Shoppers warned bigger bills on way

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Financial Times

When William Lapp, of US-based consultancy Advanced Economic Solutions, took the podium at the annual US Department of Agriculture conference, the sentiment was already bullish for agricultural commodities boosted by demand from the biofuels industry and emerging countries.

He added a twist – that rising agricultural raw material prices would translate this year into sharply higher food inflation.

“I hope you enjoy your meal,” Mr Lapp told delegates during a luncheon. “It is the cheapest one you are going to have at this forum for a while.”

His warning that a strong wave of food inflation is heading towards the world economy was met by nods from agriculture traders, food industry executives and western’s government officials at the USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum.



Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/405e4028-e31e-11dc-803f-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

[DJ13]

1. His warning that a strong wave of food inflation .....was met by nods.....

.......from the greedy bastards who think their increasing profits in the face of worldwide inflation and the resulting hunger will be justified by the increasing size of their own bank accounts.

Rich greedy people make me sick.

[Warpy]

6. Maybe the nods were in recognition that the US worker

will be competing with people overseas for scarcer food. See my post about rice in Asia. They're going to want to buy more somewhere, and those prices will look really good to US exporters.

Most of us will cope with a modest increase in grain prices. They'll starve in Asia if they don't get a supply to help drive prices back down.

[Winterblues]

30. The ones with increased profits are the oil companies not food producers

It takes oil to operate farm equipment and to get their product to market. It takes oil to have temperature control for their products. It isn't just food that will be rising in cost. Beverages are also on the rise as are harware goods..Oil is driving our economy and it is driving it into the ground while Exxon makes Net Profits of Over One Hundred Million Dollars a Day Every single day, seven day a week week after week month after month, year after year for over four years staight now. I am talking NET PROFITS here, after All Expenses have been paid. Totally in the pocket money. Over One Hundred Million Dollars a Friggin' Dayand that is just one company and yet price of fuel keeps going up...

[damntexdem]

41. See, throwing trillions away on a criminal war in Iraq hasn't cost Americans anything.

Remember that at the dinner table in coming years.

[Amonester]

53. And if I hear 1 stupid bushbot who voted for the 19% disgrace & co

in the past seven and a half years ever complain about the price of ANYTHING

that will do it

[ArfDogMNO]

61. reacting to a journalist's description of a large group of people

in one line is probably a good way to react incorrectly.

Those same traders and businessmen understand that a falling dollar raises dollar prices on many commodities. They also understand that they are becoming less 'rich' in real terms due to dollar devaluation. The Fed is jacking M3 through the roof, printing money left and right, and rising prices in dollar terms is the natural consequence of that, along with the related central bank dollar sales worldwide due to declining confidence in the US as a country able to manage its books and protect its currency.

They can hedge, you say? Do you have any idea how expensive a dollar hedge (in gold, euro, or a currency basket) is?

[lligrd]

2. Prices Have Already Gone Up Quite A Bit

I've noticed my grocery bill sky rocketing and have started to cut back. Even thinking of starting a garden.

[aquart]

3. Don't think about it. DO IT.

The brass balls of them, saying something like that calmly.

[lligrd]

4. Don't Have Much Of A Green Thumb But

am willing to try again. Got lots of reading to do first.

[aquart]

18. Martha Stewart sells seeds, starter kits.

Begin with a window box of herbs.

[Warpy]

5. Be grateful you're here and not in Asia

where the price of rice is up 60%. That's their staple foodstuff and they eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Their pay isn't going anywhere, either, so they're totally stuck. There will be real starvation among their marginal workers there.

Rice and wheat prices are jumping here, but we have enough surplus to manage far less than a 60% price increase in our basic diet.

Well, I hope so, anyway.

[cliss]

46. I agree with ya Warpy.

No matter how bad it gets, we should still be OK in the US. As far as growing food, we are a net exporter of food always have been.

While things will get tough for us here, the rest of the world is going to face starvation no two ways about it.

[Digit]

7. I am stocking up on peanut butter and jelly

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8MDNFaGfT4

[Javaman]

31. Better to grow your own fruit tree if you can. nt

[Digit]

52. Bad, horribly arthitic knees keep me from gardening, climbing trees, etc

I will have to be a hoarder.

[Javaman]

55. There are dwarf trees available...

I was going to plant a peach and an apple tree in my yard, but I didn't like the idea of all the shade. (I have a large garden). But dwarf trees offer a nice alternative. Easy to manage and able to reach the top fruit.

arthritis sucks, I'm sorry to hear that. Have you tried taking fish oil? My dad swore by it. He had terrible arthritis, it helped.

However, perhaps grapes? They grow on a vine and are very easy to manage and pick.

[my2sense]

8. No More Flower Gardens

Looks like I'll be planting vegetables INSTEAD of flowers this year.

[gateley]

9. The bigger bills are HERE ALREADY, for the Love of God!

Obviously this guy hasn't been shopping in a while. Infuriating. :grr:

[dysfunctional press]

25. i think that what they're saying is that no, they aren't here already...

and that's the problem.

or to put it another way:

we ain't seen nuthin' yet.

[gateley]

35. Gulp! nt

[bluestateguy]

10. On this week's episode of "Making it in George W. Bush's America"

nt

[WCGreen]

11. We are planting tomatoes, corn, beans, peas, carrots and lettuce...

[w8liftinglady]

33. do you know which vegetables plant well in containers?

I don't have much room,but I do have a porch..

[Mojorabbit]

34. If you google

heirloom container seeds you will get a lot of hits. Heirloom seeds are what I use as you can save the seeds for planting your next crop.. I have a lot of earthboxes on my porches with plants suitable to grow in containers as well as a regular garden with regular veggies that need the space.

[w8liftinglady]

36. Thanks!

[susanna]

54. Check out the book

"All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space!" by Mel Bartholomew if you have a library that stocks it. It's basically beginner-style container gardening. There is some need for you to build a few things, though.

I grow 60 sq ft of vegetables every year on a postage stamp lawn in urban Detroit. It's worth reading, even if you don't agree with his methods. I have had amazing yields and I was a complete skeptic to start.

Seriously - check it out. If it doesn't work for you, I think you'll still gain some insight.

on edit: wrong title, added author, found out the Internet sucks tonight and some stuff isn't getting through. Give me a break, I'm trying to ensure the poster gets their info. If it's double-posted, it isn't me; it's the network. Thanks.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

60. "Square foot gardening"...

is a great way to grow a lot of veggies in a very small amount of space. You creat a square, shallow, wooden box for planting and use 9 "sectors" (like the boxes in a tic tac toe game) and then plant multiples of one type of veg in each sector. There are soem great articles out there on the subject. You can keep the boxed elevated on saw horses so you never have to bend. It is very easy, efficient gardening.

[w8liftinglady]

63. Thanks everybody!

I am looking for some info on this as we speak!

[bvar22]

12. Plant a garden....indeed!

Twilight Harvest



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x5729

[and-justice-for-all]

14. Indeed; myself and four friends are planting a garden this year..

[Javaman]

32. Same with me and 3 of my next door neighbors. we are already

exchanging produce. :)

[and-justice-for-all]

49. Right on mate! nt

[NotGivingUp]

45. wow...that looks beautiful. is that in arkansas?

i've been wanting to make a move more out in the country and grow more of our own food.

[bvar22]

51. Yes. West Central Arkansas.

In the Ouachita Mtns close to the Oklahoma border.

There are more details about this area downthread at the link.
:hi:

[barb162]

13. Using corn for biofuel is dumb but it is also raising the price of

staples worldwide as it's such an important part of many food products, animal feeds, etc.

[and-justice-for-all]

15. "Using corn for biofuel is dumb" it sure is...

and it is dirty.

It is really easy, all they have to do is bring back the EVs. We know that big auto can build them, they have before and they need to be taken to task for taking them out of service.

[pokercat999]

20. Feeding grain to millions of animals so we can eat

Big Macs.......now that's a stupid waste of resources. To top it off the ONLY reason to eat animal flesh is that we like the taste!

[Chovexani]

44. Or, you know, some of us need the iron to live.

I have severe anemia and cannot survive on vegetable sourced iron alone--it simply isn't enough. I require a combination of meat and iron-rich vegetables or my body will crash, and hard. I have had more than one nutritionist--one of them very vegan/vegetarian supportive--tell me a vegetarian diet would kill me.

It's ignorant statements like yours that make people think all vegetarians are self-righteous jerks.

[barb162]

48. May I ask about vitamins?

Do they not work? Is the absorption a problem? I am NOT trying to push you here or get you to reveal personal medical info. I know certain people have biological problems, like celiac, where they just don't absorb vitamins and minerals.

[Chovexani]

59. It is an absorption problem

Without going all TMI my body has a hard time absorbing nutrients. I do take supplements, but they are not enough. I really have to watch my diet because if I don't get enough red meat I crash hard. I don't just eat meat of course, (I love a good baby spinach and spring greens salad). I've tried lots of alternative diets and a mix of red meat and leafy greens tends to work best for me.

Trust me I feel awful about enabling the meat industry. I try to buy local and free range whenever I can and from places like Trader Joe's and Costco. While I think there are some folks who eat meat who are jerks about it and simply don't care (IMO the virulently anti-PETA types are often just as obnoxious as the PETA members they complain about), I really wish some of the more militant vegetarians/vegans would stop proclaiming moral judgment on anyone who has a hamburger. For some of us it's a health issue. :(

[pokercat999]

56. We all have choices to make.....guess you've made yours.

[Chovexani]

58. My choice is to live

Maybe I should kill myself to save the planet. I mean, we've got an overpopulation problem. :shrug:

[barb162]

47. I agree, but tell that to the meat eaters and get them to change.

It won't be happening any time soon, if ever.

[pokercat999]

57. The information is out there and it's not hard to find for

those that look.

There is a difference between a human being and a homo sapian; and yes I get to be the judge.

[Cobalt-60]

16. Famine; Thanks Republicans

This is one of the many reasons why we must support the nominee no matter who it is.
My personal goal is the Complete Eradication of the Republican party.

[ellie]

27. Me too!

I have come to the point where I want them all wiped off the face of the earth.

[Sherman A1]

17. Duh....

Ya, Think? I do price changes at the grocery store at which I work and I have had some 300+ advances (increases) every week since the first of the year in just the grocery department. It's gotten to the point where I re tag an item (such as flour) one week and two weeks later it goes up again. Last year I would have maybe 10 - 30 per week, sometimes just a few tags now it is impossible to get them anywhere near done in the time I have alloted.

Even last week when I stopped by the local Wonder/Hostess outlet bread was $1.29 per loaf and a twin pack of cup cakes was 75 cents. Everything has shot through the roof at every store. We clip coupons, watch the Ads, shop around for the best deal on the items we need and it's getting harder and harder to make ends meet.

Inflation is very, very real at least in my part of the world.


:argh:

[michaz]

19. Now that we have the farm we will be planting a huge garden. n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

21. What's that cooking? Smells like stagflation! nt.

[tanyev]

22. There they go again--raising the pie higher.

For an ever-shrinking select few.

[ashandaurynsgramma]

23. heirloom seed

buy 'heirloom' seed -
saving your own seed is easier than you think !
self pollinators are lettuce, peas, beans, tomatoes, peppers.
potatoes are easy too-
better yet, go to someplace online like localharvest.org and buy the seed from local farmers

You don't need bees or anything for these. Very easy !

[Seabiscuit]

24. I'm planting a vegetable garden.

[dysfunctional press]

26. i'll say it again- people who go to the store with a set list don't know how to shop.

shop the sale stuff, and it's pretty easy to keep the bill down.
and forget about "brand loyalty".

[NashVegas]

37. No, Get the Flyers

In the newspaper or online. See what's on sale and set a menu.

[dysfunctional press]

39. that works too- but i do it on the fly.

i make the menus in my head as i choose the items in the store- but they definitley aren't set in stone. my wife and i have never been too good about being too...organized? we've never set any specific menu in advance, and we've never once ever drawn up any kind of budget on paper...we generally know where we stand, economically and we live/shop accordingly. never having kids was a big help in that regard- we've never had to get "too" responsible about the way we choose to live, but it definitely works for us.

[doodadem]

28. Veges, Fruit, and Eggs

I plant a big vegetable garden already every year. I have my winter veges going now (cabbage, broccoli, cauli, brussel sprouts, etc). And the asparagus bed is starting to come back up. We have fruit trees, and I'm planning on putting in more berries and some grapes this year.

I also just ordered 30 chicks, some baby ducks and geese (go to Ideal Poultry on the web). We can't possibly eat them, since they'll no doubt be named and become pets in short order, but planning on lots of eggs--including colored ones. Since I also make our own dogfood and catfood now, this is definitely a good thing.

Trying to become more self-sufficient all the time. I have a friend who is going to teach me canning this year, so plan on putting up lots of stuff I've had no luck in freezing. We are already totally independent on water (a well) and heating (very efficient fireplace insert). Our farm is heavily wooded, but we rarely even have to take down a tree unless it's diseased, because so many come down from storms, age, etc.

[Megahurtz]

29. Oh Joy.

As if they're not high enough already

[ceile]

38. Going grocery shopping on my way home.

Steeling my nerves so I don't burst into tears in the check out line. So much of my budget goes towards food and gas that my credit card bills suffer, putting me farther and farther behind.

[nebula]

40. Why isn't this a camaign issue?

when are Obama and Hillary going to start talking about the problem of massive food inflation and what they're going to do about it, if anything?

[MadinMo]

42. Exactly. Why ISN'T this a campaign issue?

They should all be talking about this. The economy, and how it is affecting everyday folks (not corporations), should be a subject for all of the candidates.

[nebula]

43. Rising prices don't hurt them personally

so they don't talk about it.

[ArfDogMNO]

62. I think because they have no plan to stop dollar devaluation

and would prefer the issue not even be brought up, since there is nothing they can do.

[sarcasmo]

50. A couple years late MR. Lapp