Posted on 04/18/2008 3:51:36 PM PDT by PROCON
The idea of the starving masses driven by their desperation to take to the streets and overthrow the ancien regime has seemed impossibly quaint since capitalism triumphed so decisively in the Cold War. Since then, the spectacle of hunger sparking revolutionary violence has been the stuff of Broadway musicals rather than the real world of politics. And yet, the headlines of the past month suggest that skyrocketing food prices are threatening the stability of a growing number of governments around the world. Ironically, it may be the very success of capitalism in transforming regions previously restrained by various forms of socialism that has helped create the new crisis.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1730107,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-world
U.S. Food Inflation Worst in 17 Years
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Steve Tarpin can bake a graham cracker crust in his sleep, but explaining why the price for his Key lime pies went from $20 to $25 required mastering a thornier topic: global economics.
He recently wrote a letter to his customers and posted it near the cash register listing the factors — dairy prices driven higher by conglomerates buying up milk supplies, heat waves in Europe and California, demand from emerging markets and the weak dollar.
The owner of Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies in Brooklyn said he didn’t want customers thinking he was “jacking up prices because I have a unique product.”
“I have to justify it,” he said.
The U.S. is wrestling with the worst food inflation in 17 years, and analysts expect new data due on Wednesday to show it’s getting worse. That’s putting the squeeze on poor families and forcing bakeries, bagel shops and delis to explain price increases to their customers.
U.S. food prices rose 4% in 2007, compared with an average 2.5% annual rise for the last 15 years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And the agency says 2008 could be worse, with a rise of as much as 4.5%.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
Bush Orders $200 Million Drawdown From Emergency Reserve to Help Nations Deal With Hunger
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Monday ordered the release of $200 million in emergency aid to help nations where surging food prices have deepened hunger woes and sparked violent protests.
The move comes one day after the president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, called on the international community to act urgently in helping needy people and “put our money where our mouth is.” Haiti, Egypt and the Philippines are among the countries facing civil unrest because of food prices and shortages.
(Excerpt) Read more at biz.yahoo.com ...
Now my questions rise to a different kind of level.
Why did they close 1/3 of the FOREIGN GRAIN market? I don't understand how that relates to ethanol use in the USA. Those riots essentially have little to do with us. If we're using ethanol then that would mean there is more oil available for wheat production, they should have more ...not less.
Is this just another case of twisting morality around to blame the USA? Rereading this whole thing very, very carefully would lead one to believe it is just such a matter.
Nothing gets people more upset than seeing starving people. Yet, ethanol production isn't the cause as much as the article suggests. Perhaps someone is trying to make a highly intellectual virtue out of what they think should be our shame?
Vietnam and India curb rice exports as prices double
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080328/wl_nm/asia_rice_dc_1
I can answer your question re: why oil usage isn’t going down or making more available for wheat production. The amount of oil used to manufacture ethanol is one reason but the requirements for oil are totally independent of ethanol production with developing economies demanding more oil every day. As for producing more wheat, farmers are taking land out of wheat production and putting it into corn production, same with other grain crops. Some of this land is marginal for corn requiring more irrigation, fertilizer etc. That isn’t the complete answer for rising food prices thoug. Developing economies are eating better and demanding their share of food production.
That may be true here, but if you read the posts I put up 33% of the FOREIGN grain market has been removed from export. Not to produce ethanol or grow corn, but to provide and horde food in those countries. The food riots have little to do with ethanol production in this country.
Rising food prices have to do with the decreased export of grains from FOREIGN countries. That creates demand, high priced market demand that would not otherwise be there.
Your right and I get many faxes/emails telling me to
invest in farm products citing the reason you mention,
for a way to get rich. The speculators are jumping on
every report, controversy , etc to drive up prices
of farm products. Even Investors Business Daily
promotes in on one hand; and has articles beating
on ethanol as the factor for worldwide food inflation
never mentioning the major part they have in it.
It cost farmers around here about 300 bucks to
do an acre of corn lasy year.They expect to be close
400 this year. They get 140 bushels an acre of which
1/4 will be for ethanol, and 3/4 for the rest.
The ethanol part is 35 bushlels makes 90 gal ethanol
worth 250 bucks and other products worth the same.
Other products are oils, high protein feed.
The other 3/4 or 105 bushels is about 6000 lbs
of cattle feed that makes 1200 lbs of meat and
other animal by-products.Meat worth at least $3000, by-
products a hundred or more. So what do we have for $300
put into an acre by a farmer, over $3500 of which
if corn is 4 bucks the farmer grossed $560.Finally
getting more......than he put in. Value increased
10 times above farm level costs seems very good
to me. This figuring is a breakdown
based on estimates of 1/4 of corn crop used
in ethanol plants. You see the ethanol dollars is
a small part of cost and profits on the whole corn
crop, but the big factor is what food middlemen do and speculators are doing to the the prices based on all
the rumors and controversy...Ed
Hindus may not eat cows, but a great deal of their diet is based on dairy products.
I once was privileged to overhear a discussion between a vegan customer and the proprietor of an Indian restaurant. The utter incomprehension each showed was priceless.
Thank you Ed.
You help demonstrate that the issue of ethanol is but a very small portion of the Global Food Crisis.
If one wants to discuss the “Crisis” one needs to discuss the full market. Foreign countries decreasing the non-corn grain yeilds by 33% is a major factor.
What is amazing is seeing many here missing or glazing over that fact. A fact that has nothing to do with ethanol and everything to do with increasing market demand for things from wheat to rice.
Correction: yeilds (spelling) and use.
Should have been “exports.”
Even CNN has caught on to the ethanol scam. I saw a CNN International report this morning and they pretty much laid out what happened to get us to this point. I was surprised they did the report but I suspect it was because Bush led the charge to get it enacted. Unfortunately I only got to see the first half so I didn’t get to see where they laid the blame.
As a Freeper you know CNN only
does news that will be slanted to blame Bush and
help DEM party. But Bush wasn’t the main push
for ethanol, farmers and farm communities were.
Many say the greenies were, but it was farmers and
their supporters.And there is no scam, except the
scam of blaming ethanol for what is aproblem of
increasing world demand and speculators driving up
the price because of it. When farmers increase corn
production from 8 billion bushels to 14 billion in
15 years, said increases covering the extra used for ethanol that wasn’t used before(3.5 B bu)and still
over 25% more corn for food/feeding. That is
no scam, just American hard work and know how.Ed Hubel
Ethanol is a huge scam. It’s only a matter of time before the left starts using it as a hammer against those who promoted it and their basis for doing so will be the increases in the price of food. And this time they will be more right than wrong.
I think the left will try using it politically for
election but Obama sponsered the bill and Hiilybill
and company are involved in Brazilian ethanol production
so it won’t gwork for them.But just because it gets
political doesn’t mean it’s a scam. The price increases
are due to world demand increasing and speculators
using that to drive up prices.World demand increased
due to drought, etc. We still export same as always,
but the increase in the amount of investment money
speculating in farm products has went up 20 times in
8 years. Congress could fix it by requiring investors
to risk more money on options thus really slowing the
speculators crazy bid ups on prices.Ed
Then I guess that you didn’t get all the facts. If they were only discussing what is going on in the US and ethanol, then they had a nice propaganda hit piece.
As I said in my previous post and as the article states, 33% of the FOREIGN GRAIN MARKET has been closed worldwide. The closure of those markets has NOTHING to do with ethanol production. Those markets were not closed to produce corn, the grain(s) are not being exported so they can feed their own growing populations. They are not growing corn for ethanol.
EBH—It is a crooked/stupid world out there.
We have nations with huge populations to feed,
who exported food hurting their people.
We have other nations screwing us on oil prices,
which drives up all the inputs for us to raise
food for us and those in the world who need it.
We then increase corn production to help by 25% in 15
years as well as another 25% on top of that to add
some extra energy for our use. And greenies here
do everything in their power to stop us from producing
energy and food.......So what happens,then
we get vilified, by same dummies, greenies,
politicians, newspapers, here and abroad, for
doing something to help ourselves, so we can help
them by keeping our economy afloat, to be
able to help by raising food. Upsetting to say the
least. Ed Hubel.
This is a superb and heartbreaking piece.
$.50 an ear?!?
Dang, that’s expensive.
What?
So you believe that every gallon of ethanol produced saves us from consuming a gallon of gasoline?!?!
What the heck to you think was used to power the farm machinery to plant, grow, and harvest that corn? Gumdrops and happy thoughts?
Not to mention the semi’s that have to truck the corn to the distillery... and truck the ethanol to the gas station? I know, they run on chocolate!
Sheesh! Did you even read the article?
What makes you think that field corn is not sold for food?
I’ve spent the last four out of ten years overseas... and yes, the ears of corn you’d buy at the corner kiosks are indeed field corn, not the sweet corn found here in 1st-world countries.
Take one out of every four ears of corn off the market and the price rises, it rises a LOT. For people can’t stop eating.
I've eaten enough of it in South Korea, off of corner vendors to know what field corn is and how it's different.
All you have to do is chew it very, VERY thoroughly.
Though, the kernel casing does usually just pass on through. You just have to chew them enough to get the kernel out of the casing.
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