Food prices going up (chicken, wild, panel, sustainable)

[Mac_Muz]

Originally Posted by brooklynborndad

what price does corn have to hit before people decide that subsidies/mandates for corn based ethanol are poor ideas?

I don't know, but that 15% ethenol the Govt is talkin' about has got an engine made to run on the stuff, period. The 10% we have now is a max % and only acts as filler. 'We' all lose apx 10% miles per gallon and 10% power for it. Gasoline engines are not designed to burn any ethenol.

'We' could run car engines on 100% ethenol, but the engines would all need to be moddified to do that, and then would not run on gas.

Even with alternate fuel, we still need lubrication in one or another form of oil.

[monkeywrenching]

well, took a list of goods that I buy every march for the last 3 years and compared prices. 3 years ago I spent 112 frn's on the grocery items, and spent 233 frn's last week on the same items. it is really bad to see bread go from .49 to 1.69 for a loaf of generic bread.

[Mrs. Skeffington]

Thank God I haven't seen the price of seeds go up from last year (at least where I buy them). I'm itching to start tilling. I stocked up on coffee, enough to last me through spring and summer.

[Mac_Muz]

Originally Posted by monkeywrenching

well, took a list of goods that I buy every march for the last 3 years and compared prices. 3 years ago I spent 112 frn's on the grocery items, and spent 233 frn's last week on the same items. it is really bad to see bread go from .49 to 1.69 for a loaf of generic bread.

Bread was .49 in recent times where you live? Or is that dated a few decades?

Above when I was mentioning ethenol I meant to typo 'hasn't' as in there hasn't been a engine made by any body that is designed to run on 15% ethenol. The engines we run today are not designed to be run on 10% ethenol. The ethenol harms certain gaskets, and acts as a filler to take up space, robbing us of apx 10% power AND 10% miles per gallon.

IMO ethenol gas should be discounted 10% and the choice given for real gas! Around me there is one gas staion that sells real gas, and many marina's, since etheonl attracts water from thin air.

[lifelongMOgal]

China province faces worst drought in a century - AlertNet

Parts of northern, central and eastern China have been gripped by drought for more than three months, with deterioriated conditions in in major winter wheat regions.

Drought has affected winter wheat crops in 17 percent of growing areas in the northern bread basket and dry weather is forecast to extend until spring, the government said last month.

The upper US Midwest is expecting significant Spring flooding from snowmelt. This could put an additional crimp in wheat availability. Combine that with Russia's shortage and I think we should be burning less food for fuel and planting more wheat and other grains.

[Sky1]

Who cares about higher food prices, it's now easier to roll down the aisles without all those people with full shopping carts. It's easier to add up the totals when everything cost $5 and then paying with a foodstamp card so other peoples kids can pay for my muchies that I eat while collecting unemployment and watching american idol and dancing with the stars in a house I defaulted on years ago is true bliss. Ahhh the American Dream!

Ok, this is not me. But the problem is many are now on this entitlement train.

By the way, train ends July 2011.

Got Food?

[taiinuk12]

i don't food price is going up, the dollar value going down, hear what traffic control get pay on sleeping on the job

[NHartphotog]

Originally Posted by im_a_lawyer

why are you people in such panic? I don't care that the demand for food globally has went up. Who cares?
United States is one of the few countries that can survive from within its own borders.

We have the most "usable" land in the world. Sure, Russia and Canada have more land than us in absolute terms, but half of their land is permanently frozen - unusable.

We can farm our way to cheap food so I wouldn't panic if a food has temporarily went up. We're not depended on other nations.

On the other hand, if you're Singapore then yeah this affects you way more because Singapore doesn't have any farm land - they must import their food from other countries.

Considering that our elected leaders cannot sell us out to the rest of the world fast enough (does sending our manufacturing and jobs overseas to make a few ultra-rich even richer ring a bell?), whether we have the ability to feed our nation is irrelevant when the mega-farms (owned by huge corporations) sell to the highest bidder.

And our government will happily order grains and corn to be used for "green" fuels rather than food, because that is one of their pet games. They could care less that the vast majority of Americans are already hurting badly. After all, they think the worse they make things, the stronger the liberals will call for "More Government!" to take care of everyone.

Nobody (other than Libertarians) seems to notice that the larger and more expensive government gets, the worse our economy stagnates and the faster the world moves to make us irrelevant to the prosperous economies like China that will rule the future. Ironic that our politicians also insist that American taxpayers continue to pay for the policing of the world, to make it safe for the rising economies to trade in.

[RememberMee]

Only mentally challenged and economists believe in the unlimited growth in the finite world. What if it's not just about politics? What is politics after all? Nothing more than exalted splitting of the economic pie between classes and clans.

May I suggest a blasphemous thought that mankind is full steam towards approaching carrying capacity wall? We exhaust resources and play with Earth life support and yet expect cheap industrial food to last forever, regardless.

[the_windwalker]

Originally Posted by im_a_lawyer

why are you people in such panic? I don't care that the demand for food globally has went up. Who cares?
United States is one of the few countries that can survive from within its own borders.

I'm afraid we've got a whole lot of "gearing up" to do before we can survive on our own today. Example, we import much more of the steel we use than what is processed here in the States. Even our scrap metal is shipped overseas to be processed into new steel.

Much of the technology that was first put into use in the USA is not done in other countries. We no longer have the facilities to do the job here. Go around your own home and see how many of the things you have were made in Japan or China. The product may have been invented here, and the manufacturing process may have been developed here, but the whole industry has been moved off shore, and the products are now imported.

In order to survive within our own boarders, we have billions of dollars to invest in facilities and equipment. And, in some cases, we have years to invest in the time to rebuild the facilities and equipment that we no longer have. We will get past it, but it will be a hardship in many parts of the country.

Originally Posted by im_a_lawyer

We have the most "usable" land in the world. Sure, Russia and Canada have more land than us in absolute terms, but half of their land is permanently frozen - unusable.

We can farm our way to cheap food so I wouldn't panic if a food has temporarily went up. We're not depended on other nations.

And, much of our productive farm land is been gobbled up for development of empty warehouses and housing (up until a few years ago). At this point, we do still have enough producing farm land to keep ourselves fed, but with increasing population and farm land being diverted to other uses, we will be facing a problem in the future. But, look at the last part of my post.

Originally Posted by im_a_lawyer

On the other hand, if you're Singapore then yeah this affects you way more because Singapore doesn't have any farm land - they must import their food from other countries.

Just for today, you might be better off to live in Singapore.

We have a serious problem with rising costs of energy. Fuel prices are on their way up again. That means electricity will also go up. But, food prices are directly linked to fuel costs. It's called "COST OF DELIVERY".

The produce is grown on farms that are miles away from the processing plants. That means trucks must transport the produce to those plants. "COST OF DELIVERY".

The processing plants use energy that cleans the produce, may cook it, and freeze or can it. That means energy, and since a number of our generating plants use fuel to help them keep up with the demand for energy, it raises the cost of energy. Even if the plant burns coal, the cost of delivery of that coal in involved as well. It does not matter if it is shipped by truck (seldom), train, barge, or ship, they all use fuel. "COST OF DELIVERY". So, your (and our) electric bill goes up.

From the processing plant, the produce is shipped around the country to warehouses. Again, it would not matter if they are shipped by truck or train (although, generally by truck because of "just-in-time" delivery requirements), they still use fuel. And, as fuel costs rise, so does the "COST OF DELIVERY". But it doesn't end there.

From the warehouse (where storage costs, and especially refrigeration, have gone up), more trucks are used to deliver the produce to the stores, and again, the "COST OF DELIVERY". And, prices that go up, generally do not go back down.

What this means to the American Public is, the amount they have to pay to go to and from their places of work has gone up. Whether it's their car, bus, or train, the operating costs have gone up, so the cost of getting to and from work also goes up. Add in the increased food prices, and Americans no longer have the money to spend. The economy slows down.

I'm retired, so I don't have to go to and from work. But, with fuel prices going up, license and registration going up, insurance premiums going up, and taxes going up, I've sold my car, and I won't be replacing it. (ONE LESS NEW CAR SALE)

The new Lay-Z-boy I was going to get will be staying at the store. Instead, I'll be turning my old one over and adding a couple of screws to hold it together. (ONE NEW PIECE OF FURNITURE STAYS IN FACTORY STOCK)

In the last two months, the cost of a gallon of milk went up by $0.20. And, that's at the cheap store. If I go to a regular store, it's a whole dollar higher yet. So, since the TV in my bedroom went out, I'm giving up having a TV in the bedroom at all. (After all, years ago, we didn't have a TV anywhere but in the living room. And, it had a snowy picture most of the time. It won't kill me.)

The door fell of my fridge last week. I would have bought a new one, but this one still cools well. And, with the increased costs I'm facing, I looked at the hinge and rebuilt it, put the door back on, and it's working well. It will probably outlast the original one.

Because the prices are going up, and I don't have the money to spend, that makes several items that aren't getting sold. Now, multiply that in every area of the country. Remember when Bush (the younger) said the economy was healthy, with a few storm clouds on the horizon?

You're looking at that right now. The latest computer model I've seen says that as fuel prices go up to $5./gallon in summer, the average American consumer will move his diet closer to bread and water. He's going to have less to spend and the economy may well go into another tail-spin. We don't have time to shift gears and revitalize our industries that have moved off shore. We're getting down to weeks, not years. And, considering that fuel and energy costs aren't going to come back down, I don't see a "temperary" increase in anything. And, your chances of "farming" your way to cheap food prices is a fairy tale.