the average salary, this will impact on an already depressed economy. Even if you can afford to eat, you're not pumping cash into luxury items, a whole industry in itself.

[Master of Ossus]

Dosen't Costco and the likes make their money mainly out of memberships more than foodsales?
I could see why they dont want people to empty the shelves in a frenzy.
Although there is a big problem here with the entire biofuel debacle, I think the food rationing talk I've been hearing about lately smells a wee bit of alarmism.

Costco makes a ton of money on food sales--the membership price is essentially nominal and designed only to keep out thieves and such (their policy of only taking American Express helps with that, too), so as to keep costs down.

They're probably just concerned that customers will try to arbitrage away their price advantage, since they probably have futures contracts that will insulate them from any short-term price disruptions. That would also explain why they're only "rationing" the large bags instead of the retail-sized ones that are presumably affected just as much.

[Mayabird]

Umm, Costco takes my Mastercard just fine. Speaking of, I probably should've grabbed another giant sack of white rice when I was there last time, since the prices are going up so much. But it's still probably cheaper than a meat-heavy diet.

[Alan Bolte]

Wait, Americans - the nation that has the least food crisis affection - hoards foods? Just what the fuck is going on?

When you expect the price of food to be more or less the same next week, you only buy enough for this week, or even a few days. When your bill next week might be a few dollars more, even more expensive the following week, and your paycheck will be the same if you even still have a job, it makes sense to buy as much food as you can eat before it goes rotten.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Umm, Costco takes my Mastercard just fine. Speaking of, I probably should've grabbed another giant sack of white rice when I was there last time, since the prices are going up so much. But it's still probably cheaper than a meat-heavy diet.

yeah, my visa has also worked there too.

I feel so insulated working in a kitchen, and not having to spend much money daily on food...

[Admiral Valdemar]

Wheat rust is wiping out all African crops.

Just great. Ug99 is spreading faster than anyone could predict. As if we didn't have enough problems, the mitigating factor of expanding African arable land production seems useless now. Fungus is a bitch to fight with agro-chemicals given any eukaryote killing compound can affect us too.

A quote comes to mind:

I admire its purity. A survivor... unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.

I can't lie to you about your chances... But you have my sympathies.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Alright, time of us to grab two sacks of rice and a bunch of bread to toss in the freezer. Things will just get worse from here on out, and our disposable income may not be increasing until September (when we'll have a roommate, which will halve our rent).

[The Yosemite Bear]

David moving in?

isn't that Aztec grain resistant to the rust fungus?

[Sarevok]

It is been fascinating to read this thread. Although hard to believe few people are truly aware of the food crisis facing Bangladesh. Our society has been stratified into the rich who live in posh areas that could pass for an American suburb and the poor who dwell in ghettostans. The kids of the rich who I study with in uni have no clue. They go about their wasteful lives living out like an American in a third world nation. A group of these giggling irritating bastards waste enough money in an expensive restaurant to feed a family for a month.

Meanwhile the poor have no clue either because they never did in the first place. They always blame their misfortune on being born in a poor god forsaken land so like a self fulfilling prophecy the country stays poor because everyone believes it is fucked and will never get better. To the poor the current crisis is just more of the same hardships they faced always.

Fortunately this is not Africa and a famine is unlikely. Yet the increasing price of food stuffs show no stopping and there is a limit to how long before the lower and middle classes simply can't afford to eat. Couple this with the fact that Bangladesh survives by virtue of its natural gas which fuels electric power generation and most of the cars. The gas reserves are projected to be depleted by 2014 . Oil is becoming liquid gold and if gas disappears too whats going to happen ?

Already the democratic goverment has been a thing of the past since 2007. A military cabal like Pakistan is in power.
The masses are silent so far being brainwashed by the lure of flashy western lifestyle in the boom years of 90s and early 2000s. However shiny cellphones are no longer a priority for the hungry person in 40 degree heat without electricity in his house. A combination of hatred for military goverment, extreme class division between rich and poor, massive food and energy crisis could lead this place into a civil war.

[KlavoHunter]

Yeah, I think it's time to take a trip over to the asian grocery over here, and buy a 50-pound sack of rice or two.

[Havok]

Man, you guys eat a lot of rice. I think I've had one box of Rice-O-Ronie in about 5 years.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Should I be sorry that my ex-roomie left half a dozen 2 pound bags of rice?

[KlavoHunter]

Man, you guys eat a lot of rice. I think I've had one box of Rice-O-Ronie in about 5 years.

I don't; this would be new for me

[Havok]

Man, you guys eat a lot of rice. I think I've had one box of Rice-O-Ronie in about 5 years.

I don't; this would be new for me

Well then don't start now. That would just add to the problem.

[KlavoHunter]

Clearly the answer to this food crisis is not to hoard food, one should instead murder their neighbors so as to reduce overall demand!

Brilliant!

[Admiral Valdemar]

Yeah, I think it's time to take a trip over to the asian grocery over here, and buy a 50-pound sack of rice or two.

For what? Building a miniature fort of rice? I don't think I can eat half that much in a year.

[Broomstick]

Properly stored, white rice will last for years. Yes, the nutritional value diminishes over time, but not so much as to render the grain useless.

Brown rice will go rancid in about six months unless stored very carefully, or unless frozen.

Alternative grains are out there - I even eat some of them regularly - but in the US more expensive because they are produced in much smaller amounts and are not subsidized. Even so, for first worlders there ARE alternatives - but the very poor will remain screwed.

[Kanastrous]

I wonder if Quinoa and Amaranth might make more of a comeback, with other grain crops in trouble.

IIRC, both - certainly Quinoa - have advantages over wheat and corn, in terms of nutritional value and the resources expended, to rasie a crop...

[Wanderer]

The Cow Ranches in my area are culling their herds now and planting crops.

They can no longer afford the feed for so many Cows.

Tomorrow I'm going to start looking for some buyers for half my sheep.

[Mayabird]

People, if you're not actually going to eat the rice, don't start hording it. That'll just waste it and your money.

I, on the other hand, have been going through huge sacks of rice my entire life, so it actually makes sense for me. I can go through 50 lbs. in six months.

[Admiral Valdemar]

People, if you're not actually going to eat the rice, don't start hording it. That'll just waste it and your money.

I, on the other hand, have been going through huge sacks of rice my entire life, so it actually makes sense for me. I can go through 50 lbs. in six months.

Actually, food is a better investment than any other commodity or bond. People will hoard it for that reason and that alone if they have a head on their shoulders.

[Mayabird]

People, if you're not actually going to eat the rice, don't start hording it. That'll just waste it and your money.

I, on the other hand, have been going through huge sacks of rice my entire life, so it actually makes sense for me. I can go through 50 lbs. in six months.

Actually, food is a better investment than any other commodity or bond. People will hoard it for that reason and that alone if they have a head on their shoulders.

Investment? Is anyone actually hoarding it and has any idea how to sell it later? It sounds cute to say it, but does anyone have a clue what they're actually doing? I'll be mad if a lot of this rice gets wasted by people who didn't think this through.

[Admiral Valdemar]

People not thinking things through when an alarmist media tells them a global crisis is on their hands? Naw, that ain't gonna happen.

But the WSJ article talking about food being an object only ever going to go up in value might have a slight impact here.