The price of food is ridiculous.

I've read stories of some of the stores around here limiting how much rice you could purchase during one visit. The story said that the rumors about rice shortages were just that, rumors, but it still doesn't stop people from freaking out and stocking up.

Rice is a staple food in the South.

I haven't noticed any of that over here. But then we import nearly all our food from all over the place. And if we can't get it from one place we'll get it somewhere else. And just recently our rice manufacturer had an extra large box of rice. Also I haven't noticed any hoarding.

Though I must admit I don't usually pay much attention to the prices of single products. I haven't noticed any increase in the total amount of our grocery bill though.

Nothing too bad here (USA, Pacific Northwest).  I hear that they're limiting rice purchases at Costco, but I'm still working through the huge sack that I picked up at the Asian supermarket some time last year.  I think prices have remained pretty stable, at least with the simple foods that I usually eat (milk, eggs, ground beef, shrimp, that sort).

You know that things are screwed up when Greenpeace comes out against bio-fuels, citing them as one of the reasons for the current rice/corn shortages.  *grins and shakes his head*  The shortage hasn't really reached us yet, but the prices, oh dear God, the prices are just insane.  We are limited to one bag of rice per customer, which would suck but for the fact that I really don't like rice *grins*.

hmmm, the article I saw must've have been very wrong.  I found a better one that says it's $139 per month, which is actually worthy of notice.

Malachy_Sunblade wrote:

You know that things are screwed up when Greenpeace comes out against bio-fuels, citing them as one of the reasons for the current rice/corn shortages.  *grins and shakes his head*  The shortage hasn't really reached us yet, but the prices, oh dear God, the prices are just insane.  We are limited to one bag of rice per customer, which would suck but for the fact that I really don't like rice *grins*.

I don't see why that's screwed up.

The reason bio-fuels are preferable to fossil fuels is an economic one, not an environmental one.
Whether you're using petroleum or ethanol, you're still burning hydrocarbons, so you're still producing carbon dioxide.
The difference is that we'll run out of oil sooner or later (probably sooner) - whereas in theory, ethanol is renewable.
But just because a fuel is renewable doesn't mean it's somehow better for the environment.  In fact, I'd say the fear that some people have is that widespread use of a renewable hydrocarbon based fuel could slow down research into cleaner energy sources, as there's no worry about it running out.

However, if that is the thinking, then I would rather those organizations actually say it, rather than trying to muddy the issue by claiming that food shortages are due to use of bio-fuels.  If there truly is a shortage, and of the foods now increasingly being used for ethanol production - or of foods that could have been grown on land now being used for ethanol production - then obviously producing ethanol rather than food won't help, but it's pretty much an outright lie to say that bio-fuels are the underlying cause of either food shortages or prices.

Last edited by mabinogi (2008-05-01 21:29:17)

Apparently I'm not buying the right food, or go to the grocery store often enough... O.o Since I haven't noticed anything you guys are talking about :P Oh, the joys of being a poor college kid :D I have noticed the rise in gas prices though! I paid $3.27 2 weeks ago, and now it's $3.59. *tsk*

mabinogi wrote:

hmmm, the article I saw must've have been very wrong.  I found a better one that says it's $139 per month, which is actually worthy of notice.

That sounds about right. Just the price of eggs has risen about $1/dozen.

Malachy_Sunblade wrote:

You know that things are screwed up when Greenpeace comes out against bio-fuels, citing them as one of the reasons for the current rice/corn shortages.  *grins and shakes his head*

*bites back some comments about fertilizers, and pesticides, and fuel for tractors etc*

I'm not even really reading this thread. Too tired to pay attention. But "bio-fuel" is one word that just jumps out at me. Everywhere.
*snorts*

Last edited by Magpie (2008-05-05 12:05:36)

Xenophon wrote:

The problem, the way I understand it, with Bio-fuels is that you actually burn more fuel than you produce.  There simply aren't enough BTUs available in ethanol to make it really worth while.  You're burning more fuel in the production and transportation than you are producing.

same deal with keeping animals on farms alive. they're consuming SO much water and grains, producing so much methane and eroding such a vast amount of the land and depreciating soil quality, that you wonder why pretty much nobody but the Loonies (and an almost entirely ignored U.N. report on climate change) advocate less meat/dairy consumption.

Rationing stories are a joke.  The story I heard you were limited to 150 pounds of rice per visit.  Yes that is 58kg, more than I weigh.

As for ethanol, if it was solely driven by private industry I'd have no problem with it.  My problem is that it is driven by government mandates and subsidies which distort the marketplace.

Ooh, me! I want them powerpoints boy!