Prepared for GLOBAL FOOD SHORTAGES?

Food and inflation problems are looming as the world fights off
RECESSION and DEPRESSION!

Best start your food stockage cabinet.

------------------
"Perils in The Price Of Rice"

By David Ignatius
Op-Ed
Thursday, April 3, 2008; A17



You may have missed the front-page article in the New York Times last
Saturday, with the one-column headline written in clipped
newspaperese: "High Rice Cost Creating Fears of Asia Unrest." But this
little story could be an early warning of another big economic problem
that's sneaking up on us.

The new danger is global inflation -- most worryingly in food prices,
but also in prices for commodities, raw materials and products that
require petroleum energy, which includes almost everything. Prices for
these goods have been skyrocketing in international markets -- at the
same time the Federal Reserve and other central banks have been hosing
the world with new money in their efforts to avoid a financial crisis.

That's an explosive mixture. It risks a kind of inflation that would
trigger panic buying, hoarding and fears of mass political protest.
Actually, this is already happening in Asia, according to the Times.

The price of rice in global markets has nearly doubled in the last
three months, reports the Times's Keith Bradsher. Fearing shortages,
some major rice producers -- including Vietnam, India, Egypt and
Cambodia -- have sharply limited their rice exports so they can be
sure they can feed their own people.

Bradsher summarizes the evidence that food shortages and inflation are
fueling political unrest: "Since January, thousands of troops have
been deployed in Pakistan to guard trucks carrying wheat and flour.
Protests have erupted in Indonesia over soybean shortages, and China
has put price controls on cooking oil, grain, meat, milk and eggs.
Food riots have erupted in recent months in Guinea, Mauritania,
Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen."

World Bank President Robert Zoellick rang the alarm bell in a speech
yesterday. He noted that since 2005, the prices of staples have risen
80 percent. The real price of rice rose to a 19-year high last month,
he said, while the real price of wheat hit a 28-year high.

Zoellick warned that this inflation is having political repercussions:
"The World Bank Group estimates that 33 countries around the world
face potential political and social unrest because of the acute hike
in food and energy prices." To cope with the topsy-turvy economy,
Zoellick made an innovative proposal that countries running a surplus,
such as Saudi Arabia and China, devote 1 percent of their "sovereign
wealth" funds to investment in Africa's poor countries. That could
yield up to $30 billion in development spending.

Now, cut to the Federal Reserve. At a time when global inflation is
raging, you might expect that the central bank's first priority would
be to dampen inflationary expectations in the United States. But
because of its worries about a financial meltdown, the Fed has been
doing the opposite -- drastically cutting interest rates in an effort
to unclog the financial markets. The cheap money didn't stop the Wall
Street bank run -- it was the Fed's bold plan to absorb subprime debt
that did that -- but it may well add fuel to the inflation fire.

I spoke this week to Richard W. Fisher, the president of the Dallas
Federal Reserve Bank and the leading inflation hawk on the Fed's Open
Market Committee. He opposed the last two rate cuts, arguing that they
could boost inflation without easing the financial mess. Fisher sees
the booming Asian economies creating a classic "demand-pull" inflation
that is propelled by 3 billion new participants in the global economy
who, he says, "want to eat like you, dress like you, live like you."

"We cannot accommodate inflation," argues Fisher. "Once it takes a
grip, it changes people's behavior. It's bad for investors, for
workers, for savers, for people on fixed incomes."

Yet this global inflation is already beginning to feed into the U.S.
economy. Including food and energy, Fisher warns, the Fed's measure of
consumer prices was up a "worrisome" 3.7 percent for the 12 months
ending in January. And the latest figures from the European Union show
that inflation there rose to a 3.5 percent annual rate in March, the
highest level since the index was created in 1997.

"You cannot think in a purely domestic context about the pricing of
oil or steel or pulp or shoes or clothing," Fisher said in a speech
last month in London. For that reason, he continued, "We cannot, in my
opinion, confidently assume that slower U.S. economic growth will
quell U.S. inflation and, more important, keep inflationary
expectations anchored."

Independent truck drivers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states
staged protests against high fuel prices this week. What do they have
in common with rice consumers in Vietnam and soybean buyers in
Indonesia and pasta aficionados in Italy? More than they probably
think.

(The writer is co-host ofPostGlobal, an online discussion of
international issues. His e-mail address
isdavidignatius@washpost.com.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...040202997.html

By the year 2050, most of the world, including the U.S., will be
subsisting on cereals for their main food source.

"James Fenimore" <slipuvalad@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:b836205a-94ca-4284-9ea7-5edf008408b1@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> By the year 2050, most of the world, including the U.S., will be
> subsisting on cereals for their main food source.

You will be eating Smank and Liark.

On Apr 3, 10:11*am, James Fenimore <slipuva...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> By the year 2050, most of the world, including the U.S., will be
> subsisting on cereals for their main food source.

We would be healthier if we did eat mostly cereals rather than meat,
though, so it's not a bad thing. Vegetarians have thought this for a
long time...by choice though, not to force it on people. Let's just
say it isn't a major concern of mine how much meat costs or even
whether it is available. I like OATS.

Rice in Japan is like daily bread was to the ancients, or oats are to
me. I gotta have em. dkw

I think one has to realize to learn to use govt and private land for
agriculture. Most of the land in many countries is used as vacant property
or for private investment and is not used for agriculture. I think the
potential that people will rethink land useage and begin to develop
previously unthought about land use is going to help
there are many plants that can made using just water . We might eat
differently but I doubt we need to go hungry just yet . When the cost of
energy goes down if ever we will probably see some very innovative ways for
people to develop food. For instance fish farms. Fish farms can develop
millions of fish with little land use.

"Chemical Ali" <kinkysr@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:302f9bfc-b5e6-4f45-8319-4ee2e1a3b3ab@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> Food and inflation problems are looming as the world fights off
> RECESSION and DEPRESSION!
>
> Best start your food stockage cabinet.
>
> ------------------
> "Perils in The Price Of Rice"
>
> By David Ignatius
> Op-Ed
> Thursday, April 3, 2008; A17
>
>
>
> You may have missed the front-page article in the New York Times last
> Saturday, with the one-column headline written in clipped
> newspaperese: "High Rice Cost Creating Fears of Asia Unrest." But this
> little story could be an early warning of another big economic problem
> that's sneaking up on us.
>
> The new danger is global inflation -- most worryingly in food prices,
> but also in prices for commodities, raw materials and products that
> require petroleum energy, which includes almost everything. Prices for
> these goods have been skyrocketing in international markets -- at the
> same time the Federal Reserve and other central banks have been hosing
> the world with new money in their efforts to avoid a financial crisis.
>
> That's an explosive mixture. It risks a kind of inflation that would
> trigger panic buying, hoarding and fears of mass political protest.
> Actually, this is already happening in Asia, according to the Times.
>
> The price of rice in global markets has nearly doubled in the last
> three months, reports the Times's Keith Bradsher. Fearing shortages,
> some major rice producers -- including Vietnam, India, Egypt and
> Cambodia -- have sharply limited their rice exports so they can be
> sure they can feed their own people.
>
> Bradsher summarizes the evidence that food shortages and inflation are
> fueling political unrest: "Since January, thousands of troops have
> been deployed in Pakistan to guard trucks carrying wheat and flour.
> Protests have erupted in Indonesia over soybean shortages, and China
> has put price controls on cooking oil, grain, meat, milk and eggs.
> Food riots have erupted in recent months in Guinea, Mauritania,
> Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen."
>
> World Bank President Robert Zoellick rang the alarm bell in a speech
> yesterday. He noted that since 2005, the prices of staples have risen
> 80 percent. The real price of rice rose to a 19-year high last month,
> he said, while the real price of wheat hit a 28-year high.
>
> Zoellick warned that this inflation is having political repercussions:
> "The World Bank Group estimates that 33 countries around the world
> face potential political and social unrest because of the acute hike
> in food and energy prices." To cope with the topsy-turvy economy,
> Zoellick made an innovative proposal that countries running a surplus,
> such as Saudi Arabia and China, devote 1 percent of their "sovereign
> wealth" funds to investment in Africa's poor countries. That could
> yield up to $30 billion in development spending.
>
> Now, cut to the Federal Reserve. At a time when global inflation is
> raging, you might expect that the central bank's first priority would
> be to dampen inflationary expectations in the United States. But
> because of its worries about a financial meltdown, the Fed has been
> doing the opposite -- drastically cutting interest rates in an effort
> to unclog the financial markets. The cheap money didn't stop the Wall
> Street bank run -- it was the Fed's bold plan to absorb subprime debt
> that did that -- but it may well add fuel to the inflation fire.
>
> I spoke this week to Richard W. Fisher, the president of the Dallas
> Federal Reserve Bank and the leading inflation hawk on the Fed's Open
> Market Committee. He opposed the last two rate cuts, arguing that they
> could boost inflation without easing the financial mess. Fisher sees
> the booming Asian economies creating a classic "demand-pull" inflation
> that is propelled by 3 billion new participants in the global economy
> who, he says, "want to eat like you, dress like you, live like you."
>
> "We cannot accommodate inflation," argues Fisher. "Once it takes a
> grip, it changes people's behavior. It's bad for investors, for
> workers, for savers, for people on fixed incomes."
>
> Yet this global inflation is already beginning to feed into the U.S.
> economy. Including food and energy, Fisher warns, the Fed's measure of
> consumer prices was up a "worrisome" 3.7 percent for the 12 months
> ending in January. And the latest figures from the European Union show
> that inflation there rose to a 3.5 percent annual rate in March, the
> highest level since the index was created in 1997.
>
> "You cannot think in a purely domestic context about the pricing of
> oil or steel or pulp or shoes or clothing," Fisher said in a speech
> last month in London. For that reason, he continued, "We cannot, in my
> opinion, confidently assume that slower U.S. economic growth will
> quell U.S. inflation and, more important, keep inflationary
> expectations anchored."
>
> Independent truck drivers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states
> staged protests against high fuel prices this week. What do they have
> in common with rice consumers in Vietnam and soybean buyers in
> Indonesia and pasta aficionados in Italy? More than they probably
> think.
>
> (The writer is co-host ofPostGlobal, an online discussion of
> international issues. His e-mail address
> isdavidignatius@washpost.com.)
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...040202997.html
>

On Apr 3, 9:37*am, Chemical Ali <kink...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Food and inflation problems are looming as the world fights off
> RECESSION and DEPRESSION!

Yes, many of us are preprared. Since we'll be eating genuine
bio-diesel, etherized, computerized, nuclearized, digitized,
satellite-proven, lasered,
Blogged, Cell Phoned, Fiberized, Microwaved, DNA-ed,
and Robotically planted and reaped food.
And the only people who will be eating oil-raised food are the
New York Times, and GM wanks.




>
> Best start your food stockage cabinet.
>
> ------------------
> "Perils in The Price Of Rice"
>
> By David Ignatius
> Op-Ed
> Thursday, April 3, 2008; A17
>
> You may have missed the front-page article in the New York Times last
> Saturday, with the one-column headline written in clipped
> newspaperese: "High Rice Cost Creating Fears of Asia Unrest." But this
> little story could be an early warning of another big economic problem
> that's sneaking up on us.
>
> The new danger is global inflation -- most worryingly in food prices,
> but also in prices for commodities, raw materials and products that
> require petroleum energy, which includes almost everything. Prices for
> these goods have been skyrocketing in international markets -- at the
> same time the Federal Reserve and other central banks have been hosing
> the world with new money in their efforts to avoid a financial crisis.
>
> That's an explosive mixture. It risks a kind of inflation that would
> trigger panic buying, hoarding and fears of mass political protest.
> Actually, this is already happening in Asia, according to the Times.
>
> The price of rice in global markets has nearly doubled in the last
> three months, reports the Times's Keith Bradsher. Fearing shortages,
> some major rice producers -- including Vietnam, India, Egypt and
> Cambodia -- have sharply limited their rice exports so they can be
> sure they can feed their own people.
>
> Bradsher summarizes the evidence that food shortages and inflation are
> fueling political unrest: "Since January, thousands of troops have
> been deployed in Pakistan to guard trucks carrying wheat and flour.
> Protests have erupted in Indonesia over soybean shortages, and China
> has put price controls on cooking oil, grain, meat, milk and eggs.
> Food riots have erupted in recent months in Guinea, Mauritania,
> Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen."
>
> World Bank President Robert Zoellick rang the alarm bell in a speech
> yesterday. He noted that since 2005, the prices of staples have risen
> 80 percent. The real price of rice rose to a 19-year high last month,
> he said, while the real price of wheat hit a 28-year high.
>
> Zoellick warned that this inflation is having political repercussions:
> "The World Bank Group estimates that 33 countries around the world
> face potential political and social unrest because of the acute hike
> in food and energy prices." To cope with the topsy-turvy economy,
> Zoellick made an innovative proposal that countries running a surplus,
> such as Saudi Arabia and China, devote 1 percent of their "sovereign
> wealth" funds to investment in Africa's poor countries. That could
> yield up to $30 billion in development spending.
>
> Now, cut to the Federal Reserve. At a time when global inflation is
> raging, you might expect that the central bank's first priority would
> be to dampen inflationary expectations in the United States. But
> because of its worries about a financial meltdown, the Fed has been
> doing the opposite -- drastically cutting interest rates in an effort
> to unclog the financial markets. The cheap money didn't stop the Wall
> Street bank run -- it was the Fed's bold plan to absorb subprime debt
> that did that -- but it may well add fuel to the inflation fire.
>
> I spoke this week to Richard W. Fisher, the president of the Dallas
> Federal Reserve Bank and the leading inflation hawk on the Fed's Open
> Market Committee. He opposed the last two rate cuts, arguing that they
> could boost inflation without easing the financial mess. Fisher sees
> the booming Asian economies creating a classic "demand-pull" inflation
> that is propelled by 3 billion new participants in the global economy
> who, he says, "want to eat like you, dress like you, live like you."
>
> "We cannot accommodate inflation," argues Fisher. "Once it takes a
> grip, it changes people's behavior. It's bad for investors, for
> workers, for savers, for people on fixed incomes."
>
> Yet this global inflation is already beginning to feed into the U.S.
> economy. Including food and energy, Fisher warns, the Fed's measure of
> consumer prices was up a "worrisome" 3.7 percent for the 12 months
> ending in January. And the latest figures from the European Union show
> that inflation there rose to a 3.5 percent annual rate in March, the
> highest level since the index was created in 1997.
>
> "You cannot think in a purely domestic context about the pricing of
> oil or steel or pulp or shoes or clothing," Fisher said in a speech
> last month in London. For that reason, he continued, "We cannot, in my
> opinion, confidently assume that slower U.S. economic growth will
> quell U.S. inflation and, more important, keep inflationary
> expectations anchored."
>
> Independent truck drivers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states
> staged protests against high fuel prices this week. What do they have
> in common with rice consumers in Vietnam and soybean buyers in
> Indonesia and pasta aficionados in Italy? More than they probably
> think.
>
> (The writer is co-host ofPostGlobal, an online discussion of
> international issues. His e-mail address
> isdavidignat...@washpost.com.)
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...8/04/02/AR2008...

On Apr 6, 1:04*am, "zzbun...@netscape.net" <zzbun...@netscape.net>
wrote:
> On Apr 3, 9:37*am, Chemical Ali <kink...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Food and inflation problems are looming as theworldfights off
> > RECESSION and DEPRESSION!
>
> * *Yes, many of us are preprared. Since we'll be eating genuine
> * *bio-diesel, etherized, computerized, nuclearized, digitized,
> satellite-proven, lasered,
> * *Blogged, Cell Phoned, Fiberized, *Microwaved, DNA-ed,
> * *and Robotically planted and reaped food.
> * *And the only people who will be eating oil-raised food are the
> * *New York Times, and GM wanks.
>
>
>
>
>
> > Best start your food stockage cabinet.
>
> > ------------------
> > "Perils in The Price Of Rice"
>
> > By David Ignatius
> > Op-Ed
> > Thursday, April 3, 2008; A17
>
> > You may have missed the front-page article in the New York Times last
> > Saturday, with the one-column headline written in clipped
> > newspaperese: "High Rice Cost Creating Fears of Asia Unrest." But this
> > little story could be an early warning of another big economic problem
> > that's sneaking up on us.
>
> > The new danger is global inflation -- most worryingly in food prices,
> > but also in prices for commodities, raw materials and products that
> > require petroleum energy, which includes almost everything. Prices for
> > these goods have been skyrocketing in international markets -- at the
> > same time the Federal Reserve and other central banks have been hosing
> > theworldwith new money in their efforts to avoid a financial crisis.
>
> > That's an explosive mixture. It risks a kind of inflation that would
> > trigger panic buying, hoarding and fears of mass political protest.
> > Actually, this is already happening in Asia, according to the Times.
>
> > The price of rice in global markets has nearly doubled in the last
> > three months, reports the Times's Keith Bradsher. Fearing shortages,
> > some major rice producers -- including Vietnam, India, Egypt and
> > Cambodia -- have sharply limited their rice exports so they can be
> > sure they can feed their own people.
>
> > Bradsher summarizes the evidence that food shortages and inflation are
> > fueling political unrest: "Since January, thousands of troops have
> > been deployed in Pakistan to guard trucks carrying wheat and flour.
> > Protests have erupted in Indonesia over soybean shortages, and China
> > has put price controls on cooking oil, grain, meat, milk and eggs.
> > Food riots have erupted in recent months in Guinea, Mauritania,
> > Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen."
>
> >WorldBankPresident Robert Zoellick rang the alarm bell in a speech
> > yesterday. He noted that since 2005, the prices of staples have risen
> > 80 percent. The real price of rice rose to a 19-year high last month,
> > he said, while the real price of wheat hit a 28-year high.
>
> > Zoellick warned that this inflation is having political repercussions:
> > "TheWorldBankGroup estimates that 33 countries around theworld
> > face potential political and social unrest because of the acute hike
> > in food and energy prices." To cope with the topsy-turvy economy,
> > Zoellick made an innovative proposal that countries running a surplus,
> > such as Saudi Arabia and China, devote 1 percent of their "sovereign
> > wealth" funds to investment in Africa's poor countries. That could
> > yield up to $30 billion in development spending.
>
> > Now, cut to the Federal Reserve. At a time when global inflation is
> > raging, you might expect that the centralbank'sfirst priority would
> > be to dampen inflationary expectations in the United States. But
> > because of its worries about a financial meltdown, the Fed has been
> > doing the opposite -- drastically cutting interest rates in an effort
> > to unclog the financial markets. The cheap money didn't stop the Wall
> > Streetbankrun -- it was the Fed's bold plan to absorb subprime debt
> > that did that -- but it may well add fuel to the inflation fire.
>
> > I spoke this week to Richard W. Fisher, the president of the Dallas
> > Federal ReserveBankand the leading inflation hawk on the Fed's Open
> > Market Committee. He opposed the last two rate cuts, arguing that they
> > could boost inflation without easing the financial mess. Fisher sees
> > the booming Asian economies creating a classic "demand-pull" inflation
> > that is propelled by 3 billion new participants in the global economy
> > who, he says, "want to eat like you, dress like you, live like you."
>
> > "We cannot accommodate inflation," argues Fisher. "Once it takes a
> > grip, it changes people's behavior. It's bad for investors, for
> > workers, for savers, for people on fixed incomes."
>
> > Yet this global inflation is already beginning to feed into the U.S.
> > economy. Including food and energy, Fisher warns, the Fed's measure of
> > consumer prices was up a "worrisome" 3.7 percent for the 12 months
> > ending in January. And the latest figures from the European Union show
> > that inflation there rose to a 3.5 percent annual rate in March, the
> > highest level since the index was created in 1997.
>
> > "You cannot think in a purely domestic context about the pricing of
> > oil or steel or pulp or shoes or clothing," Fisher said in a speech
> > last month in London. For that reason, he continued, "We cannot, in my
> > opinion, confidently assume that slower U.S. economic growth will
> > quell U.S. inflation and, more important, keep inflationary
> > expectations anchored."
>
> > Independent truck drivers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states
> > staged protests against high fuel prices this week. What do they have
> > in common with rice consumers in Vietnam and soybean buyers in
> > Indonesia and pasta aficionados in Italy? More than they probably
> > think.
>
> > (The writer is co-host ofPostGlobal, an online discussion of
> > international issues. His e-mail address
> > isdavidignat...@washpost.com.)
>
> >http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...AR2008...-Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -


Reading the World Bank's Robert Zoellick's speech/article in the South
Australian 'Advertiser' I wanted to send him an email about how that
issue looks from another angle. But, the World Bank does not seem to
have a slot for people sending in their opinion, which is
understandable, but if they do not look at the other side of the coin,
they could develop tunnel vision. I just wanted to be helpful and tell
them the following, but they prefer to deal with claqueurs only.
Others, though, may not be so inbred and find a different opinion
worth examining:
I believe the rice export ban from India and Vietnam is the right
thing and here is why:
1. Should India really export rice to Peru and when they don't have
enough left over for themselves, buy rice from Australia, when we need
to see Australian rice growing reduced, because it causes
desertification?
2. Think of the greenhouse gas imprint of intercontinental food
transportation. Where that can be avoided, it should be.
3. Politicians and big companies lightheartedly and ruthlessly, cannot
resist to abuse their power, to which I have been subjected by the
Kohl and Mitterrand governments. As long as their and their parties'
wallets bulge, they think nothing of how individuals are affected.
There are examples in history where food was exported and the people
starved to death. That should never be repeated and a legal framework
can be of great help here.
4. It teaches Indians that resources are finite, and like Judge Judy
Sheindlin says, 'you do not solve your problems by making another
baby'. Where population increases outgrow resources, there is
unnecessary hardship for individuals. I find it wonderful that India
starts to understand that and transforms this understanding of quality
before quantity into action.
5. It would be a pity if the World Bank lost credibility through, de
facto, advocating intercontinental food dependency. No people shall be
dependent on far away countries or continents for their basic food
supplies.
Greetings Robert Zoellick, I believe you people are on the wrong
track.

It's time to pack on the pounds! At least you'll have more reserves
than the skinny guy next door!