Rice Rationing Hits US

[Charles]

[prolly]

i was just talking to someone about this yesterday. it was in response to how the green and slow food movement is a sign of abundance - to which someone argued the opposite (i.e. that there was a scarcity ,which we all now about regarding sealife but not with crops.)

[Charles]

i was just talking to someone about this yesterday. it was in response to how the green and slow food movement is a sign of abundance - to which someone argued the opposite (i.e. that there was a scarcity ,which we all now about regarding sealife but not with crops.)

I remember reading an essay a few years ago asserting that the new luxury item would be a healthy diet, accessible only to the rich. Perhaps this is coming true. The news article seems to indicate shortages of imported luxury rice like Basmati. Strangely, the article says "India recently banned export of all but the highest quality rice.."

[2triky]

Interesting news, but I wouldn't make too much of it just yet. Not that I'm disputing the events chronicled in the article but California is the second largest rice producing state in the US and is actually a net exporter of rice....with about 50 percent of all California rice production going overseas, and half that amount goes to Japan alone. If people are freaking out at Costco just because they can't buy some variety of rice imported into the country in large rice sacks, I'd say that's not much cause for alarm. To be sure food prices have risen for everybody across the board, but to make a big stink because some nerds in the Silicon Valley (where I used to work) can't buy huge sacks of rice presents a skewed picture of things. The more troubling signs are people who simply can't afford to feed their families, irrespective of whether they shop at those warehouse stores or more traditional food outlets like the local grocery store.

[Iraira]

Conspriacy theory time.

The veggie and grain folks were getting tired of watching Big Oil make all the money and have all the fun, so they decided to start emphasizing (recently) that 1) raising animals depletes lots of farm land, 2) it's costing more to produce eggs, butter, milk, rice, etc, 3) various climactice factors, etc etc.

Open your wallets. It's someone else's profit time, again.

[2triky]

Conspriacy theory time.

The veggie and grain folks were getting tired of watching Big Oil make all the money and have all the fun, so they decided to start emphasizing (recently) that 1) raising animals depletes lots of farm land, 2) it's costing more to produce eggs, butter, milk, rice, etc, 3) various climactice factors, etc etc.

Open your wallets. It's someone else's profit time, again.

You do have to wonder, especially when speculation is much of what's driving up energy prices, not merely supply and demand economics....

[Charles]

Conspriacy theory time.

The veggie and grain folks were getting tired of watching Big Oil make all the money and have all the fun, so they decided to start emphasizing (recently) that 1) raising animals depletes lots of farm land, 2) it's costing more to produce eggs, butter, milk, rice, etc, 3) various climactice factors, etc etc.

Open your wallets. It's someone else's profit time, again.

You do have to wonder, especially when speculation is much of what's driving up energy prices, not merely supply and demand economics....

You guys are almost right. It's because of ethanol. Farmers in the US get more money for corn if they use it for ethanol. So massive amounts land that would be used to grow corn and soybeans for food are now being used to grow corn for ethanol.
I'm watching it happen right around me, I live in the middle of the Ethanol Belt.

[2triky]

You guys are almost right. It's because of ethanol. Farmers in the US get more money for corn if they use it for ethanol. So massive amounts land that would be used to grow corn and soybeans for food are now being used to grow corn for ethanol.
I'm watching it happen right around me, I live in the middle of the Ethanol Belt.

That's a valid point...price pressure due to the use of corn for biofuels is making the energy-induced increases in food prices even worse....the whole thing is f*cked...corn ethanol is a just a boondoggle for farmers who are subsidized to produce corn anyway.....for every unit of petroleum it takes to produce ethanol, you only net about 1.3 units of ethanol out of it....the idiots here should have followed the Brazilian model.....every unit of petrol used in the production of sugar ethanol nets 8 units of energy....a far more efficient alternative to corn ethanol.

[Charles]

That's a valid point...price pressure due to the use of corn for biofuels is making the energy-induced increases in food prices even worse....the whole thing is f*cked...corn ethanol is a just a boondoggle for farmers who are subsidized to produce corn anyway.....for every unit of petroleum it takes to produce ethanol, you only net about 1.3 units of ethanol out of it....the idiots here should have followed the Brazilian model.....every unit of petrol used in the production of sugar ethanol nets 8 units of energy....a far more efficient alternative to corn ethanol.

I'm not sure the Brazillian model is any better, they're cutting down the rainforests to grow sugar cane.

[2triky]

I'm not sure the Brazillian model is any better, they're cutting down the rainforests to grow sugar cane.

Yeah that ain't good....exchanging the lungs of the planet for more arable land.

[Adhesive]

I live in the area, and I don't know what these news reports are talking about. I just went to a Japanese supermarket yesterday and they were having a sale on rice. I actually just got back from a Costco about an hour ago, but I wasn't looking for rice, so I didn't notice if they were out...but I definately didn't see any people blurting out explitives in frustration or being waived down by employees for having more than one bag of rice in their cart.

[2triky]

I live in the area, and I don't know what these news reports are talking about. I just went to a Japanese supermarket yesterday and they were having a sale on rice. I actually just got back from a Costco about an hour ago, but I wasn't looking for rice, so I didn't notice if they were out...but I definately didn't see any people blurting out explitives in frustration or being waived down by employees for having more than one bag of rice in their cart.

The article is hack job...

[prolly]

The article is hack job...

i did some research on the newspaper before i commented to make sure i wasn't responding to something like the uk guardian, and the sun is actually reputable, to some degree.
i do agree with charles that more and more cropland is going to bioengineered, and patented, corn for processed foods and ethanol use and that is a contributing factor, but also that we in the u.s. are facing more and more food recalls (mostly beef) each year and it's only a matter of time before it catches up to us and we really do have a legitimate shortage - all that grain going to feed beef that doesn't make it to market is a total loss in two ways.

[Charles]

[2triky]

Here's another article that covers the same phenomena covered by the NY Sun which Charles posted.

==========================================================

Costco CEO says demand rises for rice and flour
Tue Apr 22, 2008 2:35pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The chief executive officer of Costco Wholesale Corp said on Tuesday that the warehouse club operator has seen some unusual demand for certain items like rice and flour as customers, worried over global food shortages, look to stock up on basic items.

James Sinegal, Costco's chief executive officer, told Reuters in an interview that the retailer had seen increased demand in the past week and a half, and some of its stores, including certain locations in California's Bay Area, had put limits on the sales of these items.

"There's been an increase in purchasing but we think it's manageable. At the moment, we think we have it relatively under control," he said.

If a customer came in and said, "I want 10 pallets of flour, we'd probably say, 'No, we can't give you that. We can give you one pallet'," Sinegal said.

"We've tried to modify those," he said of the restrictions its store managers put in place. "So if somebody is buying a reasonable quantity, we let them have it."

Warehouse club operators like Costco cater to both individual shoppers as well as small business and restaurant owners looking to buy cheaper, bulk-sized goods for their operations.

Sinegal said customers can buy pallet-loads of products at its locations.

He said he believed the surge in demand was prompted by media reports in recent weeks discussing rising global demand and shortages in some countries for basic food items like rice and flour.

"If we run out, we're usually back in stock the next day," he said of these popular items.

He said store managers may have taken "precipitous action," by putting limits on sales of certain items, and he added: "We don't want to add to the furor here."

(Reporting by Nicole Maestri)

[Charles]

So it's a run on rice, unusual demand with the same old supply levels. Or at least that's their story and they're sticking with it.

[2triky]

So it's a run on rice, unusual demand with the same old supply levels. Or at least that's their story and they're sticking with it.

Yeah I guess. It adds a little more clarity to the situation but as I mentioned earlier, perhaps it's a bit premature to freak out.

[Greji]

Yeah I guess. It adds a little more clarity to the situation but as I mentioned earlier, perhaps it's a bit premature to freak out.

Listening to the radio on the way in to work this morning, I was reminded of Charles's post. The announcers were talking about trying to find butter and all of the stores they went to were sold out. They were questioning whether it was a bona fide shortage, or that people were over-reacting to the stories and stocking up. Your guess is as good as mine, but there definitely does seem to be a shortage on the shelves!
????

[ttjereth]

Listening to the radio on the way in to work this morning, I was reminded of Charles's post. The announcers were talking about trying to find butter and all of the stores they went to were sold out. They were questioning whether it was a bona fide shortage, or that people were over-reacting to the stories and stocking up. Your guess is as good as mine, but there definitely does seem to be a shortage on the shelves!
????

I'm guessing it's only real butter there's a shortage of? We have like two tubs of different kinds of margarine and butter in the fridge...

[2triky]

Listening to the radio on the way in to work this morning, I was reminded of Charles's post. The announcers were talking about trying to find butter and all of the stores they went to were sold out. They were questioning whether it was a bona fide shortage, or that people were over-reacting to the stories and stocking up. Your guess is as good as mine, but there definitely does seem to be a shortage on the shelves!
????

Interesting. I know butter might not be considered a staple in Japan, but that is curious that one can't find it on the shelves. Let's see how this story develops....

[ttjereth]

Just looked at the online supermarket and sure enough, all the butter and pseudo-butter products are sold out.

Good timing for my wife's shopping I suppose

[Mulboyne]

Just looked at the online supermarket and sure enough, all the butter and pseudo-butter products are sold out.

More on the butter story in this thread

[Charles]

Listening to the radio on the way in to work this morning, I was reminded of Charles's post. The announcers were talking about trying to find butter and all of the stores they went to were sold out. They were questioning whether it was a bona fide shortage, or that people were over-reacting to the stories and stocking up. Your guess is as good as mine, but there definitely does seem to be a shortage on the shelves!
????

Maybe it's time we should start a panic, just to see if we can. Let's see.. something repulsive.. Hey, did you notice that it's hard to find mentaiko lately? Better stock up before it's gone!

[Greji]

Maybe it's time we should start a panic, just to see if we can. Let's see.. something repulsive.. Hey, did you notice that it's hard to find mentaiko lately? Better stock up before it's gone!

Shit! I'd help with that just to get it out of sight!

[Charles]

Just looked at the online supermarket and sure enough, all the butter and pseudo-butter products are sold out.

Good timing for my wife's shopping I suppose

Online shopping for butter?!?!?? What do they do, mail you a carton of cream and by the time it arrives, the mailman's rough handling has churned it into butter?

[ttjereth]

Online shopping for butter?!?!?? What do they do, mail you a carton of cream and by the time it arrives, the mailman's rough handling has churned it into butter?

Yes. That is exactly what an online supermarket is. You buy groceries and they mail it to you. It's a real pain getting the stamps off the eggs.

[Charles]

...Costco...was considering limiting sales in stores where it had limited supplies.

Isn't that pretty much self-limiting?

The saga continues..

[SIZE="3"]Bakers feeling pinch of short supplies[/SIZE]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Already feeling the pinch from soaring wheat and flour prices, U.S. bakers are now beginning to experience some supply shortages.
Rye flour stocks have been depleted in the United States, and by June or July there will be no more U.S. rye flour to purchase, said Lee Sanders, senior vice president for government relations and public affairs at the American Bakers Association.
"Those that are purchasing it now are having to purchase it from Germany and the Netherlands, and that's very concerning," Sanders said.
She attributed the shortage to high demand for rye flour, which is used to make rye bread, and less acreage devoted to rye grain than in the past.
Grain prices have been soaring worldwide while stocks have been dwindling, causing riots in some poor countries.
In the United States concern is also growing over food costs. The chief executive of Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O: Quote, Profile, Research), James Sinegal, told Reuters that the company is seeing some unusual buying with consumers stocking up as they fret shortages.
For bakers, rye grain is not the only supply stock that is declining. In the past the market has typically had a three-month surplus of wheat stocks to serve as a cushion against supply interruptions, but now the surplus is down to less than 27 days worth of wheat, Sanders said.

...more...

[Gilligan]

[cc]167005[/cc]

[Gilligan]

Rice in short supply at Costco, Sam's Club

The title to this article is somewhat misleading as the general point they're trying to make (aside from implying that any U.S. shortage should be blamed on immigrants that own Asian restaurants ]Retail experts said there was little evidence of "panic" hoarding by the public. It appears that restaurants and smaller retailers have been buying up most of the stock on the expectation that prices will continue to rise.[/QUOTE]

Other retailers report adequate supplies.

"Ralphs has plenty of rice. No shortages at any of our stores," said Terry O'Neil, spokesman for Ralphs Grocery Co.

The U.S. run on rice is mostly a consumer reaction to international headlines combined with domestic food inflation that turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy, Ezrati [economist at investment firm Lord, Abbett & Co. in Jersey City, N.J.] said.

Most rice is eaten within 100 miles of where it is grown. Just 8% of world production actually trades internationally, Childs [USDA market analyst] said. So these new export limits and taxes [in Vietnam, India and Thailand] have had an outsize effect on prices, he said.

[Gilligan]

Uhm, Ultra, I'm confused. Didn't I post that video?