The rising cost of food...

[MC Moot]

I've noticed it quite a bit lately,like right across the board...dairy,produce and especially chicken breast and quality beef going up,up,up..how bout you?...and now this:

Of Rice and Men:Calgarians feel pinch as world rice prices soar,supermarkets, eateries forced to pass on cost.

CALGARY - Calgary restaurants and grocery stores have had to raise prices because of rice's meteoric rise on commodity markets.

Its cost surged to a record high on the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday as bulk rice prices have tripled in the last year.

Prices for Thai and U.S. rice are being adjusted upwards 10 to 20 per cent at T&T Supermarket Inc. in Calgary, said Herman Poon, the grocer's public affairs manager.

"We just started adjusting prices the beginning of this week," he said.

David Bai came to T&T to stock up on long-grain white rice after hearing about price spikes on the news. Given the global situation, he figures the price of rice will go up again.

"Normally I buy just a 10 pound bag, but this time I'm going to buy 20 kilograms or 40 pounds," he said.

Bai said the extra rice will keep him and his wife supplied for a month or two. Nonetheless, he will keep an eye on prices. "If the price goes up I probably will get another one," he said.

At the Tiffin Curry & Roti House, owner Aly Ramji cited rising basmati rice prices as a key reason why he recently hiked prices of his combination meals by 45 cents each.

"Even that didn't cover the rate that the rice went up to," Ramji said.

Four years ago, when Tiffin first opened, an 18-kilogram sack of basmati rice was $38, he said. In the past few months, that same sack climbed to $42.

"Now, I'll be lucky if next week I can get it at $58," Ramji said.

While the price of rice is on the rise, Poon said T&T has no plans at this time to follow the lead of some U.S. grocers by restricting how much rice consumers can buy.

On Wednesday, amid reports in the U.S. about some consumers hoarding rice as prices skyrocket, U.S.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Sam's Club warehouse division said it was restricting purchases to four nine-kilogram bags.

The same scenario won't play out at Wal-Mart Canada or at Sam's Club Canada, said Karin Campbell, manager of corporate affairs for Wal-Mart Canada.

"We don't need to restrict the sale of rice here in Canada at this point," she said.

Poon said what's going on in the bigger picture is a combination of supply and demand and consumer reaction.

"We believe all this is happening because people are adding fuel to the fire," he said.

Rice at the Chicago Board of Trade rose to an all-time high of above $25 per 100 pounds during Asian trading hours Thursday.

Vietnam, India, Cambodia and Egypt have all limited export sales to ensure sufficient domestic supplies, which has helped to propel rice prices to record highs, with values in top exporter Thailand surging to $1,000 a tonne.

Supply isn't the issue for Calgary consumers -- T&T, for instance, has received assurances from its U.S. supplier that they'll be able to supply the quantities of rice they'd normally order -- and they have plenty of current supply and inventory on hand, Poon said.

Price is a different matter, however.

"They said we'd have to advise you on the price side as the order got fulfilled," Poon said.

T&T, which has 16 stores across Canada, is seeing a mixed reaction from consumers. At some stores, there's been a definite increase in the sale of rice, while other stores are showing normal sales. Poon advises consumers to be watchful, but doesn't see a major crisis looming.

"Which is unlike the Asian situation because I think over there it is a far more important food item than here," he said.

In Ramji's case, he's trying to mitigate the situation by ordering more rice. Instead of the usual two 18-kilogram sacks of rice he orders each week, he's just ordered 20 18-kilogram bags and is seriously considering doubling it to maintain supply.

"Rice is going to go up, but I can't raise my prices again -- that will affect my business," he said.

[na§tee]

i cannot move without there being another crisis. housing CRISIS, food CRISIS, fuel CRISIS, credit CRISIS. i can't find my tweezers CRISIS.

i'm going to buy gallons of petrol and noodles and keep it in my 2m x 4m hot piece of real estate. SENSIBLE. :rolleyes:

maaan. all these crises make me want to just stay in my room all day and bite my nails. christ.

anyway, the topic of the thread. yes, i have noticed an increase. because the cost of raw materials have gone up the place where i normally buy my lunch if i am too lazy to bring my own has hitched up their prices near to 20%. eek! a baked potato there now costs £4. fuck that shit. /eats nails.

[ET]

Milk here in the south costs about $5 a gallon. Compare that to about $3.50 for a gallon of gas. Maybe one day we'll be drinking petrol and using corn to fuel our Nissans.

Oh yeah, someone blew the whistle on a certain genetically engineered crop. (http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=3912) OOPS. Of note, they even cite their resources. Now that, my friends, is classy!

[MC Moot]

India bans export of rice; move to have shockwaves

NEW DELHI – In an effort to control soaring food costs, the Indian government has banned the export of non-basmati rice. The extraordinary decision, one of a series of measures designed to curb inflation, was adopted during an emergency cabinet meeting on March 29.

Asian rice traders predicted that the move will have a worldwide impact on prices for the grain, as India is the third-largest rice exporter. Two days after India’s Ministry of Trade announced its decision, rice importers scrambled to secure supplies amid fears that rice prices would soar. Such concerns have intensified over the last year as global stockpiles have plunged, sending rice prices soaring. Over the last three months, the price of rice – a staple in many Asian diets – has nearly doubled in international markets. In March alone, the price of non-basmati rice rose from $650 to over $1,000 per ton.

In related moves designed to curb inflation, the Indian trade ministry announced that it would be scrapping import duty on all crude edible oils and boosted the export price of aromatic basmati rice to $1,200 per ton to discourage exports. The government’s decision to block non-basmati rice exports and cancel the import duty on crude edible oils mirrors steps taken by other nations, which are grappling with soaring food costs.

India is coping with a steep hike in prices of staples such as wheat, rice and lentils. During the last week of March, inflation flirted with 6.7 percent – the highest level attained over the last year. The Indian government attributes this trend to skyrocketing food prices.

For its part, the Indian government has pledged to do everything within its power to curb the trend. Yet food prices remain a politically sensitive issue in this nation of 1.2 billion people, where poor rural and urban masses comprise more than two-thirds of India’s population. As such, government officials are concerned that runaway food prices could anger voters, who will go to the polls next year when national elections roll around.

In October 2007, government officials imposed a total ban on non-basmati rice imports but quickly lifted it following protests by exporters. The South Asian nation is the second-largest rice producer in the world – it usually exports more than four million tons of rice a year.

[MC Moot]

Give us our daily bread...

What can really be done about food inflation?

Everyone, from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the man who filled up my petrol tank yesterday, is deeply worried about the rapidly rising cost of food.

Worrying is certainly justified, as increases in food prices have been sudden and dramatic. In fact, some of the increases are so large that panicking might be a more legitimate response than mere worrying.

As the tables below show, according to the World Bank global rice prices are up almost 50% since January; global wheat prices have risen almost 115% since 2006; global maize prices are up 81% since 2006; and global banana prices are up 49% since January. For South Africans, the basket of food prices rose 15,6% between March 2007 and March 2008, according to StatsSA. This is more than double the target inflation rate of 3 to 6%, and food prices are giving many SA organisations, including government and Cosatu, anxiety attacks.

The term being popularly thrown around to describe our current predicament is "agflation", a rise in food costs that occurs for various reasons. Agflation has serious consequences, particularly for the poor. Increases in food prices are pushing millions of people back into the poverty they have recently escaped, and could seriously damage growth prospects in some developing nations.

According to Canadian investment research firm BCA Research, "[The] ramifications of agflation are far more important in the emerging world than in the developed economies, given that food makes up a larger share of the consumption basket. In addition to higher inflation and upward pressure on interest rates, rising social tensions could force policymakers to forgo proven market mechanisms, creating distortions that have long-lasting and harmful economic implications. In turn, this can lead to higher risk premiums on asset markets."

In other words, foreign investors may be put off by food inflation, which they perceive to be increasing risk in emerging economies. And, according to BCA, South Africa is one of the markets most exposed to this particular type of risk.

"The negative shock and risk of pass-through from skyrocketing food prices will be greater in the economies with a rigid supply side and low competition. Moreover, countries where the currency has been sliding will feel the effect of rising global food prices much more acutely. Bottom line: We are positive on emerging equity markets as a whole, but are concerned about the outlook for South Africa, Argentina, Indonesia, and the Philippines because of the lack of supply side reforms over the past several years and escalating threats from food inflation. Stay underweight these markets."

Why are food prices rising?

According to Deloitte's Food and Beverage 2012: A taste of things to come report, there are four culprits behind agflation.

Increased consumer demand

This is an old chestnut, but nevertheless remains one of the most significant drivers of rising food prices. Basically, there are many more people in the world, and thanks to years of global growth, they're richer than ever. When people's incomes rise, they tend to eat more milk, meat and produce, and less grain and cereal. But, while a cup of corn is a cup of corn, a cup of beef requires several cups of corn to feed the cow that becomes the beef. Thus, demand for grains rise exponentially, as producers of meat and dairy increase their flocks to meet demand. The table below shows the enormous increases in meat, milk, fish and produce demand coming from China, and, to a lesser extent, India.

Increased industrial demand

This is a relatively new culprit, powered by the demand for "greener" energy sources. To create the type of biofuels, or more accurately, agrofuels that are pushing up food prices, manufacturers convert food grains like corn into combustible fuel. Many developed countries have biofuel policies, under which they are obliged to produce certain quantities of the fuels. The intention was to reduce dependence on fossil fuels like oil and coal, but such policies have had serious unintended consequences for world food prices.

Declining agricultural land use and efficiency

This is a complex problem. In part, it is the result of increasing urbanisation. As the world's population becomes, for the first time, predominantly urban rather than rural, more and more arable land either becomes fallow, or is used for building rather than farming. Adding to the problems of land use and productivity, global warming is making some formerly fertile areas into agricultural dead zones because of changing rainfall patterns. Droughts and floods, which are predicted to become more common as the climate continues to warm, both make agriculture marginal and unpredictable.

Increased oil prices

This is a very crucial driver of global food prices, because oil and oil-based products are significant inputs in agriculture. First, most modern, large-scale agriculture relies heavily on diesel-driven machinery such as tractors and harvesters. These are becoming more and more expensive to run as oil prices rise. Second, most agricultural goods have to be transported across fairly large distances to get from producer (in the rural areas) to consumer (in the cities). As transport costs rise, so too do the prices of goods being transported. Finally, the use of petroleum-based fertilizers is widespread in modern agriculture. The price of such fertilizers is rising with oil prices. Furthermore, high oil prices cause a rise in prices for other energy commodities like natural gas. Gas is another key ingredient in contemporary fertilizers. The table below shows some of the increases in fertilizer prices that are directly driving high food prices.

What can be done?

Most of the factors driving rising food prices, except perhaps the use of food for fuel production, are deep, long-term phenomena. The only way to combat rising prices is to increase food production. For this to happen, farmers need to be able to earn more, and use that money to invest in new capacity.

Unfortunately, as Deloitte puts it "Agriculture is one of the last bastions of intense government involvement in, and distortion of, the market. In rich countries, farmers have political clout that is out of proportion to their numbers, often due to a romantic notion of their role in society. In poor countries, urban consumers usually have more political clout, typically because urbanites can more easily create violent disturbances than villagers. Hence, the ultimate direction of food prices depends heavily on political decisions by political actors."

[MC Moot]

Update: What I used to be able to buy with $50 bones now costs me $70...at least...thank god I don't have a family to feed...this is not good...really it's taking the fun out consumption...