Food Rationing Hitting US Stores?

Los Angeles, Mexi.....er California here

Anyways there is a large Filipino population here in Los Angeles and they are very well connected to what is going on in the Philippines.

There is a big rice shortage in the Philippines, much of the population depends on rice to eat and much of the population is too poor to afford the large increases in the price of rice. To make matters worse, there are merchants hoarding rice.


www.atimes.com..." target="_blank" class="postlink">www.atimes.com...

The Filipino community in the U.S. is known for sending money and goods to their homeland for their much poorer relatives.

Personal story: I went to Costco with my girlfriend, who is of Filipino descent, looking for rice. The guys at Costco put the larger sacs of white rice towards the back of the warehouse and there were a bunch of people (Filipinos) that loaded their entire cart with rice. By the time we got to where the rice was, it all ran out. I asked some lady what the deal with is with buying all this rice while not leaving some for other customers. She said her poor relatives in the Philippines couldn't get rice, it is dumb sending money because the exchange rate is starting to suck for the dollar, so she is buying the rice here and sending it offshore. I don't know if this is legal but I am sure the Philippine authorities don't care.

I don't know if this has anything to do with any current rationing but I thought I would offer a perspective to this issue.

reply to post by loam


Yes, I did laugh though when I read this. When I authored this thread:
The Third Seal is upon us - Food riots 'an apocalyptic warning' the comments were for the most part that the food crisis wasn't a problem. They are not hungry so it doesn't matter.

I am of course suspicious of the depopulation theories... or perhaps it is depopulation reality?

Terrible situation...

Originally posted by wutone
She said her poor relatives in the Philippines couldn't get rice, it is dumb sending money because the exchange rate is starting to suck for the dollar, so she is buying the rice here and sending it offshore.

How did that woman actually think she would get all that rice to the Philippines?

Has anyone mailed a package of anything anywhere lately? Can you imagine the expense?

[edit on 21-4-2008 by loam]

Originally posted by loam


How did that woman actually think she would get all that rice to the Philippines?

Has anyone mailed a package of anything anywhere lately? Can you imagine the expense?

[edit on 21-4-2008 by loam]

The Filipino community has solved that problem a long time ago, it just takes awhile
en.wikipedia.org...

Shortage?

And here we are shipping well over 150,000 tons of various grains a DAY to the west coast. And thats just on the one main line I work. One of 5 or 6 in North America. Have been for a couple of months. No shortages in the stores, my wife just came home with rice and flour yesterday with no mention of problems.

There isn't any REAL shortage, but there sure might be a manufactured one in places.

I have only noticed that food prices are up slightly in general. Our stores here in Colorado, or rather my area of Colorado, have been fully stocked. I just bought a huge bag of jasmine rice the other day actually. 20lbs I believe it was.

I am going to be growing a garden this year too so I'm hoping that will cut down on the grocery bill some. My biggest expense is produce, not the staples like flour, corn meal, rice or pasta.

reply to post by wutone


Thanks for the link!

That isn't something I knew.

I wonder how much of this behavior is in play?

Originally posted by loam
reply to post by wutone

 

Thanks for the link!

That isn't something I knew.

I wonder how much of this behavior is in play?

In terms of how it affects rice supply in the Los Angeles area, I am not entirely sure, but I am hearing stories that finding white rice usually involves good timing and luck.

In terms of sending food, money, and goods to the Philippines, that is cultural. There are strong family ties and a lot of people are worried about the well being of their family abroad.

What I am sure of and it seems like there is agreement, there is a definite price rise in food. I don't think this country should be worried yet, we don't have the living standard like those that spend 75% of their income on food in other countries.

I suspect that since we import much of our food from outside the US, that the price rise is somewhat due to the falling value of the dollar;
Also, since the food we produce in the US is grown with oil powered vehicles, oil-based fertilizer, and oil-based chemicals, this is also causing a rise in prices;
Thirdly, because the people of earth keep having too many babies and they keep eating, we are running out of food for all of them;
And we are paving over all our farms to build McMansions and beach resorts, and high rise condo developments so we have to truck our food in from farms farther away which raises prices;
And we don't store food in grain towers anymore-it is shipped from the farms to the stores over a few days, so when production drops, we see it immediately...
For all these reasons, there is going to be a whole lot of starving and not just in the third world...

But carbs are bad for you anyway--they cause obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer...we need to eat more organic, locally grown produce and less grain and oil; so grow a garden, the exercise will keep you fit and the food is better for you and you won't have to buy gas for the mower if your yard is a vegetable garden

reply to post by j_kalin


So somehow we are harvesting in excess of 150,000 tons of grain a day in the middle of April? In case you didn't notice, there is still snow on most of the wheat fields. If food isn't being stored in elevators anymore, where is it coming from?

reply to post by burdman30ott6


Our food bill here in Canada hasn't really changed much from week to week, maybe $20, but I could attribute that to the extra goodies I sneaked into the mix... It does seem a bit higher though.

Looks like a lot of us are on the same page regarding the economics of edibles.

I too, started the thread of the subtle signs of economic downturn, mostly food related.
www.abovepolitics.com...

We need to collect our thoughts here. A single thread.
I like the idea of "staple watch". A set list of products that the average household requires. How about we put something like this together?

Geographically diverse price tracking.

I live in California and I've not noticed any particular shortage of supply.

However...I have noticed the following:

1) Prices on some items have risen considerably. For example, the hot dogs that I like have gone from $5 to $7 per pack.

2) My local grocery store has recently begun stocking items which are clearly intended for stockpiling. This three liter stackable water bottle for example. (Nuisance .aspx link, but it does have a picture.)

3) After a few weeks of reading so many discussions of shortages, I started buying more food. About a week ago I walked out of a grocery store with the realization that I had spent three times as much money as I usually would.

I'm reminded of the allegory about the grocer who announced a mustard shortage in order to get rid of his large mustard surplus. Sure enough, shortly after he announced the shortage, there was one.

[edit on 21-4-2008 by LordBucket]

This has to be do to gas/diesel prices since it costs more to transport the goods. That makes sence to me anyway.

Originally posted by jasonhb
This has to be do to gas/diesel prices since it costs more to transport the goods. That makes sence to me anyway.

Don't forget the use of agriculture for biofuels. It seems that the fuel prices overall haven't been helped with the new biofuel trend and now our food prices go up.

reply to post by LLoyd45


I'm in Chicago and i've seen the prices increase tremedously here. Last year at this time i could get a dozen eggs on sale for $0.99 now they're up to $2.79 at a cheap store, can't get em for any less than $1.79 on sale. really saw how bad it was during easter, eggs are always on sale at easter, checked all the stores nobody had them on sale. Grain products, a loaf of store brand bread wheat bread is now about $2.00 & a brand name is over $4.00 in most stores. Haven't noticed any obvious rationing, but if there was rationing going on they would try real hard to do it in a way where we didn't notice until it was too late. I have noticed over the past several months that one of the stores that i go to has been awfully low on certain things. These is a major chain that has always had well stocked shelves, but thier shelves seem to be filled to only 1/2 capacity lately.

reply to post by Charity

Charity, I think you're a little confused as to what this about. I believe we are worried more about the direction this is all going as opposed to...WA WA, I have to pay a little more for common staples.
A lot of people in the US can't afford to feed their families as it is. If this pattern continues, god only knows what it will lead to. Gas has hit an all time high. Some people I work with bring home less than $300/ week. Try to raise a family on that salary when your utilities + gas (petrol) alone cost half of your salary. When you add food in the mix, there are a lot of families that need staples such as rice just to survive.
If you'd like the truth...Yes, right now I couldn't give a rat's petute about starving children in Africa. How about our governments take care of our own starving children first, then we'll worry about issues we have less control of.
I hold my head high!

IM sorry for interrupting.. please read this thread.. I need people to KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING...

PLEASE READ THIS!!

Last year the US produced a record crop of corn and other grains. Virtually all grains were at new record highs.

Much of last years corn crop is now warehoused.

The storys of a bad year last year are false. I don't comprehend the motivation behind that disinformation.

The hell of it is that since grain can be converted to fuel, it now has the equivalent value.

People simply cannot afford to buy it. When the 50% automatic tax hike hits in 2010 we will see some outrage if there are many left standing by then.

For more info see the WSJ article, The Coming Tax Bomb.
You can google news it.

Combine the increased taxation with increased unemployment, irradiated foods, the illegalization of vitamins and natural remedies. Competition for grain for conversion to fuel. Inability to deliver goods due to high fuel pricesdriving independant truckers out of business. The impending pandemic. Wars depleating the wealth of America, the Fed devaluing the dollar and the value of everything we own by handing out billions for bailouts. And you will have to come to the conclusion that some extremely rough times are coming at us like a freight train.

reply to post by hammerhead

think you should have a look at images like this and place your self in this childs shoes. this is what the west has done to others.
www.hoslink.com..." target='_blank' class='tabOff'/>
m x
edit to add its lucky for you and indeed all of us that we are able to hold our heaads high coz these folk cant...their mussels have been used to keep their poor starving dissintergrated bodies from being dead.

[edit on 22-4-2008 by morganathefey]