And some bad news here for people thinking biofuel will help: Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy | For Land, Liberty, Jobs and Justice
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And some bad news here for people thinking biofuel will help: Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy | For Land, Liberty, Jobs and Justice
Farmers are turning to growing corn for ethanol for the good prices; unfortunately, the process uses more energy than it creates and food is now being turned into greenhouse gases for cars :(
And what a waste of water, 3-5 liters used to produce 1l of ethanol.
Yeah well in a global warming environment water isn't going to be a major issue if desalination plants are constructed..And they don't cost as much as oil rigs..Quote:
Originally Posted by Wallalai
Whether or not it is not as green a technology as some claim is irrelevant and not the point, that is the direction the world is moving..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redneck
Is that a Modest Proposal? :bunny3:: A Modest Proposal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yes, Soylent Green. Much preferred to the red and yellow varieties.Quote:
Originally Posted by Redneck
Eat the Rich. Much more nutritious.
Yeah....And she might take care of you for life too..:)Quote:
Originally Posted by sabang
Prices of food rising in India, meanwhile Indian farmers are committing suicide??? :confused:
Quote:
Shocked by farmer suicides in India
Sunday 06 Apr, 2008
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission has said that about 86,900 farmers in India committed suicide between 2001 and 2005, i.e. 48 per day, over these 5 years. These suicides were principally because of their inability to pay back loans.
Now, in the budget of 2008, the Government has declared that the loans of farmers will be waived off at a cost of $15 billion., However, 17,000 committed suicide per annum, for 5 years. But, those were not election years, so the suicides continued. And, seven farmers have continued committing suicide daily, even after the announcement of waiver of loans.
India’s problems cannot be solved by well meaning budgets. Quick, fix-it, scotch tape solutions can win elections, not stop suicides. It is generous of the government to write-off loans. But we need to study in depth: why were the farmers unable to pay back their loans? Did they have adequate knowledge about which crops to grow, how to nurture them? What help was provided by technical institutes and agricultural ministry, to maximize their yields? Did they get fair market prices for their produce? Who guided the farmers in their work and dealings? We boast of computers being installed in villages, yet cannot educate our farmers on how to run farms via television? What counseling was undertaken by local authorities, to prevent farmers from taking the extreme step of taking their lives?
India, is facing an agricultural slow-down, with increase in agricultural production of 2.6 per cent, and a 15-25 per cent escalation in food prices, could generate violence. A country which prided itself in self-sufficiency of food grains, could face a shortage. The number of Indians below the poverty line, decreased from 50 per cent in 1972 to about 25 per cent now. So, more Indians, are eating more food. India’s educated middle class is eating better quality foods. The nation of 1.1 billion, is adding 15 million people every year. Wheat prices have already increased by 100 per cent. It is time to grow more wheat, rice, potatoes and onions.
But, a nation, whose farmers commit suicide because they cannot return paltry sums of loan moneys to their banks, is in deep trouble indeed. India must wake up to the fact that the high rates of GDP growth, must go back to the poor of the country, in the form of better quality of life and health. The suicides of the farmers are horrendous, as Mahatma Gandhi always maintained, "India's heart beats in its villages."
7DAYS General and Local News | Dubai Abu Dhabi | UAE | Shocked by farmer suicides in India
Riots, instability spread as food prices skyrocket
(CNN) -- Riots from Haiti to Bangladesh to Egypt over the soaring costs of basic foods have brought the issue to a boiling point and catapulted it to the forefront of the world's attention, the head of an agency focused on global development said Monday.
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
Bangladeshi demonstrators chant slogans against
high food prices during weekend protests.
"This is the world's big story," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute.
"The finance ministers were in shock, almost in panic this weekend," he said on CNN's "American Morning," in a reference to top economic officials who gathered in Washington. "There are riots all over the world in the poor countries ... and, of course, our own poor are feeling it in the United States."
World Bank President Robert Zoellick has said the surging costs could mean "seven lost years" in the fight against worldwide poverty.
"While many are worrying about filling their gas tanks, many others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs, and it is getting more and more difficult every day," Zoellick said late last week in a speech opening meetings with finance ministers.
"The international community must fill the at least $500 million food gap identified by the U.N.'s World Food Programme to meet emergency needs," he said. "Governments should be able to come up with this assistance and come up with it now."
The World Bank announced a $10 million grant from the United States for Haiti to help the government assist poor families.
"In just two months," Zoellick said in his speech, "rice prices have skyrocketed to near historical levels, rising by around 75 percent globally and more in some markets, with more likely to come. In Bangladesh, a 2-kilogram bag of rice ... now consumes about half of the daily income of a poor family."
The price of wheat has jumped 120 percent in the past year, he said -- meaning that the price of a loaf of bread has more than doubled in places where the poor spend as much as 75 percent of their income on food.
"This is not just about meals forgone today or about increasing social unrest. This is about lost learning potential for children and adults in the future, stunted intellectual and physical growth," Zoellick said.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, also spoke at the joint IMF-World Bank spring meeting.
"If food prices go on as they are today, then the consequences on the population in a large set of countries ... will be terrible," he said.
He added that "disruptions may occur in the economic environment ... so that at the end of the day most governments, having done well during the last five or 10 years, will see what they have done totally destroyed, and their legitimacy facing the population destroyed also."
In Haiti, the prime minister was kicked out of office Saturday, and hospital beds are filled with wounded following riots sparked by food prices. https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif Watch Haitians riot over food prices »
In Egypt, rioters have burned cars and destroyed windows of numerous buildings as police in riot gear have tried to quell protests.
Images from Bangladesh and Mozambique tell a similar story.
In the United States and other Western nations, more and more poor families are feeling the pinch. In recent days, presidential candidates have paid increasing attention to the cost of food, often citing it on the stump.
The issue is also fueling a rising debate over how much the rising prices can be blamed on ethanol production. The basic argument is that because ethanol comes from corn, the push to replace some traditional fuels with ethanol has created a new demand for corn that has thrown off world food prices.
Jean Ziegler, U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, has called using food crops to create ethanol "a crime against humanity."
"We've been putting our food into the gas tank -- this corn-to-ethanol subsidy which our government is doing really makes little sense," said Columbia University's Sachs.
Former President Clinton, at a campaign stop for his wife in Pennsylvania over the weekend, said, "Corn is the single most inefficient way to produce ethanol because it uses a lot of energy and because it drives up the price of food."
Some environmental groups reject the focus on ethanol in examining food prices.
"The contrived food vs. fuel debate has reared its ugly head once again," the Renewable Fuels Association says on its Web site, adding that "numerous statistical analyses have demonstrated that the price of oil -- not corn prices or ethanol production -- has the greatest impact on consumer food prices because it is integral to virtually every phase of food production, from processing to packaging to transportation."
Analysts agree the cost of fuel is among the reasons for the skyrocketing prices. Another major reason is rising demand, particularly in places in the midst of a population boom, such as China and India.
Also, said Sachs, "climate shocks" are damaging food supply in parts of the world. "You add it all together: Demand is soaring, supply has been cut back, food has been diverted into the gas tank. It's added up to a price explosion."
Riots, instability spread as food prices skyrocket - CNN.com
Yikes. It's all come together to make one big mess. Droughts, diseased crops, stock shortfalls, hoarding, rising transport costs (ie gas), tighter credit, and job losses. More aid to the suffering is good, but does it really reach those in need?
No because you overlooked two big contributors to high food prices in the countries referenced above. Greed and corruption.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon
Went to buy a BBQ Chicken from my usual little stall in Pattaya today. I have paid 85bht for the last three years. Today 120bht!
Butter too. 45bht to 73bht in a day.....
Rice up too in Tescos.
Great innit? Prices up and GBP exchange rate down.......Thank goodness for The Friendly Bar!
and the large amount of power to run the de-sal plants ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Driventowin
put these cnuts up against the wallQuote:
Originally Posted by Hootad Binky
^Agreed!Quote:
Originally Posted by baldrick
Here's a report related to food hoarding in the US and other places, due to the increase in price of rice:
World food fears mount as rice prices hit record
By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat and Lesley Wroughton Thu Apr 24, 6:32 PM ET
BANGKOK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Concerns about food security mounted on Thursday, as rice prices hit records in Asia and the United Nations warned that staples for the world's hungry were getting much more expensive.
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In the United States, Bush Administration officials downplayed notions of food shortages amid reports of worried buyers stocking up on rice in major chain stores.
"In the U.S., I don't see food shortages," U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Reuters in an interview. "We have plenty of food in the U.S. The price of food has gone up, but again that won't be as significant for the average American as gasoline."
Rice prices hit record highs in Thailand and in electronic trading of Chicago Board of Trade futures during Asian trading hours. This week's 5 percent jump in Thailand rice takes prices to $1,000 a ton, nearly triple their level at the start of the year, intensifying fears of social unrest in Asia.
Rice prices on the CBOT are up about 80 percent this year, hitting a record of more than $25 per hundredweight in Asian trading hours, then retreating in Chicago on profit taking.
Riots have erupted in Africa and Haiti due to the surging price of fuel and food. The International Monetary Fund is in talks with governments in 10 countries, mostly in Africa, about boosting aid to cover soaring food prices, a spokesman said.
"Of course this needs to be determined country by country, but as a general rule we believe that targeted social assistance is the first best policy, but that other temporary measures may be needed and could be used, such as tax on food," IMF spokesman Masood Ahmed said.
"We have also encouraged our members who are food exporters to avoid disruptions to global markets, such as through export restrictions of food and to preserve domestic production incentives," Ahmed added.
At the United Nations, the World Food Program's executive director said the cost of feeding the world's hungry has spiked nearly 40 percent amid spiraling food costs and oil prices,
Unless donor governments can plug the gap, the U.N. food agency will need to trim operations, Josette Sheeran told reporters in New York by video link from WFP headquarters in Rome.
The crisis began last year with India's imposition of export curbs to protect domestic supplies. This week, even the United States felt the reverberations, as major retailers started to notice signs of panic buying.
Sam's Club, a unit of retail giant Wal-Mart, said on Wednesday it was capping sales of rice at four bulk bags per customer per visit. The previous day, rival Costco Wholesale Corp reported mounting demand for rice and flour as worried customers stocked up.
"Everywhere you see, there is some story about food shortages and hoarding and tightness of supplies," said Neauman Coleman, an analyst and rice broker in Brinkley, Arkansas.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said there was no evidence of a lack of rice in the United States. Separately, the U.S. government reported that weekly export sales of rice tumbled 85 percent last week as prices repeatedly hit record highs, fueled by growing concerns over possible shortages.
In Bangkok, some traders said Thai 100-percent B grade white rice, the world's benchmark, could hit $1,300 a ton on demand from the number-one importer, Philippines.
Iran and Indonesia normally buy as much as 1 million tons of Thai rice annually but have bought nothing in 2008. Indonesia said it can meet domestic rice demand thanks to a bumper harvest, export curbs and subsidies for the poor.
Officials said planting had started well in Western Australia after good rains, while India said a record harvest and bulging stocks meant no imports were needed this year.
On Wednesday, Brazil suspended rice exports. While the country is a minor exporter, its decision followed in the footsteps of No. 2 rice exporter India and No. 3 Vietnam.
Thailand, which accounts for nearly a third of all rice traded globally, reiterated that it would not impose any curbs, saying it had enough stocks to meet commitments.
(For a graphic on Thai white rice, click on: http://int1.fp.sandpiper.net/reuters...ges/20080424/T HRICE2408.gif (Additional reporting by Sara Webb and Gde Anugrah Arka in Jakarta, Jonathan Leff and Sambit Mohanty in Singapore and Christine Stebbins in Chicago; Writing by Ed Cropley and Russell Blinch; Editing by David Gregorio)
World food fears mount as rice prices hit record - Yahoo! News
So, Indonesia has introduced subsidies for the poor. Brazil, India & Vietnam have ceased exporting in order to feed their own people. And Thailand? Thailand won't pose any curbs because they have 'enough stock to meet commitments'. Yeah, at a vastly inflated price. :rolleyes: I don't know how the poorer Thais are going to get through this. :(
Walked down the end of the street today to check rice prices.
Khao hom top of the line rice has gone from 19 baht/liter to 25 since I last checked (about 8 - 10 months, I rarely look at the price) That's a jump of about 31 - 32 percent.
so here next to the rice fields the increase is 31% and the rice exporters have increased the price 200%?Quote:
Originally Posted by November Rain
Of course not, why impose curbs when profits like that are available?Quote:
Originally Posted by November Rain
Price has gone up more than 30% here, FF. I used to pay 800bt for 50kg of crappy rice 3 months ago. My last bill for rice (yesterday) was 2,000bt for 50kg. Now, admittedly that's not the crappy stuff, simply because I can't get hold of that anymore. The Thais are now buying all the stock of the stuff that very few of them would ever touch before. (I do know that 5kg bags of the crappy stuff used to be 62bt in Tesco & last time they had it in stock had risen to over 90bt.) 2000bt was the cheapest available.
Something severely screwed in that - that animals are being fed better quality rice than many Thais. I think it'll be the last sack I buy, though. Getting far too expensive for us, too*.
*Although, dry dog food is largely rice, so I can see the prices of that rising soon, too.
I have thought that rice has been under priced for a long time. It'll be nice to see the growers making a bit more money for all their hard work for a change. It's a shame the thieving middle-men will profit more though.
^ Yep, I think the traders will make the most. If the Thai farmers banded together to set prices, they'd be better off.
More likely dead I'm afraid.:(Quote:
Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon
That ain't gonna happen, they are to jealous at eachother, they will never be able to unite.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon
^ Hence the spectacular rise of "take it or leave it" Thai-Chinese middlemen.
True to all of you three. I don't believe I said that...as much as you all know how much I love unions.
I heard the same about fruit farmers down south. Hate each other, sell at the same time, cut prices to outsell the others even tho they make far less at the end of the truck day.