[eXpat]

Thousands protest against high food prices in Delhi
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')housands of people have gathered in the Indian capital, Delhi, to take part in a rally to protest against rising food prices and unemployment.

A steady stream of protesters, carrying red flags, has been marching through the streets of central Delhi since early morning.

The rally has led to massive traffic jams in the city.

Trade unions who have called the rally say nearly 40,000 people will attend a meeting at the Ramlila grounds.

Thousands will then march to parliament, they say.

Security is tight across the city with thousands of policemen deployed at the rally ground and along the route of the march.

The protest has been organised by major trade unions, including the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and the Centre for Industrial Trade Union (CITU).

The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) - which is backed by the governing Congress party - is also supporting the strike saying it wants to remind the government about its commitments to the poor.

A CITU statement said workers from 19 states, thousands of women among them, were participating in the march.

Food inflation has been consistently rising in India, pushing up household budgets.

The cost of pulses, milk, wheat, rice and vegetables has gone up sharply. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said food prices are an "area of concern".

[Newfie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eXpat', '[')b]Famine-like situation in North Korea as crops fail: Aid consortium
[..................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.

[eXpat]

Rising food prices in the USA too
Food Companies: We’re Going to Start Raising Prices
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')t’s not just more pain at the gas pump courtesy of spiking oil prices that you need to brace for. You’re going to be feeling more pain at the grocery store soon, too, as major food manufacturers say they are planning to raise prices due to soaring commodity costs. At a food industry conference this week, Sara Lee said it may add another 4 to 6 percent to its prices in the second half of the year, on top of an already announced 3 percent rise in the first half of 2011. ConAgra, which makes packaged meals including the Healthy Choice and Marie Callender lines, said it is eyeing a 25 percent increase in some of its prices. At least those are price hikes you can see; some food companies, like Kraft, are opting for stealth moves, including reducing the package size of food or opting for less expensive ingredients.

Here’s some, um, food for thought on what’s going on with food prices and how to cope:

So much for those reports of low inflation. In the 12 months through January, the official inflation rate in the U.S. was a benign-sounding 1.6 percent. Only problem is, that stat is just for a broad basket of all sorts of goods and services. Narrow it down to just the cost of food, and recent price trends are anything but benign. A smaller basket of meat, poultry, and fish cost 6 percent more this January compared to a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price data. Given that average wages grew less than 2 percent last year, the rise in food prices is indeed taking a bigger bite out of our wallets. Here’s a breakdown of some specific food prices that are rising a whole lot more than the general rate of inflation:

12-month price change in selected foods:

* Butter + 19.6 percent
* Lamb: +18.9
* Bacon +11.3
* Beef & Veal + 9.7
* Potatoes + 6.0
* Roast Coffee +5.6
* Sugar +4.8
* Eggs +4.8
* Fresh Veggies + 3.7
* Fresh Fruit +3.1
* General Inflation: +1.6

[eXpat]

Food prices to skyrocket, riots could follow, suggests USDA
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '(')NaturalNews) When the upswing in commodity prices eventually makes its way throughout the food system in mid-to-late 2011, food prices are sure to spike with levels potentially reaching those of 2008, announced U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) economist Ephraim Leibtag at the agency's annual Outlook Forum. And if conditions escalate rapidly, there is also the potential for food riots and other civil unrest.

The USDA is predicting a 3.5 percent increase in food prices in 2011, which is about twice the overall inflation rate but less than the 2008 increase, according to a recent Reuters report. In 2008, food prices rose 5.5 percent, which represents the highest increase since 1990. But the possibility of food prices dramatically rising in 2011 like they did in 2008 is a definite possibility.

"Given that it's still earlier in the year, I'm prone to be conservative on the side of the forecast," said Leibtag. "It's a possibility," he added, concerning the likelihood of massive inflation in food costs like was seen in 2008.

[eXpat]

Red-hot food prices become cause of major concern
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')ubai: We are living in unpalatable times. Seemingly with every passing week, whether you are dining in or eating out, what's being put on the table is weighing rather heavily on your wallet. Certainly enough to cause a bout of indigestion.

By the looks of it, food price inflation is here for an unwelcome — and extended — stay. And it's developing into a full-blown crisis.

What could further distort an already tense situation is the crisis that is bloodying Libya and its subsequent impact in driving up global oil prices. Early last week, oil climbed to its highest in more than two years.

All of this leaves local food wholesalers and retailers in a very difficult position. "In recent weeks, our procurement costs are up by more than 15 per cent and our suppliers have warned us to brace ourselves for more," said the owner of a leading wholesale business based in Dubai's Fruit and Vegetable Market.

"So far we have managed to keep supplies coming through without much disruption. But a sharp drop in demand locally would have huge consequences for us given these are perishables we deal in."

Already, cashflow problems are being keenly felt among the smaller and mid-sized businesses that make up the majority of this trade here. The sentiment among them is that any further deterioration in the cost of sourcing would lead to disastrous consequences for them.

Local traders in food commodities talk about working on alternate sourcing arrangements from cheaper supplier markets. But the prospect that by doing so would create immediate breakthroughs remains remote.

"As experts predict the market will remain volatile for the foreseeable future, we are adapting a sustainable policy that will have social and economical benefits such as sourcing from local producers and direct imports where the middleman can be totally eliminated," said Mousa Haji, chairman of Fathima Group, which operates supermarkets under the same name. "We are also in the process of introducing more private labels to our category where we can offer customers better prices."

But such wholesale transitions will take their time to translate into pricing that consumers can again be comfortable with. In the near term, the current projections are for inflationary pressures on food and related items to be a live wire issue for the local trade.

"Prices keep on increasing for almost all the products and the indication is it will be like this for some more time," said Zakeer Hussain, Manager at Food and Life Trading Co..

[sparky]

.
what a low energy society looks like



On farming politics in South Africa

the black farmers make a subsistence farming ,
the farmer family live on its plot
the central administration live on the surplus produced

there is very little surplus produced ,
after keeping the next harvest seeds , 90% of the rest is consumed as food by the family
there is a fair bit of trading for clothing , containers and others
but no luxuries often not even basic necessities

it make the central power weaken without taxes , dues or tithes and often force it
to purchase food on the open market and subsidize it to feed the cities



From the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8547621.stm


.......... " But Mr Nkwinti acknowledged that the deadline would not be kept.

He said the focus would now shift to helping the black farmers make their land productive.

"The farms - which were active accruing revenue for the state - were handed over to people,
and more than 90% of those are not functional," he said.

"They are not productive, and therefore the state loses the revenue.

We cannot afford to go on like that... No country can afford that."

.

[eXpat]

Warning Of 'Food Price Riots In The UK'
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') senior economist at the worldwide bank HSBC has warned of civil unrest in Britain if food prices continue to soar.
Speaking on Jeff Randall Live, senior global economist Karen Ward cautioned that the UK could experience the kind of food riots seen in other countries.

"Even in the developed world I think we have very, very low wage growth, so people aren't getting more in their pay packet to compensate them for food and energy, and I think we could see social unrest certainly in parts of the developed world and the UK as well."

She went on to highlight the link between high food prices and the escalating cost of crude oil.

"More and more we are seeing that some of these foodstuffs are actually substitutes for energy itself, particularly biofuels. So I think the energy markets are a significant contributor to these food price gains."

[the48thronin]

But a 20 percent price rise this year of China's national liquor, Maotai, on the back of tight supply and rising raw material costs has got Chinese consumers hot under the collar, especially as Beijing tries to tackle growing inflation.

Now the Maotai debate has found its way into the annual meeting of China's rubber stamp parliament, normally a much drier affair with hand-picked delegates taking turns to outdo each other in praising government policy.

"As the 'national spirit', it's quite understandable the price adjustment for Maotai has attracted such attention," Guizhou provincial governor Zhao Kezhi told a news conference. Maotai is made in a remote part of the southwestern province.

The cost of raw materials for the fiery drink -- which is essentially composed of mountain water, sorghum and grain -- had gone up by 28 percent, Zhao said.

One lawmaker proposed this week the government should step in and put a stop to the price rise, according to state media.

What next booze riots in China?

http://www.abc26.com/news/offbeat/sns-rt-odd-us-npc-maotaitre7284rd-20110309,0,7663087.story

[dorlomin]

Guardian
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')As a result of an extraordinarily tight grain situation, this year's harvest will be one of the most closely watched in years. Last year, the world produced 2,180 million tons of grain. It consumed 2,240 million tons, a consumption excess that was made possible by drawing down stocks by 60 million tons. To avoid repeating last year's shortfall and to cover this year's estimated 40-million-ton growth in demand, this year's world grain harvest needs to increase by at least 100 million tons. Yet that would only maintain the current precarious balance between supply and demand.

To get prices back down to a more acceptable level, it would take perhaps another 50 million tons for a total increase of 150 million tons. Can the world boost this year's grain harvest by 150 million tons or even 100 million tons? It is possible, because we have had annual harvest jumps of 150 million tons twice over the last two decades, but this year it does not appear likely.

[nocar]

Well, the author of the article is Lester Brown who has been writing about the subject for some 40 years, warning of an impending food crisis. I have always felt he is right, but of course he has been ridiculed by the economists who argue that production will rise as soon as there is demand.

[Loki]

Very interesting article, though I'm not familiar enough with the subject to gauge its accuracy. Thanks for posting it.

[Daniel_Plainview]

Food Prices Soar by the most since 1974
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ASHINGTON (AP) -- Wholesale prices jumped last month by the most in nearly two years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years. Excluding those volatile categories, inflation was tame.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that the Producer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in February -- double the 0.8 percent rise in the previous month. Outside of food and energy costs, the core index ticked up 0.2 percent, less than January's 0.5 percent rise.

Food prices soared 3.9 percent last month, the biggest gain since November 1974. Most of that increase was due to a sharp rise in vegetable costs, which increased nearly 50 percent. That was the most in almost a year. Meat and dairy products also rose.

Energy prices rose 3.3 percent last month, led by a 3.7 percent increase in gasoline costs.

Separately, the Commerce Department said home construction plunged to a seasonally adjusted 479,000 homes last month, down 22.5 percent from the previous month. It was lowest level since April 2009, and the second-lowest on records dating back more than a half-century.

[mattduke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he World Bank has warned that rising food prices, driven partly by rising fuel costs, are pushing millions of people into extreme poverty.

[sparky]

.
Food , the first need
the World bank talking about millions is wimpy they could have said hundred of millions of people
and dozen of governments

[Shaved Monkey]

Anarchy is only 3 square meals away
3rd world is probably only on 2 to begin with

[Lore]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shaved Monkey', 'A')narchy is only 3 square meals away
3rd world is probably only on 2 to begin with

[Fishman]

Exactly as expected for peak oil. Food = diesel fuel. High price for diesel = high price food.
""We have to put food first and protect the poor and vulnerable, who spend most of their money on food." is essentialy fuel subsidy. As terrible as it sounds, food subsidy will require forced contraception or even more will starve. We won't do this extreme measure however, the outcome will be terrible.

[Shaved Monkey]

Affordable food created the population explosion, unaffordable food may solve it.
Propping up cheap food through fuel subsidies just prolongs the inevitable, not propping it up is cruel and heartless.

[nobodypanic]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Fishman', 'E')xactly as expected for peak oil. Food = diesel fuel. High price for diesel = high price food.
""We have to put food first and protect the poor and vulnerable, who spend most of their money on food." is essentialy fuel subsidy. As terrible as it sounds, food subsidy will require forced contraception or even more will starve. We won't do this extreme measure however, the outcome will be terrible.

[AgentR11]

Biofuels. At least as those in power see it.
Working as intended.