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Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World
.nysun.com — MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. � 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...
Mediamoron- 74 diggs
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- StepCousin, on 04/21/2008, -1/+10Maybe we should start eating oil, considering we're using our food as a fuel source.
- muckemuck, on 04/21/2008, -3/+2huh? The last I heard less than 20% of the food shortage problem is caused by biofuel production.
- LumpyRevolution, on 04/21/2008, -1/+9So 20% is fine then? Ummm... Hello?
- JDenigma, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3I've also seen that the subsidizing of corn for fuel has contributed to a third of the price rises worldwide. As you pointed out there, you're right, who cares what the numbers are. Give or take a few percentage points, that's not the point we should be looking at. Any price rise as a result of this political meddling with the market is bad, even if it's only 1% The real question we should be asking is, should the damn government even be in the business of subsidizing anything in the first place. It distorts the market!
- StepCousin, on 04/21/2008, -0/+4Being that we burn more than a gallon of fossil fuel to produce a gallon of ethanol, don't you think we may want to take another look at this ridiculous idea?
Even though I believe using food for fuel is asinine, sugar cane is much more efficient than corn ethanol. Unfortunately, sugar cane doesn't have a lobby in Washington.
And yeah, I know what the evil alternative is.....drilling for oil domestically and building refineries. It's all good though. We would no longer be dependent on foreign oil. Think outside of the box.- irvman21, on 04/21/2008, -0/+4Even more unfortunately, Iowa is the first stop on the road to being president. This entire food crisis comes down to the fact that Iowa has a disproportionate impact on the Presidential race and you can't compete in Iowa if you don't support massively stupid ethanol subsidies.
- StepCousin, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2And I meant to add something to that effect.
Your comment was poignant. I bow to thee.
- StepCousin, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2And I meant to add something to that effect.
- muckemuck, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1You're right.. . except you repeated the mantra that you burn a gallon of fossil fuel to create a gallon of ethanol. That's simply wrong. Much of the fossil fuel is needed because we in the US are so stupid that we produce our ethanol and then TRUCK it halfway across the country. We need to build a larger number of smaller ethanol refineries across the country so less is used in transport, and we need to use something other than corn as the base..
- irvman21, on 04/21/2008, -0/+4Even more unfortunately, Iowa is the first stop on the road to being president. This entire food crisis comes down to the fact that Iowa has a disproportionate impact on the Presidential race and you can't compete in Iowa if you don't support massively stupid ethanol subsidies.
- muckemuck, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1Now.. . how much of the rise in cost of foods is attributed to the rise in cost of petroleum? How much of it is attributed to the drop in value of the world currencies? How much of our farm subsidies go to pay farmers with good fields to NOT grow corn in order to raise the price (which was needed at one time long ago but still continues to this day)? How much rise in cost of RICE is due to ethanol production?? How about rise in cost of WHEAT? Eh? You can't blame it all on ethanol production.
Now.. just so you understand -- I know producing ethanol from corn is stupid beyond belief. I also know that blindly jumping on the bandwagon of blame and blaming the wrong thing is equally as stupid. Instead of fixing the real problem you end up "fixing" whatever someone else wanted changed. - insomniac8400, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1dense = you
- LumpyRevolution, on 04/21/2008, -1/+9So 20% is fine then? Ummm... Hello?
- muckemuck, on 04/21/2008, -3/+2huh? The last I heard less than 20% of the food shortage problem is caused by biofuel production.
- BriVaps, on 04/21/2008, -0/+3no more sticki rice for you
- allowners, on 04/21/2008, -0/+5I'm back in the USSR.
- empirefalling, on 04/21/2008, -5/+3And this is news? This has been occurring for decades in the United States. The Multimedia Corporations do not wish the secret let out. Rice, breads, cereals of all types are almost unattainable to the working class. The Revolution is coming to the US…..soon.
- StepCousin, on 04/21/2008, -1/+8So, you're saying that people have been unable to get food in America for decades? That's weird, because they all look like a bunch of fat-asses to me.
- empirefalling, on 04/21/2008, -3/+4Most americans have diets heavy in animal fat. Bovine and avian meats, potatoes and tainted fish from US toxic rivers make up their diet. Americans can not afford a healthy diet like that of Europeans and other more progressive Socialist countries. It is much cheaper for them to purchase bags of processed foods like heavily oiled chips and sugar ladened sweets. They do not have the ability or freedom of choice to regulate their diets.
- StepCousin, on 04/21/2008, -4/+4Europe sucks, dude. I've been there a bunch of times.
You'll have to trust me on this one. - JohnUSeed, on 04/25/2008, -0/+1I wrote a blog posting at http://www.johnuseed.com/?p=108 about a news story that talked about the health care problem in the US.
From the article:
Obesity—a factor strongly associated with heart problems, diabetes, osteoarthritis, respiratory problems and some forms of cancer—now affects a third of the population. Morbid obesity is most prevalent in the poorest layers of the population, among whom access to lean and fresh foods is limited by income and region and who must instead depend upon cheap, processed and so-called filler foods, heavy in starch and unhealthy fats. Federal data indicate obesity among both adults and children is worsening.
- StepCousin, on 04/21/2008, -4/+4Europe sucks, dude. I've been there a bunch of times.
- empirefalling, on 04/21/2008, -3/+4Most americans have diets heavy in animal fat. Bovine and avian meats, potatoes and tainted fish from US toxic rivers make up their diet. Americans can not afford a healthy diet like that of Europeans and other more progressive Socialist countries. It is much cheaper for them to purchase bags of processed foods like heavily oiled chips and sugar ladened sweets. They do not have the ability or freedom of choice to regulate their diets.
- StepCousin, on 04/21/2008, -1/+8So, you're saying that people have been unable to get food in America for decades? That's weird, because they all look like a bunch of fat-asses to me.
- jaymzdean, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3Cue pending doom theme music. Seriously.
- Wacer, on 04/22/2008, -2/+2It appears to be mostly Asian-Americans in a few select markets that are panicking. There is no shortage of food in the bread basket. It just that stores don't normally stock 500 large sacks of flour at one time. If it continues, the stores will just order more in to compensate for the consumers. Don't freak out people, it's not that bad in the US.
- insomniac8400, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1Sounds like large retail stores that can't easily increase prices just want to prevent corporate customers from buying all their stock. Seems reasonable. As they probably would rather have 50 customers each get the one bag they normally buy, than one corporate customer getting 50 bags leaving 50 regular customers pissed off.
- cormenmw, on 04/22/2008, -1/+0Lets stop our dependence on costly oil by just filling the suv up on corn. I'm sorry, but this is just about the dumbest fu**ing idea that I have ever heard of. Did anyone stop to think that we (as fat, happy Americans) might enjoy eating corn more than driving it? Or how about the fact that there are a large number of dumbasses that have managed to talk the rest of you dumbasses into buying the idea in the first place? I can't wait to get a big ass sack of flour or rice and unload it to the desperate asian market here. Maybe corn will cost as much as gas someday. F*** all you idiots!
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