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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/22/2008 9:39:10 PM | Earthbox? Sounds nice.
Don't mean to jump on your - I'm sure you mean well - just naive. But . . .
Of course an Earthbox is not to helpful for a person who lives in an apartment without a balcony. Not helpful to those who can't afford to buy them. Nor would it be good for the a family of four force to live in a single room because their three jobs (one job for mom, not counting raising the kids, and two for dad) no longer pay enough for them to afford a suitable apartment. Especially now, considering that, with kids, they must have health insurance. Of course, though each job they work does offered heath insurance, they must work 35 hours to qualify, but somehow, at all three jobs, they only get 34 hours per week per positions. So if they are lucky, they have money for a little food. Except, because they are poor, the only affordable housing is in a dense low income urban center - so no supermakets. That leaves them at the mercy of the corner market that often sells overpriced and outdated goods. Perhaps, though, with a decent education, their children might make something of themselves . . . nope, that won't happen. The US government hands out the federal aid based on the income of the families in the district. This means the rich schools get most of the funding while the poor kids make due with outdated books and broken down soul killing schools. If these kids could just make the grade, perhaps they might get when of those free Pell Grants the government likes to hand out.
And this is just the beginning of their problems . . .
The solution: strip the rich of the means to screw us. You are being screwed, folks. Most people don't seem to realize how hard. | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/22/2008 9:58:53 PM | | becuase DIESEL fuel has gone up so much. so the truck driver or companies that deliver the goods to the store now have to pay close to $1200 to fill up the truck that gets an avg of 6-6.5 mpg. which means they now have to charge more to help make up for the $$$$ theyre losing to the oil companies that keep raising the prices (which by the way the 2 times where the cost at the pumps have gone up dramatically in the last 20 years happens to under the BUSH FAMILY[ who by the way are oil guys along with their good friends]). so when you see truckers thrying to rally or get together to protest the cost of DIESEL... dont just sit in your house or car and complain THEY are in YOUR way.. get out and PROTEST with them!!!!! NO TRUCKS....NO PRODUCTS DELIVERED!! | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/22/2008 10:03:29 PM | No problem Hank.... I'm in a rather unique situation. I quit my job July 05 to care for my elderly (severe dementia) mother. We attempt to survive on her meager Social Security check. I have serious concerns about a bankrupt government that wont afford her monthly SS check or her doctor/prescription benefits. THEN WE ARE REALLY SCREWED!!! How will we pay the utilities with NO INCOME? Her meds? Her neurologist? Her psychiatrist? We live in snow winter country. Will we freeze to death?
I do understand that not all apt dwellers have the option of a balcony nor southern exposure. But I just threw that idea out there for those that do. PLAN NOW!!! Buy now!!!
My other thought... for those that could afford a tiny balcony garden... one tenant grows the tomatoes. The other tenant grows the peppers. The other tennant grows the salad greens. The other tenant grows the green beans, etc. Neighbors will have to pull together as a micro community for survival.
For those apt dwellers that have decent southern exposure, but no balcony... you can still grow indoors. You just need to use a small artists paint brush to pollinate the plants. (due to a lack of bees indoors) | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 1:27:32 AM | refer; post #88 ~ outdoor2
your post was not lost on me ~ the last 3 paragraphs sums it up and as with food/grain
so to with oil ~ and this being the true motives of this adminstration consern with Iraq
~ poor Kurd and WMD aside. ~ But the truth would never send american troops to the area. ~ There fore the ruse to disguise the reason The Amercian tax payers paying the freight for adventuring capitalist ~ since we are already there ~ what to hey ~ Control that oil.
So far the plan hasn't worked very well ~ in as far as I can tell ~ but there is circles working inside of circles and many things afoot that we are not aware of ~ I fear.
In the end ~ we (the american people) hope to come out on top ~~ but we were ofcoarse lied to and things are looking poorly for everyone but the oil companies, insurance com.. and health care industries and Kansas corn growers as foolish as corn gas is ~ at least the money is spent here ~at home.
But bear in mind ~ oil companies spend a lots of money ~ perhaps we need to find out where and go get some. Get in the food chain somewhere ~ as is ~ I'm not ~dar | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 4:03:32 AM | The Economist has written several good articles on this. It also wrote a story about two to three months ago saying the era of cheap food is over.
We can point out several factors, but the ultimate underlying one is we have a growing world population that is increasingly demanding higher standards of living. The economic growth in China and India for example, has added 600 million people to the middle classes of the world in the space of ten years. Think of twice the entire U.S. population being added on top of the 800 million or so in wealthy nations who already place a very large strain on the world's resources and ecological systems with their constant demand for food, fuel, consumer goods, electricity and energy, and all the other items we 'need' in society. And add to that another 4-5 billion aspiring to the same lifestyle.
The problem with food, as with oil, is a mix of accelerating demand combined with lagging or declining supply. Both agriculture and oil refining and exploration have had fairly poor investment since the 1980's. The accelerated demand, especially from Asia, for energy and food, has placed great pressure on the global supplies of energy and food. It is basic economics that when something becomes more scarce, it becomes more expensive. The spiralling price of food and energy combined, along with other inflationary pressures in the global economy, are placing a lot of strain on the poor. Added to this is the switching of farm production from food to biofuels, and the impacts of climate change on agricultural lands and yields, which have also reduced the global supply of food.
The ultimate solution will be to curb demand for energy and resources and people need to live more sustainably across the planet. We also need to increase investment in energy development and agricultural research, to ultimately improve agricultural productivity. We also need to consider curbing our population growth as well. | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 5:55:57 AM | Greg8002, a good source of reading about this is Seeds of Destruction, The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation by F. William Engdahl.
Henry Kissinger, who was very active around controlling food supply, said, "control the oil and you control the country. Control the food and you control the people".
There is a lot more than meets the eye here. | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 6:45:20 AM | @springazure44
My other thought... for those that could afford a tiny balcony garden... one tenant grows the tomatoes. The other tenant grows the peppers. The other tennant grows the salad greens. The other tenant grows the green beans, etc. Neighbors will have to pull together as a micro community for survival.
Now *this* ... actually is ... a very good idea and suggestion ... one that might be extrapolated within many local communities and neighborhoods.
The problem I've been having with the whole ... (Americans are spoiled, so get off your lazy ass and go till the soil) ... argument is that it is a gross over simplification and overlooks many of the realities that Hank has addressed in Msg 101 ... and then under estimates the realities of the considerable time, work, and resources required to have a suitable variety of foods, as well as under estimates the difficulty in maintaining a wide variety of plants and 'crops' ... even in the relatively small garden.
My experience in vegetable gardening has not been particularly good, in that the plants that happen to do well, over produce (beyond what I might eat or give away) ... while other plants like carrots, potatoes, and lettuces ... I haven't personally had very much luck with.
My point is that growing food is not quite as simple as some have suggested, but I do think it is a worthy avenue to pursue.
Therefore, I have dashed off a letter to the MODs requesting that we might establish a GARDENING category designation, wherein these ideas and suggestions might be further developed, coherently offered, specifically discussed, supported, and addressed.
darjeeling | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 8:26:11 AM | I sent the letter to one of the principal MODs which as yet has not been picked up or read, I think perhaps we might give them a bit before bombarding any specific mailbox, as I am unsure if this was the proper avenue of resort to address such request ... but I will let you know the general response when it is received.
Until then your endorsement above is duly noted.
Thanks
darjeeling | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 12:00:18 PM | Outdoor2, I liked your link to the NSSM 200 report. I am surprised no else has commented. Seems there is a lot more going on then most of us realize. A lot of cash and thought are being spent on redesigning the world's population.
When ever I hear someone suggest the population is getting too large, I know they just mean too large to control.
Funny how food prices go up while Farmers go broke. Someone in the chain is taking more then their worth. | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 12:57:25 PM | A bit from the NSSM200 report, but also a question: what are these fertility measures? Is it a coincidence that the sperm counts of men all over the world are down about 50% in a relatively short period of time?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - Index
WORLD DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS - Index
1. World Population growth since World War II is quantitatively and qualitatively different from any previous epoch in human history. The rapid reduction in death rates, unmatched by corresponding birth rate reductions, has brought total growth rates close to 2 percent a year, compared with about 1 percent before World War II, under 0.5 percent in 1750-1900, and far lower rates before 1750. The effect is to double the world's population in 35 years instead of 100 years. Almost 80 million are now being added each year, compared with 10 million in 1900.
2. The second new feature of population trends is the sharp differentiation between rich and poor countries. Since 1950, population in the former group has been growing at 0 to 1.5 percent per year, and in the latter at 2.0 to 3.5 percent (doubling in 20 to 35 years). Some of the highest rates of increase are in areas already densely populated and with a weak resource base.
3. Because of the momentum of population dynamics, reductions in birth rates affect total numbers only slowly. High birth rates in the recent past have resulted in a high proportion in the youngest age groups, so that there will continue to be substantial population increases over many years even if a two-child family should become the norm in the future. Policies to reduce fertility will have their main effects on total numbers only after several decades. However, if future numbers are to be kept within reasonable bounds, it is urgent that measures to reduce fertility be started and made effective in the 1970's and 1980's. Moreover, programs started now to reduce birth rates will have short run advantages for developing countries in lowered demands on food, health and educational and other services and in enlarged capacity to contribute to productive investments, thus accelerating development.
4. U.N. estimates use the 3.6 billion population of 1970 as a base (there are nearly 4 billion now) and project from about 6 billion to 8 billion people for the year 2000 with the U.S. medium estimate at 6.4 billion. The U.S. medium projections show a world population of 12 billion by 2075 which implies a five-fold increase in south and southeast Asia and in Latin American and a seven-fold increase in Africa, compared with a doubling in east Asia and a 40% increase in the presently developed countries (see Table 1). Most demographers, including the U.N. and the U.S. Population Council, regard the range of 10 to 13 billion as the most likely level for world population stability, even with intensive efforts at fertility control. (These figures assume, that sufficient food could be produced and distributed to avoid limitation through famines.)
And what are these fertility measures? Is it a coincidence that the sperm counts of men all over the world are down about 50% in a relatively short period of time? | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 1:45:11 PM | seems you folks a serious about this garden idea?
that great that you are ~ these skills and corporationial group AKA " co pos"
is as old as dirt. ~ it worked well then and there is "no" reason it won't work well now.
I hope it isn't getting that bad ~ but it appears ~many are thinking otherwise.
where it is or isn't ~ It's a great thing to get involved with ~ growing your own grub!
Offering one hour of self-fulling pleasure. ~ It is a lot of work however.
personal time, growing season and water being the 3 biggest issues. ~ If commited you can adjust for all 3 to some degree. ~ Water is expensive anymore ~ so one need to think thrifty.
The other side of this ~ thats got lost with losing grandmother is canning and putting up along with curing and drying. ~
Good healthy food ~~ I love pickeled peaches, peppers, onions and okra .
The food I was raised on ~mmm ~ and lots of beans and taters.
If you are serious about this ~ read all you can read ~ so you can ask smart (er)questions ~ then go find some old timers ~~ somewhere ~and visit a spell ~~ as a grandson of sharecroppers ~ that be my advice. ~ At the age of 60 , I caught the tail end of this era, of chunning butter, snapping peas, husking corn and picking tomatoes.
We had truck patch of tomatoes once ~ we had to pick the field twice a day ~ and they were still falling to the ground. ~ Picked until our hands turned green and it was hard to wash off. ~dar | |
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Bxvamp
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Joined: 3/4/2008
Msg: 114 | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 3:22:24 PM | Hey People
This food thing IMHO is another variable effecting and being used as well by some people.
First global warming is making it harder and more expensive to grow/produce food like wheat or raising livestock ie farmers etc need more water and land to grow stuff.
Secondily when theres a demand some will obviously exploit the demand or emphasize a demand and raise the prices. They usually always do. Gas/oil prices are a good example of how some, over realitively small issues jack (raise) prices.
It's becoming more and more apparent to me that some sadists or greedy types have found their panacea blackmail tools to manipulate or plunder the general population big time now. Outsourcing, write-offs and the like are some of them. Yet many are in China or India exploiting their labor forces or lax pollution or labor laws etc. And as this continent slips as did Rome with the usury thing and blind decadence who will buy that crap some of these corporations peddle. Your average Chinese laborer can't buy Nike runners because they're way too expensive yet. Heck they're too expensive here for alot of people.
Another few of these variables that can sink or swim are in play now. Interest rates are being used to stabilize or throw economies. High gas prices are being used now as well. Food seems to be the other big weapon being used by some corps and governments for years really. All of these used in tandum can bankrupt and stifle a lot of people.
I unfortunately can’t wait for the day when some of these sickos get hit by lightening, get instant karma or have their day, after their 73+- years of their lives and meet the real deal, after their wives/kids, taxman take the rest of their dirty earnings. And their legacy will be funny corporate/totalitarian states/economies with some super monopoly that’s literally underground or in some biosphere because the earth would be so far gone!
Cheers,
Dan | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 4:02:13 PM |
And as this continent slips as did Rome with the usury thing and blind decadence ...
Yup.
That usury thing is just around the corner, being aimed now to launch right after ... whoever attacks Iran.
Well said Dan. Excellent post.
Caw | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 6:05:25 PM |
The solution: strip the rich of the means to screw us. You are being screwed, folks. Most people don't seem to realize how hard.
It is nice to know that Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov is alive and well in Maine.
Why is the price of food more expensive? I could discuss in detail about how in-elastic the food supply is. I could point out that those money hungry corporations are owned by those of you people with 401k's or RRSP's. I can also explain how diverting corn to ethanol production will not affect on the price of corn. The factor that I don't believe anyone has mentioned is the fact that the US dollar isn't worth as much as it did a year ago. Not too many years ago, the Canadian dollar was worth 67 us cents. Depending on the day, the Canadian dollar is now worth more than the US dollar. How did that happen? I understand the mission in Iraq has cost a trillion dollars (don't quote me on this). How was this paid for. Did each of you US POF pay an extra $5000 in taxes over the last few years or did someone press a button and add an extra zero to the money supply.
How many people reading this buy stuff from Walmart. Take a look at the last cheap thing you bought there. Does it say Made in China? Last year the balance of trade with between China and US was -$256,269,500,000. That means every man, woman and child in the US sent over $1200 to China. | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 7:50:43 PM |
Outdoor2, I liked your link to the NSSM 200 report. I am surprised no else has commented.
Thanks....and the lack of comments may be due to the efforts of the concentrated media (there were around 50 companies not that long ago...now there are 4) and their ties to almost every facet of the economy who have worked hard to train people to think and live in 30 second sound bites...without history, context or potential long-term consequences.
Let's not forget there has been at least on one instance where this latest administration has produced a "news story" that has been sent to many "news stations" that aired the piece as...(for the lack of a better word)...journalism!
To borrow a phrase from Homer..."We've been edumacated!"
I know they just mean too large to control.
You sure got that right.
It's becoming more and more apparent to me that some sadists or greedy types have found their panacea blackmail tools to manipulate or plunder the general population big time now.
They've been doing it for decades...from South America (Pinochet, et al) to Indonesia (Suharto) to the Asian financial crisis...Poland...Russia...it worked so well for them they must of thought "It's a new century...let's speed things up a bit by bombing the shit out of a country and then we can take over instantly! Iraq looks good...besides...we can dream up a myriad of excuses to sell it to the gen. pop.!"
Then along came the Tsunami and Katrina...natural disasters...and their using the same playbook.
The IMF, the GATT (now WTO), the WHO, the FAO, and several others, I'm sure...are basically run by the multinationals.
Codex (also run by the multinationals) will seal the deal on Dec. 31 2009. | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 7:58:48 PM |
I could point out that those money hungry corporations are owned by those of you people with 401k's or RRSP's
10 percent of the people own 85% of the stock in those corporations. Those corporations exist for the benefit of the few. I saw what is coming, years ago. It will get worse - much worse. It saddens me that many people just don't get it. | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 8:02:14 PM | The weak dollar,
I can also explain how diverting corn to ethanol production will not affect on the price of corn.
Last time I bought gas it was $3.25 per gallon. Today it was $3.75, even though the dollar has
less value, compared to other countries, euros, Canadian dollars, CHINESE DOLLARS etc. The Price of Oil, and gas is bottom line. My portend on gas prices is optimistic, because corn, this is a rather a new Industry for fuel.
You have to give those guys some credit, selling a gallon of fuel for a mere $ ?
seems you folks a serious about this garden idea?
It is a complex process.
I think It is easier to make your own fuel.
Ethanol fuel is ethanol (ethyl alcohol), the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. So watch those " alcoholics at the pump. LOL.
Photosynthesis is the conversion of light energy into chemical energy by living organisms. The raw materials are carbon dioxide and water; the energy source is sunlight; and the end-products are oxygen and (energy rich) carbohydrates, for example sucrose, glucose and starch. This process is arguably the most important biochemical pathway, Nearly all life on Earth either directly or indirectly depends on it.
Suggestion: Recycle, so we don't have to cut trees.
Have you ever planted a tree before?
back to the ethanol and corn;
Ethanol is a renewable transportation fuel primarily made from starch crops, such as corn. It is also made from sugar beets and cane or cellulosic materials.
Nearly one-third of U.S. gasoline contains ethanol in a low-level blend to reduce air pollution.
I will have to look further into this, the last I checked, The production of E85 fuel uses quite a bit of REGULAR FUEL?
Ethanol is considered "renewable" because it is primarily the result of conversion of the sun's energy into usable energy. Creation of ethanol starts with photosynthesis causing the feedstocks such as switchgrass, sugar cane, or corn to grow. These feedstocks are processed into ethanol.
But here is something everyone that drives can do to conserve ENERGY:
Check your air filter,spark plug, tire pressure, lighten your load, drive less aggressive, air conditioning, riding with your windows down causes drag too:)
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. "Chinese in Origin!
Yours sincerely,
111incogneto. | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 8:22:48 PM | I thought it a splendid read myself ~ having lived through Nixion phase 1 ,2, and 3 freeze attempting to keep inflation down ~ and Kissinger's strong Knight piece plays all over the Globe ~ I was young then ~ mid 20's ~ The piece filled in many blanks and offered insights that affect us today. ~
Your couple Kissinger's ideas with Wolfwiz ~ prementive strick ideas ~ and a picture emerges that reflects American behavior and role in todays world current affairs.
As a gobal of many nation ~ there are many difficult issue to address ~ Our higher thinker are years ahead of us ~ forming and shaping ~~ seem the good or the bad of it losses it's importance. ~
Where would mankind be without diseases and plagues?? and who'd wish that on anyone? ~ who's to play God? ~ who lives and who dies?
Tough subjects . ~ genetic removal ~ CANCELLED ~ deemed inferior before conception ~ hell of a weapon ~~ No wonder Europe has dismissed our products.
real eye opener ~ and agin thanks for the post outdoorguy and others for a informative post ~dar | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 9:05:25 PM | People will walk more ....eat less.......and live longer
Local manufacturing and agriculture will rise again. The neighborhood will become an important of daily life again
Smart money invests in solar, wind, and alcohol
the oil industry will for the most part die like the steel industry .....for being shortsided and stubborn and would rather put twenty in the pocket today than twenty milloin in
ten years.......because they have reponsiblities only to todays shareholders and not tommorrows
in twenty years there will be a huge housing shortage and the housing/constuction market will bloom again .......................ect.................
And the cycle continues as it has since the Industrial Revolution | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/23/2008 9:12:29 PM |
Thanks to the democrats taking control of Congress since 2006, energy prices have skyrocketed due to their FAILED energy policies:
1. Ban light bulbs???? but support CFC's that contain Mercury......who would of thunk it?
2. No new drilling in USA for the last 30 years, maybe if we drilled here, we would not be DEPENDENT on Foreign Oil.
3. No new Refineries in last 30 years. Not only do we not drill for our own oil, but we have to Export 13% of it to get enough gasoline.....who would have thunk it?
4. Subsidize Ethanol using Corn??? Who thunk this up. Use Corn for Fuel and what do you eat?? Tree bark?
5 . The list is endless, vote the incumbents out, they are worthless and are destroying the world as we know it.
Great post, and you are 100% correct. It isn't just the democrats though, as the republicans are getting to be just as bad about excessive spending and big government, too. All of this is WHY I have always been a proponent of TERM LIMITATIONS for congress. People are too DUMB to vote the **stards out.
Yes, our failed energy policies are due to, in large part, the democrats/liberals/treehuggers, who won't let us drill where we know we have plenty of oil, and what's more they won't let us build any new refineries either. Ethanol has turned-out to be a very bad idea, because it takes more energy to MAKE a gallon of corn ethanol than it saves by just using regular gasoline. In addition, ethanol does not get as good mileage as gasoline. It does burn cleaner, yes, but it doesn't have as much efficiency as far as being used as a suitable fuel. The sudden push for ethanol is one of the chief reasons that food is shooting up in price, especially corn and other grains. It also effects beef prices too, after all, what do you think that cows get fed with? Since virtually EVERYTHING that we buy is transported by truck, well, of course, all of our food and all of the other "goodies" that you buy at Walmart is transported by truck. Truckers are getting hammered by continually rising diesel fuel prices. EVERYTHING is tied to fuel costs. EVERYTHING. This all gets passed-on to the consumers in the form of HIGHER food prices. | |
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/24/2008 1:17:05 AM | I find it hard to believe in this day and age, as people grow through the urban sprawl, that they forget to realize what they can do in their own backyard.
Community growing cooperatives have sprung up in vacant lots and cities and rooftops across America.
I can't THINK of a farmer in North America, who would not donate a small amount of topsoil, if you went directly to him and asked, for a planter for your balcony! He would be honoured that you chose to learn of his tireless efforts to produce products which now, finally, are being given the respect and recognition, they deserve.
After all, you can grow garden peas right in your own backyard, balcony, or sunny porch, but how few people do?
The cost of production and transportation of these goods takes fuel, and energy resources to grow them, and even more fuel and energy resources to package and distribute them..
Recipe for Garden Green peas..
plant, water, weed (chemical or labour), harvest, transport to market, document/inspect (paper in each following step) market, refrigerate or heat to preserve, packaging box or bag, distribution to stores (trucking), sale to consumer (plastic baggie, contained within plastic grocery bag, and by the way you drive to the store in your car), buy (labour and infrastructure to display, including refrigeration)
Recipe for greeen peas: Do it yourself method:
Plant, water, weed, wait, shelter, watch, wait, pick, store in your already cold freezer.
No packaging, transportation, distribution, sale, or inspection required.. a few steps inside your own backyard.
Give me a break. We as a society, sitting on arable land, cannot do something about this? It makes no difference if you buy ONE green pea, ONE peach, ONE apple, ONE carrot, ONE head of lettuce, ONE cob of corn.
I do grow tired of naysayers saying "we can do nothing"
Just use your brain to figure out how easy it is to grow a carrot in a flowerpot in North America.. All it takes is a little forethought, that you should perhaps embrace what mother nature gave you right in your own darn backyard, and there would be no such thing as a bloody food shortage.. products destined for the USA could be exported at a much more reasonable cost to those who needed them..
Most North Americans, have taken the fertility of their native soil for granted.. to the point where they do nothing six months in advance.. like toss a few seeds in a row, and weed and water them once in a while. The USA has TWO growing seasons, Canada has ONE growing season.. and we certainly have NO excuse, for using all this energy, because you're "too busy" to tend a garden. Give me a break. It's just wrong to waste so much, for the "convenience" of walmart having Green Giant vegetables on sale.
Who on earth ever thought that storebought peas were better than garden peas anyways?
I merely post one example, of a society, that's hooked on grocery stores, for food. Food our ancestors did not have the luxury of obtaining from a store!
The arguments Mister "we need to mobilize en masse" have provided, do nothing but further stress the urgency of the post I made.. We don't have to "collectively" do anything. The question is, how many of you spend hours worrying about your landscape, yet fail to realize, that grass and most perrenial flowers, don't have much food value?
And when's the last time you had to throw away two plastic grocery bags to steal a few green beans out of your own garden?
One more sidenote:
North America, ran a lot of these food growing people out of business for the sake of corporate farming and banking practices. Bankers and governments learned this one fact years ago:
If you want to run a farmer out of business, there is an extremely fast, very easy way to do it:
Lend them money.
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| Why Has the Price of Food Shot Up and What Does It Portend?
Posted: 4/24/2008 1:29:05 AM | I'm not an agrarian, I'm a realist. To grow up on a farm makes me that much more realistic about the types of foods that I eat, and what kinds of foods I can plant in three weeks, that I may enjoy all winter!
*3 rows Carrots, 2 rows broccoli, 2 rows cabbage, 3 rows corn, 3 rows green beans, 2 rows raspberry bushes, 2 rows wild strawberries, 4 rows garden peas (*grin*)
Go figure.. I know a farmer nearby that grows durum wheat.. got all the pasta flour I need. I also know a farmer nearby that sells Hard red Spring wheat.. so I also have all the bread flour I need.
Food problems, started, with the origination, of the microwave oven! Heat and eat.. it's all done for ya.. right there in that plastic baggie/can/box/foil tray.
Oh I curiously wonder how china feeds five billion people with so little land mass.
Another shot at the dude that called me an agrarian. Agrarian is where that slice of toast came from, where your cheetos came from, where your milk came from, where yoru coffee came from, where your peanut butter came from.. where your T bone came from.
What you do as a country, is you make valuable use of your energy, and let mother nature feed you.. by having the forward thinking to actually, plant a crop..
It's stupider easy logic than not winning a lottery because you didn't buy a ticket.
Just for the record, I do see the need, just as our early ancestors and settlers did, for more efficent farming methods.. but only for such things which are not native to North America. It should be noted one of the first problems that the original settlers of this continent experienced, was the lack of nutrition on overseas ships, due to scurvy.. a lack of vitamin C in their diets. We have come a long way to achieving balance in our daily diets and routines.. but we must still strive to achieve a universally adaptible agricultural process in our respective areas, to maintain mutually beneficial trade for things, which simply are not native to our soil. Good example?
Sri Lanka. Remember the tsunami? Who noticed the price of tea went up?
Hops: Anyone notice the price of beer went up because hops ( a viny plant, used in fermentation process of beer) became scarce?
Coffee? Brazil. Citrus fruits? West coast of North America (and some greenhouse projects.. and some overseas areas)
There are foods we NEED to import, and buy at a store, and
PLENTY that we do NOT need to BUY at ALL!
So.. who had eggs for breakfast? Just us agrarians? | |
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