[Surf]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') know I'm only talking about a spot shortage, and other US pork suppliers will soon fill in the hole left by Smithfield's products at my local supermarket chain. But this surprised me when it happened, and caused me to wonder: Could there come a time when most of the food grown and produced in America is exported, even though we need it here?

[KaiserJeep]

Well, that was confusing. Some replied that we are SOL because of the free market, others said the the free market will save us.

I did like the spotted pig, Keith.

[Loki]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KaiserJeep', 'C')ould there come a time when most of the food grown and produced in America is exported, even though we need it here?

[Ferretlover]

I did notice a few weeks ago, when I went to the store, that the bacon for which I had been paying $3.29 a lb had jumped to $7.99 a lb!!
And, now I understand why I can't find any Smithfield ham. Apparently, getting rid of Paula Deen (who advertised for Smithfield) was a plot by the Chinese!!

[ROCKMAN]

pstarr - "Then what". Let them eat cake. But I guess that answer didn't work out for ole Marie A.

[efarmer]

The Chinese are clever indeed. All it took was one strategic buy of pork, and the United States
Congress which runs on the stuff, had to shut down the entire Federal Government until they can figure out something else to power it with. They have tried smoke and mirrors, gall and bluster, and are currently working on a form of chicken, but to date, have not found anything to replace the pork.

[KaiserJeep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Surf', '-')snip-

Keep in mind we elect government officials. If the public cannot get food because it is all exported we will protest and vote out the officials in favor of those willing to make it illegal to export food. Russia did this recently due to drought and low grain yields:

-snip-

The same thing happened to Japan and Europe after World war II. Japan and Europe purchased a lot of things from the US after the war and then started exporting low cost goods back to the US. But as their economies recovered there exports to the US dropped. Japan compensated for that drop by improving quality and efficiency which did help stabilized the situation but didn't revers it. Korea, Russia, and and other Asian countries are also experiencing the same thing. Years of government mismanagement, dictatorship and and war have ended or are ending and triggering major growth in there economies. It will take some time for everything to stabilize.

[KaiserJeep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', 'T')he Chinese are clever indeed. All it took was one strategic buy of pork, and the United States
Congress which runs on the stuff, had to shut down the entire Federal Government until they can figure out something else to power it with. They have tried smoke and mirrors, gall and bluster, and are currently working on a form of chicken, but to date, have not found anything to replace the pork.

[dinopello]

China wants to learn how to factory farm like Americans. I read somewhere else that most of China's pigs still come from small operations. They need to increase their production efficiency if they want to satisfy their demand. Even the relatively small pig farms of China create large ecological problems. Just wait until they supersize it.

When I get depressed and sickened by seeing factory farming conditions and nets full of dead pigs being hauled out of rivers like it was a large scale fishing operation, I go to this site and look at the cute little happy piggies.

Happy pigs.

[KaiserJeep]

Understand. I am content to view meats in the supermarket refrigerated counters.

[KaiserJeep]

No wonder American pork is considered a premium product.

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', 'T')he Chinese are clever indeed. All it took was one strategic buy of pork, and the United States
Congress which runs on the stuff, had to shut down the entire Federal Government until they can figure out something else to power it with. They have tried smoke and mirrors, gall and bluster, and are currently working on a form of chicken, but to date, have not found anything to replace the pork.