Food Crisis...

[SVT666]

I believe it's a complete conspiracy.  I have even seen news reports that prove the rice shortage is a complete fallacy.

[FoMoJo]

Whether there's an actual food shortage, beyond the normal, may be questionable.  However, that prices for food are increasing where people can barely afford to live makes it a crisis for many.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=412984

Sharply rising prices have triggered food riots in recent weeks in Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Guinea, Mauritania and Yemen, and aid agencies around the world worry they may be unable to feed the poorest of the poor.

In the Philippines, officials are raiding warehouses in Manila looking for unscrupulous traders hoarding rice, while in South Korea, panicked housewives recently stripped grocery-store shelves of food when the cost of ramen, an instant noodle made from wheat, suddenly rose.

The shadow of "a new hunger" that has made food too expensive for millions is the result of a sudden and dramatic surge in food prices around the world.

Rising prices for all the world's crucial cereal crops and growing fears of scarcity are careening through international markets, creating turmoil.

Last Thursday, as world rice prices soared by as much as 30% in one day, Egypt decided to suspend rice exports for six months to meet domestic demand and to try to limit price increases.

[r0tor]

I agree.... same with the "corn crisis" because "all of our corn is being converted to ethanol"...

look at the dept of agriculture numbers - demand increased, supply increased by the same, we still have the same amount of surplus we had 5 years ago, and we still are paying farmers to not even grow crops...

-yawn-

[Byteme]

Shortages or perceived shortages can happen for the strangest reasons.


The Toilet Paper Shortage of 1973

If anyone can remember, the early 70?s everything was in short supply especially oil. When Americans heard the word shortage, they would jump out and purchase these items since they knew what it was like standing in line to get gasoline for their cars.

Well, whether you believe it or not, there was a toilet paper shortage in the United States in 1973. The entire episode started with a Johnny Carson Tonight Show monologue. On December 19, 1973, the writers for the show had heard earlier the federal government was falling behind in getting bids to supply toilet paper and that it might be possible that in a few months the United States could face a shortage of toilet tissue. They took the words of this Wisconsin congressional representative, Harold Froehlich and decided to add a joke for Carson for the evening show.

Carson did in fact use the joke in a monologue stating, "You know what's disappearing from the supermarket shelves? Toilet paper. There's an acute shortage of toilet paper in the United States." 

Much to the amazement of not only the show but of toilet paper factories across America, 20 million people that watched the Carson show that evening ran out in the morning and bought as much toilet paper as they could carry. By noon on December 20, 1973, practically every store in America was out of stock. Many of the stores tried to ration this valuable paper but they could not keep up with the demand no matter what they did.

A few nights later, Johnny Carson explained there was no shortage and he apologized to his viewers. However, this did not help with the scare. As soon as people noticed the empty shelves, they wanted this paper even more.

It took a total of three long and grueling weeks to get the shelves stocked again and finally the shortage was over.

[ChrisV]

Hmm. A couple years back, at the tag end of the Enron commodities scandal, the Commodities regulatory commission placed new rules on commodities trading to limit speculator driven inflation of the type that Enron was behind. About that time, the big investment firms helped start up the much lesser regulated International Commodities Exchange and dove into unregulated OTC trading.

Besides oil, basic foodstuffs like rice futures are traded there. Over the last few years, trillions of dollars have been shifted to this exchange. And, not too coincidentally, the prices on all of these things worldwide started rising at a much higher rate. Good for the investors, bad for the end consumer.

Conspiracy? Maybe a little, in the formation of these loosly regulated exchanges. But mostly opportunism and greed. A little greed is capitalistic and can provide for economic growth. A lot of it is bad for the end consumer, as has been shown by the extremely rapid hikes in prices of foodstuffs that we really aren't in shortage of.

[NomisR]

It's funny that you find stores, especially the big box warehouse stores, rationing food items like rice and flour because people are buying pallets of the stuff.  What are people thinking? 

[the Teuton]

The food crisis hasn't affected me yet.  I'm still buying wheat bread for .89 a loaf.

I do thing we need to deregulate farm subsidies right now, though.  It makes no sense whatsoever.

[Eye of the Tiger]

The people of Haiti are eating dirt-cookies because they don't have enough food, made with 100% real dirt. In other news, I'm still fat.

[sandertheshark]

There has been a food crisis in many parts of the world for many years.  That is very real.

For North Americans, there only food crisis is that there is that too many people are eating too much of it.

As for a global food shortage, file that under any other panic about diminishing resources.  After two hundred years of such claims and no such crisis, it's a more than a little silly for anyone to panic over an imagined scarcity of a resource they have always had plenty of.

[GoCougs]

100% conspiracy.

Demonstrative, totalitarian, terrorist, sectarian, murderous governments that starve their populations in myriad ways, now that's very real.

[Middle_Path]

There is no such thing as a food crisis. We, in America, atleast have an over abundance of foods. And our food subsidies are far more evil than this "conspiracy."

[omicron]

Mmm, food.

[Rupert]

Hemi, yer polls blow.

[Soup DeVille]

Shortages or perceived shortages can happen for the strangest reasons.


The Toilet Paper Shortage of 1973

If anyone can remember, the early 70’s everything was in short supply especially oil. When Americans heard the word shortage, they would jump out and purchase these items since they knew what it was like standing in line to get gasoline for their cars.

Well, whether you believe it or not, there was a toilet paper shortage in the United States in 1973. The entire episode started with a Johnny Carson Tonight Show monologue. On December 19, 1973, the writers for the show had heard earlier the federal government was falling behind in getting bids to supply toilet paper and that it might be possible that in a few months the United States could face a shortage of toilet tissue. They took the words of this Wisconsin congressional representative, Harold Froehlich and decided to add a joke for Carson for the evening show.

Carson did in fact use the joke in a monologue stating, "You know what's disappearing from the supermarket shelves? Toilet paper. There's an acute shortage of toilet paper in the United States." 

Much to the amazement of not only the show but of toilet paper factories across America, 20 million people that watched the Carson show that evening ran out in the morning and bought as much toilet paper as they could carry. By noon on December 20, 1973, practically every store in America was out of stock. Many of the stores tried to ration this valuable paper but they could not keep up with the demand no matter what they did.

A few nights later, Johnny Carson explained there was no shortage and he apologized to his viewers. However, this did not help with the scare. As soon as people noticed the empty shelves, they wanted this paper even more.

It took a total of three long and grueling weeks to get the shelves stocked again and finally the shortage was over.

My grandmother had an entire room stocked full of toilet paper in the basement of her house. You may have just explained why.

[akuma_supreme]

I took a class in college called "World Food Economy".  I can't remember the exact numbers, but if we were to max out capacity on all arable farm land the world over, the world is capable of feeding ~15-20 billion people assuming an 1800 calorie diet.

Historically, the food shortages and even famines have very little to do with breakdowns in production, but rather mismanagement of supply channels. 

During Somalia's famine, it was actually a next exporter of grains.  Ethiopia still boasts some of the best farmland in Africa, but devotes much of it to raising feed for cattle and tobacco for export. 

Other countries meanwhile that have very poor farming resources (like Korea or even Japan given its population) are quite capable of feeding their own populations.

[2o6]

I think it's speculation, as well as gas prices, which are also somewhat speculation.



I don't think there's a shortage, as much as mismanagement.