Forget Oil New Crisis Is Food

Forget Oil New Crisis Is Food

www.financialpost.com

A new crisis is emerging, a global food catastrophe that will reach further and be more crippling than anything the world has ever seen. The credit crunch and the reverberations of soaring oil prices around the world will pale in comparison to what is about to transpire, Donald Coxe, global portfolio strategist at BMO Financial Group said at the Empire Club's 14th annual investment outlook in Toronto on Thursday. "It's not a matter of if, but when," he warned investors. "It's going to hit this year hard."

(visit the link for the full news article)


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Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Japan to Increase Emergency Stockpiles of Grains, Yomiuri Says

So when are we going to wake up and pay more attention to this or is the middle east and oil more important. My only hope is that it isn't too late to do something about it. Unfortunately, I have not seen too many government officials trying to spread the word about this inevitable catastrophe.

www.financialpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I'm leery of claims like this one, when the article talks about US corn. This is because big agribusiness has made such a corn surplus that it's become a major contributor to obesity, heart disease, etc. in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). We have such a corn surplus that they've made it into sweetener and now it's in everything, and in amounts it doesn't need to be. Even Oroweat, which is supposed to be a healthy bread company uses it.

When I see them taking HFCS out of the food we eat, then I'll believe claims like this, but until then, I don't believe we are facing a corn shortage at all; I believe that greedy people are trying to manipulate the market for more profit. As usual.

reply to post by MajorMalfunction

This is because big agribusiness has made such a corn surplus that it's become a major contributor to obesity, heart disease, etc.

This I have to somewhat disagree with. Every individual has the ability to control their weight and fitness level. That is one thing that gets under my skin a bit. The main cause of obesity is not what is in our food, it is that people are lazy and can't get off the couch or away from the television. People refuse to get up and walk places. How many people do you actually see taking the stairs at the mall or in a hospital? I believe that is the main cause of our fatness in this country.

reply to post by MajorMalfunction


I'm sorry for the double post, but I had to include this article for your point of plenty of corn. If I am reading it right, it seems to me that we want to sell corn to Mexico which in turn would hurt the Mexican tortilla industry. This could prove devastating for Mexico.

Mexican farmers protest NAFTA

"We will not have the weapons to compete with the growers of the United States and Canada, who will sell corn cheaper than it's produced here," said Lorenzo Mejia Morales, president of the National Union of Mills and Tortilla Producers.

NAFTA helps Mexico original story from LA Times

Maybe, maybe not.

But my point was that if corn is in such short supply, perhaps they need to quit using it as the sweetener that is in everything. Until I stop seeing HFCS and corn syrup in every product I buy, I don't believe the doom n gloom cries of people involved in finance.

reply to post by MajorMalfunction


I gotcha. I am just offering up the point that if we are so short of corn, how can we be selling it to other countries? I find that quite ironic. Unfortunately, HFCS probably won't be taken out of food. And the food that doesn't have it (organic) costs so much more money, most can't afford it anyway. So you can't win either way.

The big picture developing here is that as the US drifts towards third world status, China and other new powers will be raping our food supplies at bargain basement prices. After all the dollar is about to become worthless. That's how third world countries are treated, their raw materials, food in this case, become the property of those countries smart enough to take care of their own. In our case, our government is owned by foreign interests and the US populace can either starve or eat from the whatever is left over, after our masters have finished their meal.

reply to post by SevenThunders


How about this for a solution? LOL

FDA considers approving cloned foods

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was expected to deem meat and dairy from cloned animals safe for human consumption.

cloned food

I agree with MajorMalfunction regarding the use of HFCS in food products - nasty stuff. I put it right up there with MSG.

There's no actual shortage of corn crops but the corn is being redirected for use in biofuels rather than supplementing the food supply, therefore, creating a shortage of corn in the food industry. In addition, many growers of barley and hopps are switching their crops to corn in order to make more money selling their product for biofuels. Of course, this will cause the price of beer to rise too, something I've been hearing about since early 200

My dad's family are cattle and corn farmers in Johnson County, Iowa and he was just telling me today that bushels of corn were selling for the highest price in 50 years.

Sorry - I'm pretty new and haven't quite grasped adding the external links yet but there have been articles on MSN recently along with the fivecentnickle.com, productiondaily.com, and marketwatch.com (back in January of 2007). I thought sugar cane was an excellent crop for ethynol along with sugar beets and even Hemp...but I haven't heard much about those products being added to farming crops in the U.S.

reply to post by MajorMalfunction


Let's address the real issue here. Why this corn surplus? Because American farmers can sell their corn far below productions costs, due to the fact it's the most heavy taxpayer subsidied crop in the world.

In other words, to answer MM's complain about HFCS getting into evry food, it is because you yourself have agreed on it through the governments you've elected.

The subsidizing of American corn puts third world farmers out of business, and big agro couldn't care less. It's good for them, in fact it is intended. Why this totally out of proportion subsidizing?

Because of the so-called bio-fuels, the biggest scam the world has ever seen. I call them death-fuels, because eventually they'll mean the death of us all (or most of us). What's more important, the 'wheels of society' keep on turning or that insignificant people (useless eaters) lives on?

There's only one way to stop this: don't buy it (HFCS and corn-fuels), and I know that's utopian it will ever happen, but in the end it's the consumer who decides. Only problem in that is, they have a very poor judgement, constantly influenced by big media.

So what's in store? I think it's too late for the consumers to wake up, so the scenario is more likely like descibed in the linked article.

Mr. Coxe said crop yields around the world need to increase to something close to what is achieved in the state of Illinois, which produces over 200 corn bushes an acre compared with an average 30 bushes an acre in the rest of the world.

"That will be done with more fertilizer, with genetically modified seeds, and with advanced machinery and technology," he said.

In other words, it will be done with more fuel craving technologies.

To me it all seems, we can't hurry enough to the end.

And, to get a little off-topic, it'll be about water.

Originally posted by palehorse23
reply to post by MajorMalfunction

 

This is because big agribusiness has made such a corn surplus that it's become a major contributor to obesity, heart disease, etc.

This I have to somewhat disagree with. Every individual has the ability to control their weight and fitness level. That is one thing that gets under my skin a bit. The main cause of obesity is not what is in our food, it is that people are lazy and can't get off the couch or away from the television. People refuse to get up and walk places. How many people do you actually see taking the stairs at the mall or in a hospital? I believe that is the main cause of our fatness in this country.

There is no one main cause. Yes, if you live in a pedestrian city, you will get much more exercise than the normal human being and be able to burn off some of the HFCS. But there is much more than exercise going on here. If you put an animal in a room with only poison laced food, they are going to eat it.

Just try to find a beverage at the local gas station that doesn't have sugar or sweetners of some kind.

High Fructose Corn Syrup is a major contributor to high triglyceride counts.

I was a soda pop addict which has a lot of HFCS.

I had a physical and was told that the "normal" range for triglyceride in my age group was 150..... mine was 907

research lead me to the fact that HFCS is a STRONG suspect in high triglycerides.

I switched to diet sodas and cut down as much HFCS in my diet as possible. (edit: I also started taking a flax seed supplement to boost my omega acid intake)

My last blood test put my triglycerides at 207

HFCS is bad stuff........ it affects a lot of people.... some a lot more than others.

are artifcials sweetners any better? time will tell

edit: sorry got off track of the original topic.... HFCS is a soapbox of mine for anyone who will listen

[edit on 4-1-2008 by RickinVa]

[edit on 4-1-2008 by RickinVa]

[edit on 4-1-2008 by RickinVa]

also note that this forcast has been made before...

at the moment biofuel is NOT a cost alternative to oil...

but once oil hits the magic number where bio fuels become cheaper, then food becomes secondary to mobility,,,, when that happens, we are one step from the end

reply to post by palehorse23

Hi Palehorse,
Here is another snipet of that story that summerizes the source of the corn price increase

the sharp rise in raw food prices in the past year will intensify in the next few years amid increased demand for meat and dairy products from the growing middle classes of countries such as China and India as well as heavy demand from the biofuels industry.

We can thank the new demand for ethanol as fuel for starting the phenomenon as it really got the ball rolling! It's good for the US (and us midwest corn/bean farmers) as it will really get us producing and benifiting from the high prices. We now shoot for 200 bu/ acre corn thanks to fertilizer, genetics and farming practices. That income goes a long ways to pay off debts and for the country to offset payment deficits.

Biofuel seems to be really catching on for some reason but IMHO it is better to use our corn to feed humans and animals! I imagine eventually we will all come to that conclusion.

Your thoughts?

When I think of food shortage I think of fresh fruits and vegetables grown in good earth with no pesticides, insecticides or rapid ripening techniques used. It is expensive to eat good organic food in Australia, I expect that it is much the same all around the world. Most people can not afford to buy organic...hell that was what our predecessors ate!!! Look how far we have DEvolved.

It is relatively cheap to eat other foodstuffs that have been manipulated, altered, flavour enhanced and frozen "for your convenience".

This is our "soylent green"

res

reply to post by palehorse23


forget oil, the world is awash in it....canada has vast reserves.... american companies have capped wells in the gulf of mexico.... this a ploy to make alot of money off of the unsuspecting public... false shortages will drive the price of oil (thus gasoline) higher... don't you get it ...it's about the money , you dumb asses

reply to post by palehorse23


it's always been about the money... forget democracy... forget governments...forget any type of goverment... yes in the the entire world...this is about MONEY!!!!! don't you see what this is!!! a very small select group of people are making a massive amount of MONEY!!!...hello anybody out there!!!!...it's about the MONEY!!!!!

reply to post by palehorse23


it's always been about the money... forget democracy... forget governments...forget any type of goverment... yes in the the entire world...this is about MONEY!!!!! don't you see what this is!!! a very small select group of people are making a massive amount of MONEY!!!...hello anybody out there!!!!...it's about the MONEY!!!!!

reply to post by palehorse23

it seems to me that we want to sell corn to Mexico which in turn would hurt the Mexican tortilla industry. This could prove devastating for Mexico.

Hi Pale,
In an open international market (NAFTA) we should be able to sell corn to Mexico. They sell everything to us. It would not hurt their tortilla industry and it would benifit Mexicans in gereral (more tortillas and tacos cheaper.. good for Mexicans.. get it?) but it wouldn't benifit Mexican corn producers who probably work hard to produce 30 bu/ acre corn while we sit on air conditioned tractors and produce 200 bu/acre corn. Global markets, you win some, you loose some but overall... I imagine US textile workers (if they still exist) have an axe to grind with the Mexican blue jeans industry but hey, blue jeans are real cheap now aren't they? My last pair was about $15, made in Mexico! Thank Bill Clinton for NAFTA and if you don't like it, blame him, he made sure NAFTA passed congress!