Food Rationing Hitting US Stores?

Something keeps telling me to go buy some dirt, water, a gun, and seeds.....


And some ammo..

LOTS of ammo.


And I mean that yesterday...



[edit on 22-4-2008 by Ihavenoidea]

A very critical topic that is getting almost no attention at all. I posted this thread on the subject a few days ago and I think all of ten people glanced at it, none replied. I think only a handful of people are going to care or do anything about it until the day they go to the store and find there's no food there to be had.

Originally posted by thelibra
A very critical topic that is getting almost no attention at all. I posted this thread on the subject a few days ago and I think all of ten people glanced at it, none replied. I think only a handful of people are going to care or do anything about it until the day they go to the store and find there's no food there to be had.

I agree totally..until it actually affects them there is no problems....as of a year ago I was one of those selfish people but a year ago I woke up and Im glad I did. This is an issue and it will get worse before it gets better.

We have not seen that down here (in SW Va) yet though it wouldn't surprise me if it did... I have watched my average food costs go up from about $70 to $80 every 2 weeks (+ or -) to ver $120 and when you are on a set income with little wiggle room that hurts. Thank god I don't have a gasoline habit to support as well.

Well I am on my way to the farmers market to buy some vegetable plants... time to start gardening seriously and I recommend everyone else to do the same.

In the words of the Jimmy Carter character on an old Saturday Night Live skit... "My fellow Americans, you're on your own. Goodnight."

I read a lot of articles, and most of the time I wonder why anyone can have any peace of mind worrying all the time about things in life they can really do nothing about, or at least not change. Subjects like this have been going on for hundreds and thousands of YEARS, not just recent, and it grows tiresome to see people worrying about everything when, if they have faith and take life one day at a time and moment at a time, then they would find that they can actually start to LIVE and let GO. Food is food is food is food. Money is money is money is money. I pay my bills, buy groceries, go to the park and take a walk, listen to music, work and get a second income from Survivors Benefits thanks to my deceased father who died due to a HORRIBLE war in Vietnam that was so done up and had secretive agendas throughout. People, fear is not going to solve anything and reality is, LET IT GO. Live for once.

reply to post by erniemink1



And how do you propose to do that?


Living day to day is okay, but living like the future is set in stone isn't the best either.

Here in portland, Or there hasn't been any evidence of a food shortaage at our local grocery store. I'd say the only difference we've been seeing is just small increases in prices on certain items. Bread seems to be one of the items with increased prices.

If you search for 'food rationing' on google news, you do find a few articles pertaining to it, but nothing that seems imminently threatening and most of it is press from outside the U.S.

Just my 2 centsorooni



[edit on 4/22/2008 by Telafree]

Originally posted by erniemink1
I read a lot of articles, and most of the time I wonder why anyone can have any peace of mind worrying all the time about things in life they can really do nothing about, or at least not change. Subjects like this have been going on for hundreds and thousands of YEARS, not just recent, and it grows tiresome to see people worrying about everything when, if they have faith and take life one day at a time and moment at a time, then they would find that they can actually start to LIVE and let GO. Food is food is food is food. Money is money is money is money. I pay my bills, buy groceries, go to the park and take a walk, listen to music, work and get a second income from Survivors Benefits thanks to my deceased father who died due to a HORRIBLE war in Vietnam that was so done up and had secretive agendas throughout. People, fear is not going to solve anything and reality is, LET IT GO. Live for once.

Unfortunately burying your head in the sand, and believing cliches like the old AA familiar "Let go and let God" won't help either. God helps those who help themselves.

You'll either be prepared for the hardships ahead of us, or you'll be one of the millions dependent on the government other people's charity to sustain you. Which category would you prefer to be in? I'm not very charitable myself when it come to people who had advanced warning and opportunities to ensure their own survival. Maybe others will feel differently though..

Originally posted by erniemink1
I read a lot of articles, and most of the time I wonder why anyone can have any peace of mind worrying all the time about things in life they can really do nothing about, or at least not change.

It's funny you say that, because survivalists like myself wonder how anyone can have any peace of mind not being prepared for an emergency.

Oh, yes, that's right, because it's us who end up feeding, sheltering, watering, protecting, and providing medical treatment to all the people who didn't "waste" their time preparing for an emergency.

Originally posted by erniemink1
Subjects like this have been going on for hundreds and thousands of YEARS, not just recent,

And guess who it was that made it through the famines, plagues, invasions, floods, earthquakes, etc, after all was said and done?
The ant, not the grasshopper.

Originally posted by erniemink1
...and it grows tiresome to see people worrying about everything when, if they have faith and take life one day at a time and moment at a time,
then they would find that they can actually start to LIVE and let GO.

It grows tiresome for you to see other people become prepared to handle an emergency situation? OUR efforts to care for ourselves and our families tire you? Wow... I mean really, Wow.

If I wasn't so stunned, I'd be insulted. I have absolutely nothing to say to that level of complacency and utter lack of survival instinct. Nothing. We're from two completely different worlds, apparently.

Posts like this always put me in a foul mood about the future of the human race.

I made my trip to the grocery store here last night. I wanted to make note of the supposed food crisis that is hitting NA. I live in Alberta, a province of Canada. We are a prairie province with extensive farming, however many of those farms sell exclusively to the US therefore we must buy our food from the US. Gotta love NAFTA. We also produce large quantities of oil and gas here. However, the gasoline is shipped to the US so we pay stupid prices too. Right now we're up to 1.15/liter.

Anyway, in the grocery store I head right to the aisle with rice and to my surprise, there is rice on sale, half price. The only rice that was expensive were the ones in small packages, about 1k, at about $5.99.
The largest bags at 10kg were priced at around $8.99-$15.99 depending on quality with Japanese rice being the most expensive. That was regular price, not sale price.

A 10k bag of rice typically lasts me and my girlfriend about 3-4 months. I don't know about you, but I am feeling that this whole food crisis business is being blown out of proportion. If there was a rice shortage, there definitely would not be sales on rice. Just my opinion though.

Originally posted by spacedoubt

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'll do my part, if others are interested. We need to decided what items we're pricing, and a specific day to post them though to lessen confusion and the need to scan multiple pages.

Originally posted by infinite
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?!?!

Are you being funny, sarcastic or something?

Because I find it hard to believe that someone would pose a question like this based on conjecture without fact.

You scream a question about why the MSM isn't picking up on conjecture with little to no proof of something? REAL Food rationing would be pretty big news and the MSM would surely pick up on it if it had any basis in reality. A report at nysun.com and a post on ATS does not make it so.

Read the actual article and do some research and you'll come to a solid and non hyperbole conclusion.


This is why it is so hard to believe anything on ats these days, you have guys who jump on bandwagons who have zero rational thought, they see something and immediately believe every aspect without challange and then proceeed to scream to the world some injustice...

all based on pretty much speculation and conjecture.


seriously?

Originally posted by metro
I am feeling that this whole food crisis business is being blown out of proportion. If there was a rice shortage, there definitely would not be sales on rice. Just my opinion though.

That's because you currently live in a food-rich area that hasn't had enough time to feel the "trickle-up" food crisis in the rest of the world. It's like saying worldwide pollution is being blown out of proportion because the skies are pretty clear in Labrador.

According to the United Nations President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Léo Mérorès of Haiti:

"The rapidly escalating crisis of food availability around the world has reached emergency proportions"

This echoes the sentiments of Ban Ki-Moon. Public protests and tensions have already broken out in many countries, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Senegal, Morocco and Haiti, because of the surging cost of living.

In a speech by the World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick:

Since 2005, the prices of food staples have jumped 80%. The price of rice hit a 19-year high. The price of wheat rose to a 28-year high (almost twice the average price of the last 25 years).

33 Countries face "potential social unrest" (aka riots), because of such a sharp spike in food and energy prices. There is no margin for survival in countries where food comprises from half to three quarters of consumption.

High, unstable food prices will be with us for years to come.


According to the BBC, in Asia the wholesale price of rice, a staple product for more than 2.5 billion people across the continent, has more than doubled in the past three months, while global supplies have fallen to a thirty-year low.

In 2008 alone, food riots and demonstrations have already broken out in Haiti, Italy, Mexico, India, the Philippines, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Guinea, Mauritania, Senegal, Indonesia, and all over Africa, most notably Eritrea and Zimbabwe.

Dozens of countries are implementing price controls, export bans and tariffs, stockpiling, and rationing.

Even "food-rich" nations like the United States, whose poorest 20% of households typically paid 16% or less of their budget on food, are not immune from this effect.

Source: The Guardian

The last time America's grain silos were so empty was in the early seventies, when the Soviet Union bought much of the harvest. Washington is telling the World Food Programme it is facing a 40% increase in food commodity prices compared with last year, and higher fuel bills to transport it, so the US, the biggest single food aid contributor, will radically cut the amount it gives away.

Considering the U.S. has, up until recently, been responsible for over 70% of the World Food Exports, this poses a very grim picture in the face of repeated worldwide demands for U.S. food exports to close the gap. In the face of trying to feed their own population, the United States may find itself increasingly targeted by starving nations, until eventually it cannot even manage to feed itself.

Originally posted by metro
A 10k bag of rice typically lasts me and my girlfriend about 3-4 months. I don't know about you, but I am feeling that this whole food crisis business is being blown out of proportion. If there was a rice shortage, there definitely would not be sales on rice. Just my opinion though.

It may be a feast or famine type deal depending on what region of the country or World you happen to live in. I wouldn't totally discount the entire notion based on one random sampling. Next month might be a completely different situation for your area.

22lbs of rice may last two people 3 to 4 months when you add in all the side items most people include with their meal like another vegetable, meat, fruit, etc., But how long would that same 22lbs of rice last you if it were all you had to eat?

I'd imagine you'd need a lot more to satisfy your hunger, and some type of bean to add to your diet to get the needed amino acids necessary to make a complete protein.



[edit on 4/22/08 by LLoyd45]

Originally posted by gormly

Read the actual article and do some research and you'll come to a solid and non hyperbole conclusion.

This is why it is so hard to believe anything on ats these days, you have guys who jump on bandwagons who have zero rational thought, they see something and immediately believe every aspect without challange and then proceeed to scream to the world some injustice...

all based on pretty much speculation and conjecture.


seriously?

If you took the MSM as a measure of the truth or fiction of most things, you'd also believe up until just recently that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, Iraq was responsible for 911, and that global warming was just a myth..

I had to make a trip and buy my parents groceries today at the friendly Sylmar Sam's Club. As I proceeded to grab what turned out to be $120 worth of groceries I took some notice of the prices.

1 gallon of milk= $2.45 - $2.85 depending on fat content
1 loaf of bread= $3 - $5
50 lbs of rice (Hahaha you suckers in Glendale I have my rice supply)= $18
potatoes= dirt cheap
I forget the rest.

Anyhow, about that rice, it seems that the Los Angeles rice supply is effected in areas with a high Filipino population.

Although it is a Canadian article, it sheds light on what is happening in Los Angeles.

www.canada.com... ess/story.html?id=bd83766c-69c3-46c1-ab7d-465e6ffd5d5f

In the past few weeks, as the Philippines finds itself at the centre of the global rice shortage, some Metro Vancouver residents have been watching the news overseas, hearing the complaints of friends and relatives there, and slipping an extra 40-pound sack of rice or two into these balikbayan boxes.

It seems there is a spillover effect from other countries with actual food crisis. IMO this is highly contained within areas of a particular ethnic concentration. My case points to a concerned population of Filipino immigrants trying to alleviate actual food problems of relatives in their homeland. The effect of the greater demand on the supply is highly localized to areas of a higher Filipino-American density. Rice prices are generally cheap for American wages so it is not a stretch for local rice shortages to occur.

Food supply in general within the Southern California area seems to be fine. IMO the shelves are stocked well and prices, although rising, are generally affordable. However, there are complaints about a spike in corn product prices, especially corn oil.

I have no idea what the food situation is in other places in the U.S. nor do I have any idea why there should be shortages or rationing in places with a low amount of affected immigrants.

The food situation is real in other countries however, hence the localized spill-over in rice supply. As the Chinese and Indians start joining the same fat-club as Americans, and as the world decides to grow fuel in the place of food, one can only wonder what the food situation will be like in the future.

Heard this story mentioned on CNBC today. Also there was an Op-Ed about rising food prices in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. Here

WSJ

If this seems a stretch, ponder this: The emerging bull market in agricultural products is following in the footsteps of oil. A few years ago, many Americans hoped $2 gas was a temporary spike. Now it's the rosy memory of a bygone age.

[edit on 22-4-2008 by jefwane]

Anyone else notice that Canada.com ends with .com? Canadian domains end with .ca

Anyhow.
The article points out how Canada is already having to fill the gaps with aid overseas on a personal basis.

With Canada being a supply nation, this whole food shortage and recession in the states might not hurt Canada so badly.
We've got the water, the food, things you simply can't survive without, and would be willing to pay near anything for.

On top of that, while the banks lose money, our banks have been buying up sections in the states. One of my friends at RBC said they won't put two and two together down there, because very few people in the southern states know what RBC means.
Same goes for TD Financial.

So, it looks like Canada is relatively safe during the recession... and will come out pretty well off when it's over... so long as you're investing in exported goods, and the future of the Canadian banks.


I didn't believe it when people up here kept saying we've prepped for it. Now it's making sense.

reply to post by spacedoubt


Good idea; count me in if you decide to organize something on this website. I live in a mountain area of Southern California, not too far from Los Angeles city. Last year, I posted my comments somewhere on BTS about food shortages, but got no replies then. Maybe now the sky-high prices for gasoline, diesel, food commodity prices and considerable increases almost across-the-board in grocery store prices are starting to convince more of the BTS membership to rethink the possibility of food rationing.

I rarely shop at supermarkets, and never at Wal-Mart, but at an ethnic grocery store which sells a lot of imported food from India and Pakistan, I noticed a hand-written apology on the shelves where the plastic bags of dal (similar to dry split peas and dry lentils) were, explaining that dal prices in India had started going up a lot. Of course a lot of farmers in India have been pushed out of business in the last few years.

I mostly cook with whole grains, dried beans, some dried pasta and dried nuts and seeds, fresh produce, and a small amount of unrefined sesame oil and unrefined olive oil. In my recent shopping trips at health food stores and a few times in Little Tokyo or at Latino markets, the prices for those items have been fairly stable, with no quantity limits imposed so far. I do buy large quantities of these staples when I can find them on sale, which has happened a few times even in the last 6 months, although not in the last 30 days come to think of it. I keep usable quantities of dry staples in large covered glass jars in cupboards along the kitchen floor (which stays cooler than upper level cupboards), and larger amounts I keep in sealed buckets in a separate cupboard.

Maybe after this year's U.S. election there will start to be better enforcement of laws already on the books for commodity speculation. The speculators really are doing a lot of damage to food prices.

[edit on 4/22/2008 by Uphill]

I really am not sure how we got here, whether its oil prices, the tanking dollar or what but I am truly amazed and not only the fact that we do have a looming food crisis but that it has happened so fast.

Has anyone read Jared Diamond's "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Succeed or Fail"? If not I highly recommend it. Very timely. I may have to go back and reread it... between plantings in my garden.