Food Rationing Hitting US Stores?

Food Rationing Hitting US Stores?

www2.nysun.com

Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.

At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers grew frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.

"Where's the rice?" an engineer from Palo Alto, Calif., Yajun Liu, said. "You should be able to buy something like rice. This is ridiculous."

(visit the link for the full news article)



Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Global Rioting Potential? The looming meltdown.

I have been following the growing crisis in rice (and other staples) for several weeks now. Today, I posted this article in a thread dedicated largely to the rice issue...but this current article really deserves its own thread.

This is the first real MSM article I've seen citing actual examples of food-shortage-related rationing by retailers.

An ominous sign indeed...

This issue is worth watching very closely.

www2.nysun.com
(visit the link for the full news article)


[edit on 21-4-2008 by loam]

I haven't seen any shortages or rationing in my area ( Northern KY), but I have noticed that the prices have increased about 60 % on items like flour, rice, wheat products, corn meal, beans, etc. over the past year. We use these items quite regularly, so I know when an increase occurs almost immediately.

Even at the inflated prices though, they move pretty fast. This leads me to believe people are currently stockpiling food. It's a good idea if you have the funds to do so, since I imagine the costs will only continue to rise.

If our government doesn't change it's "leaders" we may face rationing of everything but BS.


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[edit on 21-4-2008 by DontTreadOnMe]

reply to post by LLoyd45


I have been watching closely too. I also have not seen direct evidence of this-- other than the inflated prices.

This may prove to be an interesting week. If shortages are coming to the shelves, it will happen very quickly. I think I'll be hitting the stores everyday this week to keep an eye on it.

reply to post by alienib


I have been informed by a very reliable source that there is no foundation to the rumor that our leaders, and potential leaders, are rationing BS. With the upcoming elections fast approaching, many actually expect an upswing in BS levels, and naturally, any new Administration is expected to keep the level of BS just as steady as always. Under some conditions, I have been assured that levels might even rise to a new high.

Seriously, shortages will be rough on those living paycheck to paycheck, as well as ones on a fixed income. Shortages always mean increased prices, so a greater portion of available funds have to be used for food. This means a further economic problem as other corners are cut to make ends meet.

Rough times if this is a long term event.

Originally posted by loam
This may prove to be an interesting week. If shortages are coming to the shelves, it will happen very quickly. I think I'll be hitting the stores everyday this week to keep an eye on it.

It would be interesting if ATS members around the country could post the current prices for staples like Rice, flour, wheat, corn meal, and cooking oils for a later comparison.

I included the cooking oils category after reading the article. Shortening, lard, and other vegetable-based oils have all gone up as well. A 3lb bucket of lard used to be about $2.99, now it's $4.29 in my area. That's almost a 70% increase since January. I switched over to shortening that was $1.99 for a 3lb can, but even it has risen to $2.69. That's a 73% increase in the same time period!

That is certainly odd.

I'm just on the other side of the border from the states, (southern Ontario).
We typically share the same food supply lines as the states, unless its a product made here in ontario of course.

We have barely seen a change at all... and certainly nothing immediate.

Same products... same suppliers... different costs.

This is not looking like a supply issue... this is being affected from elsewhere in the equation.

Originally posted by LLoyd45
It would be interesting if ATS members around the country could post the current prices for staples like Rice, flour, wheat, corn meal, and cooking oils for a later comparison.

I thought of a similar exercise several weeks ago... but that's where my healthy sense of denial met my healthy sense of paranoia...and resulted in nothing.

It's nice that you started.

There is a surreal aspect to all of this, but I'm alarmed enough now that I'm looking much more closely.

I'd also like to see any posts from people who have actually begun to see examples of retail rationing or shortages.

Like I said, this may prove to be an interesting week.

Originally posted by johnsky
This is not looking like a supply issue... this is being affected from elsewhere in the equation.

Actually, most of what I read indicates supply is the lesser of those factors affecting prices. There is a lot of speculation in the commodities market right now, and frankly after every bubble ( first dot.com, then real estate, now commodities ) the money has to move somewhere.

For a real conspiratorial view, how about a purposeful manipulation of the markets to achieve some other end?

Take for example Monsanto (which everyone in the conspiracy world loves beating on)- could they, and companies like them, have the scale to bring about such manipulation? I don't know if such a thing would be possible, but it makes for some interesting conspiratorial thinking.

See for example:

In lean times, biotech grains are less taboo

Soaring food prices and global grain shortages are bringing new pressures on governments, food companies and consumers to relax their longstanding resistance to genetically engineered crops.

More...

And clearly, they are looking good:

Agriculture Has Legs

Monsanto (MON), the most richly valued, has a forward P/E of 32.62, but has an estimated annual growth rate of 36.9% over the next five years.

More...

That's an aggressive growth prediction for a company as large as Monsanto.


[edit on 21-4-2008 by loam]

Working in the grocery business there has been a recent surge in prices on just about everything from asparagus to diapers to zucchinis. Supply, so far as I've noticed, hasn't been affected in any way. There are, of course, seasonal issues when a certain item might not be as readily available in April as it might be in say, September...

Most of the increase in food prices have been driven by not only the obvious ones of fuel costs, but also the pressure of converting corn into fuel substitutes. Having to balance these is whats driving the increases, and perhaps the inavailability of certain staple items.

I live way out in the country in Louisiana. My boyfriend owns a small country store. Prices have increased dramatically over the last year. He also has the only gas pumps for miles around.

Some of our grocery staples are delivered. Not only have the prices gone up on things like flour and oil, there company who delivers also is charging higher delivery prices to compensate for fuel.

We make a few trips a week to shop in bulk in Baton Rouge. There are some places we shop for the store that have been out of items that are staples for this area, such as grits, oatmeal, etc..

The store is also a retail location for federal WIC program, and we are having a hard time keeping items in stock for it. There are many items in the program that we are loosing money on. Milk, eggs, beans and rice are some of them. The government is not keeping up with the cost of the food items in the program to make it worth while for us to sell anymore. We are considering dropping out of the WIC program. If we sell a package of beans for .10 cents less than what the government is willing to reimburse us for, it's really bad news all the way around.

Why is this not being reported by the MSM?

sorry for the large text, but this is a serious issue that cannot go ignored. The world's only superpower is rationing food?!?!

reply to post by loam


Speaking of possible conspiracies with food:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I keep seeing things like this rationing idea, and higher prices, that keep me thinking there just might be something to this idea of using food as an economic, or even actual, weapon of war.

reply to post by infinite


Because it seems clear *that* institution is about as broken as it can be...

It will take food lines or violence before they really recognize and cover the growing problem.



reply to post by NGC2736


Also a very interesting concept. Nice thread.


[edit on 21-4-2008 by loam]

reply to post by loam


I'm amazed that FOXNews and CNN are focusing more on the riots and violence, instead of the potential humanitarian crisis that is about to hit Africa when we can no longer provide food aid.

No shortage of food here (yet??). Just really high prices.
Wait until hurricane season comes sweeping in. THEN
we'll see what happens.

Originally posted by alienib
If our government doesn't change it's "leaders" we may face rationing of everything but BS.

You'll still get the B.S. - Obama and Hillary are full of it as well.


Edited to add - CNN was talking about this on tv this morning.
- The food shortage/prices etc ... not the BS by Hillary and Obama


[edit on 4/21/2008 by FlyersFan]

reply to post by loam
I think a lot of people rather proverbially stick there heads in the sand and ignore what's going on around them. Sometimes I prefer to do so as well. I'd rather believe I'm paranoid than my little World is about to come crumbling down about my head.

Like gas prices, until people can no longer afford to grin and bear it, there will be no incentive to protest, boycott, or raise hell with their representatives. By that time it'll be too late in the game to do anything about it. People will then have to focus all their energy on simply surviving in a hostile economy that takes little notice of their suffering.

Just look at the indifference many show towards the people that are loosing their homes right now. It's the better you than me attitude at it's best. Nobody really cares until it impacts their lives personally. Someone posted a quote awhie back that seems to apply..

"A recession is when your neighbor loses his house, a depression is when you lose your own."



[edit on 4/21/08 by LLoyd45]

Originally posted by alienib
If our government doesn't change it's "leaders" we may face rationing of everything but BS.

Thats the best answer i have seen on here for a while.

Lol, but with global warming being a con. Maybe food shortages may be used in a way to make the world act together, they are searching for some excuse.

[edit on 4/21/2008 by andy1033]

Originally posted by LLoyd45
Just look at the indifference many show towards the people that are loosing their homes right now.

I haven't seen any 'indifference'.

I've seen people discuss the situation and call it like it is ... a capitalist market correction ... and I've seen people say that those who are flippers and speculators shouldn't be bailed out .... but I haven't seen anyone be 'indifferent' to people who have lost their homes (as long the people buying weren't over-extending on purpose).