Americans hoard food...

Email Print posted by Bungle 04/24/2008 12:39:54 AM EST

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"Something is wrong," said National Farmers Union President Tom Buis, adding that the CFTC's refusal to rein in speculators will force farmers and consumers to take their case to Congress.

you got that right "something is wrong"...

Farmers and food executives appealed fruitlessly to federal officials yesterday for regulatory steps to limit speculative buying that is helping to drive food prices higher. Meanwhile, some Americans are stocking up on staples such as rice, flour and oil in anticipation of high prices and shortages spreading from overseas.

"It may warrant congressional intervention," he said. "The public is all too aware of the recent credit crisis on Wall Street. We don't want a lack of oversight and regulation to lead to a similar crisis in rural America."

even the farmers are calling for more regulation. the only qustion is whos going to tell them the housing crisis is in rural america to.

read the whole article here..
Americans hoard food as industry seeks regs
By Patrice Hill
April 23, 2008

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Poll

is this the first sign of
the apocalypse 20%
more like the 10th sing 10%
doomsday 10%
higher food prices 40%
strong income growth in China, India and other Asian countries 0%
investor speculation 20%

Votes: 10
Results | Other Polls
 Display:
Americans hoard food... | 9 comments (9 topical, 0 hidden)
Event Horizon (none / 0)

I've been trying to warn people, but no one's listening. I got my 50 lb sack of rice at Costco a couple of weeks ago. Gonna get worse...gonna get a LOT worse.

Gotta love the sense of humor of a reporter who can say "Farmers and food executives appealed fruitlessly..." though.

by MedfordTim on 04/24/2008 03:16:11 AM EST

since the Great Depression... (none / 0)
General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt said the U.S. economy is in the worst condition since the burst of the dot-com bubble and that housing hasn't been in such dire straits since the Great Depression.

by Bungle on 04/24/2008 06:25:56 AM EST

confluence of events (none / 0)
It may be the perfect storm.
Add climate change(drought, flood, storm, pestilence),  reducing food supplies worldwide to an ever greater shortage of energy supplies necessary to produce and transport crops and what do you get?

Anyone want to start a betting pool on food riots in the US? How about cannibalism in the Sahara?


by beelzibub on 04/24/2008 10:03:25 AM EST

Good times (none / 0)

Nothing to make you feel good about the future like seeing the devil put up a post predicting mass cannibalism.

Good times.

But the important things is we got those tax cuts for the rich.

Viva la tax cut 

by ProfRich on 04/24/2008 11:15:33 AM EST

[ Parent ]
wake up and smell the barbecue (none / 0)
It takes, on average, about two years of famine before people stop burying their dead and start marinating.

There are now food riots in Mexico, the Philippines,
SE Asia, Bangladesh, India and parts of Africa.

Do the math.

And I'm waiting for the riots to start here.

It's going to take a political solution to the energy
problem in this country that I just don't see happening.
No happy ending here.


by beelzibub on 04/24/2008 01:52:02 PM EST

[ Parent ]
This is all part of (none / 0)
the coming fall of America. While we are all busy watching Flava-Flav, wondering what Brittany Spears next move is going to be, or watching censored and slanted MSM news, the world is coming apart at the seams and the  US is not prepared to deal with what is  ;coming. Like I've said in other posts, it will only take one more disatrous event, like another Katrina type hurricane, a Chinese invasion of Tibet, or another terrorist attack, God forbid and America will be exposed for the fraud that it is. Thanks to the last 8 years, we are an empty husk, impotent to do anything about anything.

by mijoh on 04/24/2008 03:03:28 PM EST

Disaster Capitalism says Swopa at FDL (none / 0)

The sudden rise in prices is being blamed on commodity speculators. The solution, you would think, is to stop rampant speculation. But unless you subscribe to the Disaster Capitalism credo, you may be in for a surprise:

The American Bakers Association has been lobbying Congress to open up "non-environmentally sensitive" land in the Conservation Reserve Program for production to help increase supply. The group is also advocating elimination of the ethanol import tariff and temporarily waiving ethanol production limits.

See how that works? Instead of addressing the real problem (rampant speculation), the looming disaster is going to require waiving pesky environmental regulations.

by lynn on 04/24/2008 09:03:34 PM EST

ZOMG you can only buy 200 lbs of rice... (none / 0)
unless you leave the store and turn around and come back in.

This is surely a sign of the fall of our civilization.

by richardshort2001 on 04/25/2008 01:57:01 AM EST

fall maybe, change definitely (none / 0)
Our entire civilization is based on cheap, limitless oil.
Speculators and the fall of the dollar are leading to
higher prices but the underling sea change is a shortage
of  oil.  If the next administration puts us on the path to energy independence, the change will be benign. If not,
well, someone said civilization is only three meals from
savagery.  A hard rain's going to fall along with civilization.

by beelzibub on 04/29/2008 11:33:50 AM EST

Americans hoard food... | 9 comments (9 topical, 0 hidden)
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