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World News
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Title: Americans hoard food as industry seeks regs
Source: WASHINGTON TIMES
URL Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps ... 8303815/1001&template=printart
Published: Apr 23, 2008
Author: .
Post Date: 2008-04-23 20:02:54 by Artisan
Keywords: None
Views: 178
Comments: 17

Article published Apr 23, 2008 Americans hoard food as industry seeks regs

April 23, 2008

By Patrice Hill - Farmers and food executives appealed fruitlessly to federal officials yesterday for regulatory steps to limit speculative buying that is helping to drive food prices higher. Meanwhile, some Americans are stocking up on staples such as rice, flour and oil in anticipation of high prices and shortages spreading from overseas.

Their pleas did not find a sympathetic audience at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where regulators said high prices are mostly the result of soaring world demand for grains combined with high fuel prices and drought-induced shortages in many countries.

The regulatory clash came amid evidence that a rash of headlines in recent weeks about food riots around the world has prompted some in the United States to stock up on staples.

Costco and other grocery stores in California reported a run on rice, which has forced them to set limits on how many sacks of rice each customer can buy. Filipinos in Canada are scooping up all the rice they can find and shipping it to relatives in the Philippines, which is suffering a severe shortage that is leaving many people hungry.

While farmers here and abroad generally are benefiting from the high prices, even they have been burned by a tidal wave of investors and speculators pouring into the futures markets for corn, wheat, rice and other commodities and who are driving up prices in a way that makes it difficult for farmers to run their businesses.

"Something is wrong," said National Farmers Union President Tom Buis, adding that the CFTC's refusal to rein in speculators will force farmers and consumers to take their case to Congress.

"It may warrant congressional intervention," he said. "The public is all too aware of the recent credit crisis on Wall Street. We don't want a lack of oversight and regulation to lead to a similar crisis in rural America."

Food economists testifying at a daylong hearing of the commission said the doubling of rice and wheat prices in the past year is a result of strong income growth in China, India and other Asian countries, where people entering the middle class are buying more food and eating more meat. Farm animals consume a substantial share of the world's grain.

U.S. wheat stocks are at the lowest levels in 60 years because worldwide consumption of wheat has exceeded production in six of the past eight years, said U.S. Agriculture Department chief economist Gerald Bange. Adding to tight supplies was the back-to-back failure of two years of wheat crops caused by drought in Australia, a major wheat exporter, he said.

In addition, the diversion of one-third of the U.S. corn crop into making ethanol for vehicles has increased prices for corn and other staples such as soybeans and cotton as more acreage is set aside for ethanol production.

Farmers also have raised prices because they have been hard hit by spiraling energy costs, which not only raised the price of diesel fuel to records of over $4 a gallon but drove up the cost of nitrogen fertilizer, which is made from natural gas.

"Commodity prices across the board are at levels not experienced in many of our lifetimes," said CFTC Chairman Walter Lukken. "These price levels, along with record energy costs, have put a strain on consumers as well as many producers and commercial participants that utilize the futures markets to manage risks."

The upswing in prices has been exaggerated by the massive influx of investors and speculators seeking to profit from rising prices for corn, wheat, oil, gold and other commodities. Big Wall Street firms and hedge funds have taken huge positions in futures markets that once were dominated by relatively small operators such as farmers and grain-elevator owners.

Small investors, who see fast-rising commodities as good hedges against inflation and a falling dollar, also are getting a piece of the action by investing in index funds that are tied to commodity prices.

"During such turbulent times, it is tempting to shoot first and ask questions later," Mr. Lukken said, but he contended the commission should be "cautious" about doing anything to curb speculation. He and other regulators argued that speculators add volume and liquidity to the markets, which makes them operate more efficiently and helps farmers and other players.

Commissioner Michael V. Dunn said the soaring demand for food and fuel worldwide might be leading to permanently higher food prices, both domestically and abroad.

"We may already be working under or fast approaching a new paradigm of higher agricultural prices," he said. "There is not a silver bullet or single solution to address the problems we are currently facing."

FARM TRADE

Federal market regulators say the soaring price of most commodities over the past year reflects increased demand rather than investor speculation.

Rice 122%

Wheat* 95

Soybeans 83

Crude oil 82

Corn 66

Gasoline 41

Gold 37

Sugar 30

Coffee 24

Milk 5

Live cattle -7

Lumber -14

* On the Chicago Board of Trade

Source: Commodity Futures Trading Commission


Poster Comment:

look out.

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#1. To: Artisan (#0)

"It may warrant congressional intervention," he said.

How soon till the sheeple demand that "horders" be forced to share with the rest of us at gunpoint?

"The more I see of life, the less I fear death." - Me.

"If violence solved nothing, then weapons technology would have never advanced past crude clubs and rocks." - Me.

Pissed Off Janitor  posted on  2008-04-23   20:09:11 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Pissed Off Janitor (#1)

BAY AREA CALIFORNIA NBC NEWS VIDEO

www.freedomsphoenix.com/Find-Freedom.htm?At=032664

Bay Area Shoppers Asked To Limit Rice Purchases

POSTED: 11:55 pm PDT April 21, 2008 UPDATED: 1:53 pm PDT April 23, 2008

The price of a food staple -- rice -- is rising significantly, NBC11 reported.

The price of rice has increased dramatically in recent weeks due to crop failure overseas and resulting hoarding, NBC11 reported.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SLIDESHOW: Food Prices: The Last Year Hasn't Been Good

SLIDESHOW: Basic Foods Offer Big Health Boost

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And at least one Bay Area store is asking customers to hold back on their rice purchases. Costco has posted signs asking customers to follow their regular rice-buying habits.

The rice price increase is a result of a domino effect, NBC11's Noelle Walker reported. Drought in Australia led to a severe decline in rice production that in turn led the world's largest rice exporters to restrict exports. That spurred higher rice prices and hoarding in Asian countries, NBC11 reported.

Now in the United States, rice prices have skyrocketed.

Son Tran owns Le Cheval Vietnamese Restaurant in Oakland.

He said he's seen the price of rice go from $20 to $40 in a matter of weeks.

And Le Cheval's stockpiles are dwindling.

Add to that, the price of vegetables has gone up 50 percent, and some of Tran's regular customers aren't so regular anymore.

The empty tables are a new and troubling trend.

Rice isn't the only food in short supply. The unleavened bread snack matzo, popular with Jewish families during Passover, is also hard to find.

Grocers underestimated demand for the product and one of the main producers of matzo crackers had a problem with one of its ovens on the East Coast, which also shortened supplies.

Previous Stories: April 21, 2008: Bay Area Feels Food Price Pinch April 18, 2008: Bay Area Gas Prices On Verge Of $4 A Gallon April 17, 2008: Real Estate Experts Debate Merits Of Buying, Selling April 15, 2008: Bay Area Gas Prices Push Closer To $4 Average April 6, 2008: Report: Bay Area Gas Prices Highest In America

MY REPLY TO ZEITGEIST: 1John Chapter 2: "21 I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth. 22 Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist."
"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I truly am not that concerned about him"
George W, Bush, 3/13/02 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html

Artisan  posted on  2008-04-23   20:14:51 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Artisan, *Agriculture-Environment* (#0)


Thought for the day:
Calling an illegal alien an 'undocumented immigrant' is like calling a drug dealer an 'unlicensed pharmacist'

farmfriend  posted on  2008-04-23   20:26:35 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: Artisan (#0)

After reading the story that was up last Monday I went down and bought more rice. The $1.60 bag now costs $2.19.

Took the Tom007 suggestion and started storing it in the beer cooler to keep mice away. Works great. The bags just fill the cooler.

.

...  posted on  2008-04-23   20:42:05 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: ... (#4) (Edited)

Good job. tell others your story so that they can act before it goes up to 5 or 10 bucks.

MY REPLY TO ZEITGEIST: 1John Chapter 2: "21 I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth. 22 Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist."
"I don't know where Bin Laden is. I truly am not that concerned about him"
George W, Bush, 3/13/02 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html

Artisan  posted on  2008-04-23   20:45:40 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: Artisan (#2)

Now in the United States, rice prices have skyrocketed.

Yet our government is guaranteeing supplies of rice to the Philippines. There are certain advantages to being a client state.

Arete  posted on  2008-04-23   20:52:38 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: Artisan, *SHTF - Survival* (#0)

fyi

"The Constitution is a written instrument. As such it's meaning does not alter. That which it meant when adopted, it means now." -- United States Supreme Court Source: South Carolina vs. United States (1905)

Peppa  posted on  2008-04-23   20:59:39 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#8. To: Artisan (#5)

Rice Climbs to Record as Wal-Mart Unit Limits Rice Purchases

By Jae Hur and Cotten Timberlake

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Rice advanced to a record as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Sam's Club warehouse unit restricted purchases of some types of rice in the U.S.

The cereal, the staple food for half the world, gained above $25 per 100 pounds for the first time. The company limited buying of jasmine, basmati and long-grain white rice to four bags a visit immediately in all U.S. stores where allowed by law, Sam's Club spokeswoman Kristy Reed said by e-mail.

Some consumers have started hoarding rice as prices more than doubled in the past year and supplies shrink. China, Vietnam, India and Egypt have curbed sales abroad to safeguard domestic supplies and cool inflation. Thailand may also restrict shipments, according to a World Bank official.

``The warehouse clubs are doing it to protect their business customers, like smaller restaurants, caterers, nursing homes, day-care centers,'' said Jim Degen, principal of J.M. Degen & Co., a food industry marketing consulting firm based in Templeton, California.

Rice rose as much as 0.9 percent in Chicago today and has climbed 26 percent this month. Wheat, corn and soybeans gained to records this year, spurring social unrest in countries including Haiti and Egypt.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said April 20 rising food costs may hurt economic growth and threaten political security. The World Bank has forecast that 33 nations from Mexico to Yemen may face social unrest because of higher food and energy costs.

15-Year Neglect

``We have been neglecting our basic rice production infrastructure and research and development for 15 years,'' said Robert Zeigler, director-general of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. ``National hoarding really doesn't help the market,'' he told Bloomberg Television.

Thailand, which ships one-third of the world's exports of rice, may follow its Asian neighbors in limiting sales, said James Adams, vice president of the bank's East Asia and Pacific department April 21.

``If a key exporter like this limits foreign sales, it would be very much like Saudi Arabia reducing oil exports,'' he said in an interview.

Thailand Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said April 22 his country won't impose curbs on overseas exports or distort prices.

Soaring costs may put basic foods beyond the reach of the poorest people, raising the risk of a ``silent famine'' in Asia, a World Food Program official said April 21. The poor will struggle to afford costlier food even as supplies stay available in shops, according to Paul Risley, a spokesman for the United Nations agency that feeds 28 million Asians.

The U.S. Constitution is no impediment to our form of government.--PJ O'Rourke

DeaconBenjamin  posted on  2008-04-24   0:01:20 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#9. To: All (#8)

You can no longer buy a pound of dried beans for less than a dollar except on special.

The U.S. Constitution is no impediment to our form of government.--PJ O'Rourke

DeaconBenjamin  posted on  2008-04-24   0:01:54 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#10. To: Artisan (#0)

"Something is wrong," said National Farmers Union President Tom Buis

Yeah, we got phony money and the cons are printing more for distribution to their own.

angle  posted on  2008-04-24   8:29:51 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#11. To: Artisan (#0)

Maybe I better stock up on beer???

Cynicom  posted on  2008-04-24   8:33:48 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#12. To: angle (#10)

tidal wave of investors and speculators pouring into the futures markets for corn, wheat, rice and other commodities and who are driving up prices in a way that makes it difficult for farmers to run their businesses.

Billions are being made by controlling oil??? Why not try food. People can walk to beat oil but they have to eat.

Capitalism, supply and demand at its finest.

Cynicom  posted on  2008-04-24   8:37:18 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#13. To: Cynicom (#12)

You're correct there. Gotta eat.

angle  posted on  2008-04-24   8:38:58 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#14. To: angle, jetghro tull, peppa, christine (#13)

Off topic...

A shame when one has to read in foreign press what American media will not say. This from Times on line...

"Professional Democratic politicians now have the casting vote in their party's nomination and could yet force the two candidates into a “dream ticket” led by Mrs Clinton with Mr Obama as Vice President which would sweep all before it and would probable make Mr Obama unbeatable as a presidential candidate in 2012 or 2016."

Force? It was planned this way.

Cynicom  posted on  2008-04-24   8:46:57 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#15. To: Cynicom (#14)

Nero fiddles.

angle  posted on  2008-04-24   9:01:31 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#16. To: angle (#15)

And the sheep are herded by one herder and two dogs.

Cynicom  posted on  2008-04-24   9:17:54 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#17. To: Cynicom (#14)

A shame when one has to read in foreign press what American media will not say. This from Times on line...

"Professional Democratic politicians now have the casting vote in their party's nomination and could yet force the two candidates into a “dream ticket” led by Mrs Clinton with Mr Obama as Vice President which would sweep all before it and would probable make Mr Obama unbeatable as a presidential candidate in 2012 or 2016."

Force? It was planned this way.

As if we will have a chance again at all.

Peppa  posted on  2008-04-24   9:48:42 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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