[Novus]

This is how the roaming zombie hoards start. They travel in massive packs looking for food and farms to leech off of.

[americandream]

What's the bet that had we an international communist order, we would be nowhere as bad as this. We may not have had the razzle dazzle of capitalist fantasy, life may well not have been as exciting with the absence of the plastic encrusted, melamine laced garbage from the sell outs in Beijing, but our lands would have been clean, our culture high to the sounds of complex rhythms and mind enriching philosophy; instead we have this, religion and youtube! Planet earth, the failed experiment in sentient evolution!

[idiom]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', 'W')hat's the bet that had we an international communist order, we would be nowhere as bad as this. We may not have had the razzle dazzle of capitalist fantasy, life may well not have been as exciting with the absence of the plastic encrusted, melamine laced garbage from the sell outs in Beijing, but our lands would have been clean, our culture high to the sounds of complex rhythms and mind enriching philosophy; instead we have this, religion and youtube! Planet earth, the failed experiment in sentient evolution!

[americandream]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('idiom', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', 'W')hat's the bet that had we an international communist order, we would be nowhere as bad as this. We may not have had the razzle dazzle of capitalist fantasy, life may well not have been as exciting with the absence of the plastic encrusted, melamine laced garbage from the sell outs in Beijing, but our lands would have been clean, our culture high to the sounds of complex rhythms and mind enriching philosophy; instead we have this, religion and youtube! Planet earth, the failed experiment in sentient evolution!

[Revi]

40,000 people! What the heck? I am amazed that that many people went out there to get some potatoes and leeks. How desperate are these people?

It's a very interesting story, that's for sure.

[Zardoz]

Here's another one. Things are already tougher than we think, and it's just beginning:

Hard times and long lines for Southern Californians

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')ome sought a cart of groceries the week before Thanksgiving, others sought a way to keep from losing their homes in the new year. By the thousands, a diverse group of Southern Californians converged on two events Saturday aimed at helping families in hard economic times.

The problems, and the aid offered, were vastly different. But both reflected the worries and needs of many.

In Montebello, nearly 5,000 turned out for a food giveaway, a number that stunned organizers who had tried to keep it a low-key event, targeting publicity to several churches and schools. But word of mouth proved stronger than a few fliers, and crowds inundated Montebello Park. A diverse mix of people stood in a six-hour-long line -- families from middle- and working-class communities, including Pico Rivera, Montebello, Norwalk and Whittier. No one left empty-handed, though.

In Van Nuys, about 2,000 homeowners attended a workshop promoted as Home Preservation Day. But this was not about how to lay tile or install plumbing. A bank had mailed notices to homeowners in trouble with their mortgages, and Saturday offered them a chance to rework the terms of their loans. Bankers had hoped 100 would turn out, and planned for 200. Loan counselors had time to meet with a fraction of homeowners and some were turned away.

[deMolay]

Baltimore Sun

[dunewalker]

Here's an excellent movie that addresses this topic:

The Gleaners And I

[deMolay]

The problems seem to be spreading: Bakersfield

[Quagmire]

Dumpster diving is a form of gleaning! Gleaning has been going on in Europe for centuries. Here is an excellent documentary about it:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he explicit subject matter of this film is "gleaning": the long-standing but currently threatened practice of taking up and making one's own what others leave behind. On that subject alone Agnes Varda has created a remarkable documentary, that covers the history of gleaning, its legal aspects, the wide variety of gleaning practices, and most importantly the people who glean for a number of reasons, not all of which have to do with poverty or destitution.

[Munqi]

Its a good sign that the zombie hordes are still moving by car.
I wonder how much money they actually saved. ;C

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Munqi', 'I')ts a good sign that the zombie hordes are still moving by car. I wonder how much money they actually saved. ;C

[sittinguy]

Zombies with cars,,,,,,,,, GREAT

[lorenzo]

Maybe this is a stupid topic, because food prices are collapsing. All major farm commodities have now lost more than 50 to 60% of their value.

The problem is that there is a catastrophic overproduction of food in the making.

Just like in the 1930s, farmers may have to begin dumping millions of tonnes of food into the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

[wisconsin_cur]

Hat tip expat:

The Bloomberg

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Food prices will rise next year, prompting a revival of protectionism from food-growing nations and risking a renewed bout of rioting, according to Jochen Hitzfeld, an analyst at UniCredit SpA in Munich.

“Agricultural commodities will outperform the broad commodity indices in 2009,” Hitzfeld wrote in a research note this week. “If key crop-producing countries then impose export bans again and speculators drive up prices via physical stockpiling and futures contracts, new food unrest is even conceivable in the second half of 2009.”

The CHART OF THE DAY shows food prices for the past 10 years as measured by an index compiled by UBS AG and Bloomberg that tracks at least 13 foodstuffs, including wheat, soybeans, sugar, cocoa and coffee. The index has declined 35 percent since peaking in July.

“The prices of many agricultural commodities are now clearly below their production costs,” Hitzfeld wrote. “We expect the coming year to bring a cutback in area under cultivation as well as a decline in the yield per hectare.”

[skiwi]

Down on the farm, a frenzy over free food


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '.')..An estimated 40,000 people came to a Weld County farm Saturday to collect free potatoes, carrots and leeks.
Cars snaked around cornfields and parallel parked along Colorado 66 and 119 early in the morning to get free food from the Miller family, who farm 600 acres outside of Platteville, about 37 miles north of Denver.
As this prolonged Indian summer continued, the Millers had decided to give away produce because so much was left over at the end of their annual fall festival. Any day now, a few deep freezes would kill it off...

[Arsenal]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('skiwi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')raffic was backed up almost to Interstate 25, and police ticketed people who had illegally abandoned their cars in the frenzy.

[wisconsin_cur]

Food prices to continue to rise

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')or more than a year, food manufacturers have been shaving package sizes and raising prices, declaring that they had little choice because of unprecedented increases in the cost of raw ingredients like corn, soybeans and wheat.

Prices are dropping for commodities like this corn being harvested near Auburn, Ill., but economists predict the cost of food for consumers will continue to increase through next year.
Now, with the price of grains and other commodities plunging, it may seem logical that grocery prices will follow. But while prices for some items like milk and fresh produce are dropping, those of most packaged items and meat are holding firm or even increasing. Experts warn that consumers should not expect lower prices anytime soon on most items at the grocery store or in restaurants.

Government and industry economists project that the overall cost of food will continue to climb in 2009, led by increases for meat and poultry. A big reason, they say, is that food companies still have not caught up with the prolonged run-up in commodity prices, which remain above historical averages despite coming down from their highs early this year.

The Agriculture Department is forecasting that food prices will increase 3.5 to 4.5 percent in 2009, compared with an estimated 5 to 6 percent increase by the end of this year.

[wisconsin_cur]

Hat tip Savinar:

Daily Kos

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')ast week I received a very concerned call from South Dakota farmer and agronomist Bryan Lutter. "Neal, we're out of propane!" I figured this was personal distress – he and his family farm over three square miles of land and I know this has been a tough year for many people. He promptly corrected my misconception when I tried to console him. "No, everybody is out, all three grain elevators, we can't get fuel for the bins, and we're coming in real wet this year."

There are equally dramatic issues due to the bankruptcy of Verasun and the apparent insolvency of the nation's largest private crop insurance program. Payments that would have come in June or July of a normal year are still not dispersed at the end of November and this has grim implications for next year's crop.

I started digging into the details and unless I'm badly mistaken people are going to be starving in 2009 over causes and conditions being set down right now. It's a complex, interlocking issue, and I hope I've done a good job explaining it below the fold ...

[Homesteader]

Cur,

It certainly seems likely that a lot more people "somewhere" will be starving next year.

Maybe not in one of our neighborhoods, but somewhere where they aren't starving now.