[Ferretlover]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Satori', 's')erious crop losses in Mexico will put even more pressure on food prices.

[PrestonSturges]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Hinterlander', '[')b]China's Wheat Basket Faces Its Worst Drought In 200 Years
http://www.businessinsider.com/china-drought-20-years-2011-2
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')hina's wheat basket, Shangdong Province, is stuck in the worst drought in 60 years. If weather forecasts hold true, this will be the worst drought in 200 years, according to Xinhua.
The government has already declared a state emergency to send relief to the province, including trucks full of drinking water and special equipment to irrigate the fields.
The Three Gorges Dam is at its lowest level in years as reserves are depleted, according to Xinhua.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', '
')China was semi sustainable for centuries

[Rod_Cloutier]

I work for a major food wholesaler. The crop disaster in Mexico spawned emergency meetings with top level executives today. This is something that more than anything will affect Food Quality more than it will affect food volume.

This IS an event affecting not the 3rd world poor, but wealthy people across North America. Expect huge increases in the next few weeks for the price of most produce, AND a severe reduction in food quality until the next crop is available.

[eXpat]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Repent', 'I') work for a major food wholesaler. The crop disaster in Mexico spawned emergency meetings with top level executives today. This is something that more than anything will affect Food Quality more than it will affect food volume.

This IS an event affecting not the 3rd world poor, but wealthy people across North America. Expect huge increases in the next few weeks for the price of most produce, AND a severe reduction in food quality until the next crop is available.

[eXpat]

LOL! , just for the record, i would avoid such a protest as well.
Bolivian President Evo Morales flees food price protest
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')olivian President Evo Morales has abandoned a public event in the face of an angry protests over food shortages and price rises.

Mr Morales was due to address a parade to commemorate a colonial-era uprising in the mining city of Oruro.

But he and his team left the city to avoid a violent demonstration by miners throwing dynamite.

There have also been protests in other Bolivian cities over the shortage of sugar and other basic foodstuffs.

Mr Morales cut short his visit and returned to La Paz after protesters set off explosions close to where he was preparing to give a speech in Oruro, the capital of his home province in western Bolivia.

"The government took the decision not to respond to shameful provocations of this kind," presidential spokesman Ivan Canelas said.
Wave of protest

Setting off dynamite is a common feature of trade union protests in Bolivia, where the explosive is widely available to miners, but injuries are rare.

In the eastern city of Santa Cruz - an opposition stronghold - protesters blocked the road to the airport to demand the government scrap an agency set up to promote food production.

The protesters say the agency - known as Emapa - is inefficient and discourages private commerce.

Smaller protests were also staged in La Paz and the central city of Cochabamba, although marches were called off because of bad weather.

President Morales is facing a wave of protest over rising food and transport costs and a shortage of sugar

[Rod_Cloutier]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hank you for the news!, do you have some more information?

[Cid_Yama]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')etting off dynamite is a common feature of trade union protests in Bolivia, where the explosive is widely available to miners, but injuries are rare.

[Cid_Yama]

PHOTOS: $29 Cheez Whiz? High Arctic food costs
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hese grocery shelves in the High Arctic community of Arctic Bay, Nunavut, have people talking this week — $38 for cranberry cocktail, $29 for Cheez Whiz, and a whopping $77 for a bag of breaded chicken.

[sparky]

Here is the link to the good stuff , the WASDE report from the department of agriculture
pdf

no big drama as yet but stocks are worryingly low, plenty of purchases by government anticipating the worst , there is some speculation and some precautionary buying by countries with subsidized food programs

This year harvest is done , everybody is waiting for the northern growing season to start.
the critical times are germinating in early spring , when the shoots are vulnerable to drying or frost and a wet summer , it make harvesting impossible to access , also wet grain cannot be stored like for all thing agricultural , weather is the only thing which matter

[Rod_Cloutier]

I read this excellent article about unrest among youth in America, it included some recent youtube filmed fights between young people in public places that were very, very disturbing. (Glad I'm not living in the USA):

http://inteldaily.com/2011/01/is-this-w ... n-america/

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hat in the world is happening to America? The things that you are about to see in the videos posted in this article are so disturbing and so violent that it is hard to believe that it is actually Americans that are doing this to one another. Once upon a time, Americans generally conducted themselves with humility, grace, civility, honor and with a tremendous amount of respect for others. Sadly, those days are now long gone. Now, large numbers of people in this country are just going wild. Unfortunately, the videos you are about to watch are not isolated incidents. Stuff like this is going on all over the country. So what is going to happen when the economy collapses and shortages begin? What kind of violence and rioting should we expect to see at that point? Just recall what we witnessed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Sadly, if the videos below are any indication, the thin facade of civilization that we all take for granted every day could completely disintegrate in the event of a major economic catastrophe.

Today, society actually teaches our young people to be disrespectful and rude. Arrogance and violent behavior are glorified in our movies, on television and in our music. Our culture is literally degenerating right in front of our eyes. The whole country seems to become more selfish, more self-centered and more greedy every single day. In such an environment, is it any wonder that our young people are exhibiting such extreme behaviors?

[Newfie]

Repent, that ain't nothing. Those are merely little local skirmishes. Here in Philadelphia last year they had much bigger events that were organized as "flash mobs" where hundreds of youths would gather at some venue to be generally rude and nasty to others. Then the fights started. A few years ago I personally intervened in a street fight in downtown where a bunch of youths were pummelling and kicking some girl. Stupid me stopped the car and waded into the mele yelling "cut it out." Amazingly they did and fled like a flock of birds, after they gave her a final few boots. She took of too and the whole mess cleared out in seconds.

But for bigger stuff Google the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
http://www.google.com/search?q=democrat ... e12107320c

Then there were the race riots of the '60's where whole sections of cities were burned. Here is a list.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:1 ... ts_by_year

But further back there was the Bonus Army
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')onus Army
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Casualties and losses
4 dead; 1,017 injured At least 69 police injured

The self-named Bonus Expeditionary Force was an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers—17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—who protested in Washington, D.C., in the spring and summer of 1932. Called the Bonus March by the news media, the Bonus Marchers were more popularly known as the Bonus Army. It was led by Walter W. Waters, a former Army sergeant. The veterans were encouraged in their demand for immediate cash-payment redemption of their service certificates by retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, one of the most popular military figures of the time.

Many of the war veterans had been out of work since the beginning of the Great Depression. The World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 had awarded them bonuses in the form of certificates they could not redeem until 1945. Each Service Certificate, issued to a qualified veteran soldier, bore a face value equal to the soldier's promised payment plus compound interest. The principal demand of the Bonus Army was the immediate cash payment of their Certificates.

On July 28, U.S. Attorney General William D. Mitchell ordered the veterans removed from all government property. Washington police met with resistance, shots were fired and two veterans were wounded and later died. President Herbert Hoover then ordered the army to clear the veterans' campsite. Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur commanded the infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks. The Bonus Army marchers with their wives and children were driven out, and their shelters and belongings burned.

[americandream]

The markets are taking note of the confluence of stormy events in food:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-1 ... pesek.html

[Revi]

The best thing is that the prices at the farmers market are now about the same as those at the grocery store. Transportation costs are making the food from the outside world more expensive.

http://www.skowheganfarmersmarket.com/

[eXpat]

Rising Food Prices Push Millions Into Poverty, Study Says
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') sharp rise in food prices since June has pushed 44 million people in developing countries into extreme poverty — having to live on less than $1.25 a day — according to a new study by the World Bank.

The bank’s price index soared 29 percent from January 2010 to January 2011 (15 percent just from October to January). Wheat, maize, sugar and edible oils have seen the sharpest price increases in the last six months, with a relatively smaller increase in rice. The rising prices have increased the vulnerability of economies, particularly those that import a high share of their food and have limited capacity for government borrowing and spending.

“In the immediate term, it is important to ensure that further increases in poverty are curtailed by taking measures that calm jittery markets and by scaling up safety net and nutritional programs,” the World Bank said in the report, released Tuesday. “Investments in raising environmentally sustainable agricultural productivity, better risk-management tools, less food intensive biofuel technologies, and climate change adaptation measures are all necessary over the medium term to mitigate the impact of expected food price volatility on the most vulnerable.”

[eXpat]

Protests in Bolivia again.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')housands of people have rallied in La Paz, Bolivia to demand higher salaries as the cost of food and fuel increases.

Unions led Friday's demonstrators, who marched in the streets of the capital to protest the cost of living. Some of the protesters set off sticks of dynamite while taking part in the fifth day of protests in the Andean nation.

The protest comes one month after President Evo Morales said he planned to raise fuel prices eventually, despite rescinding a decree to do so. Morales has said the increase is necessary to level prices in the region so government subsidies do not pay for gasoline that is smuggled in from other countries.

Those comments came after the government announced a 73 percent increase in gas prices and an 83 percent increase for diesel fuel. Subsequent strikes by bus and taxi drivers to protest the new prices hobbled transit in many cities across the nation.

[eXpat]

Farmers Fail to Meet Demand as Corn Stockpiles Drop to 1974 Low
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The smallest corn inventories in 37 years are a sign farmers around the globe are failing to produce enough grain to meet rising consumption, even as planting expands and food prices surge.

Growers from Canada to Russia boosted annual output of wheat, rice and feed grain by 16 percent since 2000, not enough to keep up with the 20 percent gain in demand, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. While a Bloomberg survey of 25 analysts shows the agency on Feb. 24 may forecast a 3.5 percent increase in U.S. corn planting, the government says world stockpiles will equal 15 percent of use, the lowest since 1974.

Global inventories for all grain will drop 13 percent before the next harvest, the USDA estimates. That’s the first decline since 2007, when surging food prices sparked more than 60 riots from Haiti to Egypt. Increasing demand is causing isolated food shortages and accelerating inflation in developing countries even as it boosts farmers’ incomes and shifts planting strategies.

“We need to grow a huge crop this year to meet global food needs,” said Paul Jeschke, 58, who farms 3,600 acres (1,457 hectares) near Mazon, Illinois, and plans to boost corn planting by 50 percent because the crop is as much as $200 an acre more profitable than soybeans at current prices. “The increased demand for meat and dairy is driving demand for corn and soybeans.”

Rising incomes in developing countries are boosting food prices as people eat more meat and dairy products from crop-fed livestock. U.S. subsidies are fueling demand for ethanol made from grain, while droughts and floods in 2010 damaged global harvests.

Crop Prices Surge

Grain futures rallied this month to the highest since 2008 on the Chicago Board of Trade. Corn surged 95 percent in the past year to $7.2025 a bushel as of Feb. 18, wheat jumped 71 percent to $8.5575 a bushel, and soybeans advanced 44 percent to $13.81 a bushel. Rice gained 11 percent to $15.075 per 100 pounds.

Corn probably will reach a record $8 by 2012, and may touch $10 if the U.S. crop is disrupted, said Peter Sorrentino, who helps manage $14.4 billion at Huntington Asset Advisors. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said on Feb. 10 that soybeans will rise the most, forecasting a 16 percent increase to $16 in the next three months. Wheat futures for delivery in December, after the U.S. harvest, trade at a 72.5-cent premium to the May contract, the widest spread since 2009.

Multi-Year Trend

“People have to eat, and we have a backdrop of falling stockpiles,” Sorrentino said by telephone from Cincinnati. “Even if we have a great harvest, we’ll just be getting back to levels people can be comfortable with in terms of stockpiles. The trend is going to be for increasing prices for years to come.”

The rally is encouraging farmers to plant more this year. The USDA, at its annual Agricultural Outlook Forum on Feb. 24 in Arlington, Virginia, probably will forecast an increase in U.S. corn planting to 91.281 million acres from 88.192 million, according to the average estimate in the Bloomberg News survey. Soybean planting may be little changed at 77.274 million acres, the survey showed.

Including winter varieties already in the ground and spring crops that will be sown before June, U.S. wheat farmers will plant a total of 57.206 million acres, up 8.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bloomberg survey. Even with increased acres, output may drop because growers will abandon more of the crop this year after dry weather hurt yields, according to Lanworth Inc., a crop forecaster in Chicago.

Declining Global Harvest

The global grain harvest was 2.179 billion metric tons during the past season, dropping 2.4 percent from 2010 and down for a second straight year, according to USDA data. While that’s up from 1.874 billion in 2000, it’s less than the department’s 2.235 billion-ton estimate of world consumption for this year.

[Newfie]

Maybe you should post that to the "We can feed 9 billion thread."

[eXpat]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'M')aybe you should post that to the "We can feed 9 billion thread."

[eXpat]

Famine-like situation in North Korea as crops fail: Aid consortium
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ashington, DC, United States (AHN) – Economic sanctions have started taking a heavy toll on North Korea, with reports coming in from the reclusive Communist nation suggesting that an acute food scarcity is forcing people to live on wild grass.

A consortium of five aid groups–Christian Friends of Korea, Global Resource Services, Mercy Corps, Samaritan’s Purse and World Vision–while appealing for foreign aid to feed the most vulnerable lot in the isolated country, said a situation similar to the 1990s when thousands perished in a famine was waiting to happen.

A joint statement by the group Wednesday said, “The team observed evidence of malnutrition, food shortages and people foraging for wild grasses and herbs.” The aid consortium also said that hunger and malnutrition were prevalent more among population whose needs were served by North Korea’s public distribution system. It said that pregnant and nursing mothers, the old and the infirm and the very young were at grave risk of malnutrition.

Officials of the aid agencies were recently in North Korea where they were informed that 50 to 80 percent of wheat and barley cultivation had been severely damaged because of the unprecedented cold weather. Besides, they were informed, soaring food prices globally had made it difficult for Pyongyang to import sufficient amounts of grain.

Pyongyang’s strained relations with South Korea and the United States have not helped matters either, with the recent flashpoint being the indiscriminate shelling of a South Korean island. North Korea has also been blamed for the sinking of a South Korean warship, which resulted in the death of 43 personnel.

It’s ironic that the aid consortium, which was asked to pack up and leave North Korean shores in 2009 by the same regime, is being asked to return and resume aid. A South Korean newspaper recently reported that Pyongyang’s deputy envoy to the United Nations, Han Sang-Ryol, had urged the US to resume assistance to his impoverished nation. State Department spokesperson Philip Crowley said the US had not taken a decision on the issue, although it was assessing the situation.

Until 2008, South Korea used to send 400,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizer to its recalcitrant neighbor, but the deal ended after relations started deteriorating and the conservative Lee Myung-Bak took over as president of South Korea.