Food Prices Could Go Up, Again.

[IceBergSLiM]

They don't need to put HFCS in absolutely everything. The simplest solution would be to reformulate your recipe to so it doesn't contain obscene quantities of an unnecessary ingredient.

 

[HendrixFan]

Weather forecaster are predicting the summer of 2012 to be just as bad as 2011. If that prediction is true, we can expect food prices to keep going up for the next 2 years.

Do you have a handy link about the summer of 2012?

 

[Texashiker]

Do you have a handy link about the summer of 2012?

The local news station was talking about the 2012 summer predictions last night, but I did not find anything on their website.

Here is another link that says what I heard last night

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2232886.shtml

The weather people base their predictions on el nina and el nino. During one cycle the south gets rain, during the other cycle we get drought.

 

[HendrixFan]

The local news station was talking about the 2012 summer predictions last night, but I did not find anything on their website.

Here is another link that says what I heard last night

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2232886.shtml

The weather people base their predictions on el nina and el nino. During one cycle the south gets rain, during the other cycle we get drought.

Thanks for the link. Another year of this drought is the last thing we need.

 

[Texashiker]

Thanks for the link. Another year of this drought is the last thing we need.

Your welcome.

I hope the predictions are wrong, but the weather people go off historical patterns of el nino and el nina.

With an 18%+ spike in food prices this year, I look for things to get worse as the rest of the farm reports to come in during September and October.

Farmers around here are bush hogging their fields and trying to get an much hay as possible stored up for the winter. A lady my wife and I know is talking about selling her horse because the price of feed has gone up so much.

Old trees are turning brown and shedding their leaves. This drought has been bad, another year and things could go from bad to terrible.

 

[child of wonder]

This is why I'm serious when I tell my wife I can't wait for her to finish school so she can become an RN in about 3 years. Then with her additional income, we'll live just as good as we do today.

 

[Darwin333]

It is an effective fuel, you are just plain wrong there. You can only find one scientist that says otherwise and that scientist uses 40 year old production data ignoring any gains that were made since the 1970s.

You are correct that it isn't particularly environmentally friendly.

As for using the land, that is a farmer's choice. Free markets tend to do that. Or, are you arguing the government should step in and order farmers to go against their will?

Nothing "free market" about it when the only reason it is profitable for the farmers to use their land in that way is because of .gov subsidies. Just sayin...

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Talk about a non-newsworthy story.

What a non-newsworthy story. Higher food prices would only impact, oh, about the 60% or so of the populace that is not solidly middle class or better. About 40+ million Americans are on food stamps already.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter

I think it's called the Marie Antoinette newsletter.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

This is why I'm serious when I tell my wife I can't wait for her to finish school so she can become an RN in about 3 years. Then with her additional income, we'll live just as good as we do today.

You hope. It's possible that three years from now the nursing field could be saturated or the hospitals will have just filled all of their positions with subservient low-wage Filipino nurses. Also, if the rest of the nation's economy goes down the tubes, nurses and other people in the medical fields will be affected.

 

[fskimospy]

You hope. It's possible that three years from now the nursing field could be saturated or the hospitals will have just filled all of their positions with subservient low-wage Filipino nurses. Also, if the rest of the nation's economy goes down the tubes, nurses and other people in the medical fields will be affected.

Very true. When I think about the sheer number of people currently in nursing programs, the idea that the medical industry will be able to continue to absorb all of these new RNs seems unlikely.

I would imagine that pay scales and employment for nurses is likely to see a significant deterioration in the near future. The only thing I can see saving them is the continuing offloading of responsibilities of expensive doctors to nursing personnel, but that also can only last for so long.

 

[OutHouse]

Don't buy fattening products with HFCS in it and you won't be affected.

HFCS not found.

my wife sent me to the store last night to get a couple of cans of soup. OMGWTFBBQ!!! a can of fucking Campbell's soup is $1.59????? holy shit when did that happen????

 

[child of wonder]

Very true. When I think about the sheer number of people currently in nursing programs, the idea that the medical industry will be able to continue to absorb all of these new RNs seems unlikely.

I would imagine that pay scales and employment for nurses is likely to see a significant deterioration in the near future. The only thing I can see saving them is the continuing offloading of responsibilities of expensive doctors to nursing personnel, but that also can only last for so long.

It's possible, however from what I've read the nursing shortage isn't expected to become a surplus anytime soon. Perhaps 10 years from now we may see the trend begin to reverse but even though nursing enrollment is up, the need for nurses continues to outpace it as the baby boomers age.

 

[Jhhnn]

It is an effective fuel, you are just plain wrong there. You can only find one scientist that says otherwise and that scientist uses 40 year old production data ignoring any gains that were made since the 1970s.

You are correct that it isn't particularly environmentally friendly.

As for using the land, that is a farmer's choice. Free markets tend to do that. Or, are you arguing the government should step in and order farmers to go against their will?

Govt telling farmers what to do happens all the time, w/ quotas & subsidies for different crops. That's because American farmers farmed themselves out of profits in the 1920's, due to inelastic demand. Production outstripped consumption by a wide margin. Prices fell through the floor, bankrupting many farmers, adding to the misery of the Depression.

 

[Modelworks]

Corn crops were absolutely terrible in my area of NC this year. Some of it was so scorched from dry weather you would see a whole field of corn that looked like it was zapped with a shrink ray. Stuff that had been planted for months that only grew 2 feet. My parents field where they live the guy they lease it to started to harvest it and just stopped, said it wasn't worth the cost of the diesel fuel. This is what they call dent corn or feed corn not the kind you eat. It does get used in cattle and hog feed though so expect beef and pork to go up.

 

[Svnla]

Meat will go up soon because of the drought in Southern states.

Texas ranchers are selling castles and small cows in a hurry because they can not get any hays to feed them.

I just went to grocery stores earlier today and chicken breasts with bone and skin was over $1/lb, pork chop with bone was $2/lb, beef was over $3/lb (decent cut/type and not the cheapest/lowest quality).

 

[drebo]

It is an effective fuel, you are just plain wrong there. You can only find one scientist that says otherwise and that scientist uses 40 year old production data ignoring any gains that were made since the 1970s.

You are correct that it isn't particularly environmentally friendly.

As for using the land, that is a farmer's choice. Free markets tend to do that. Or, are you arguing the government should step in and order farmers to go against their will?

Ethanol increases wear on engines and is far less efficient than gasoline (takes more to go the same distance).

And, I really, really hope you're not trying to claim that farming is in any way shape or form a free market. (What I'm saying is that farming subsidies need to stop. That would bring the cost of corn and meat down faster than any other possible policy the government could enact, short of a price ceiling.)

 

[Howard]

Ethanol increases wear on engines

Really?

and is far less efficient than gasoline (takes more to go the same distance).

Why does volumetric energy density matter?

 

[dmcowen674]

Really?

Why does volumetric energy density matter?

Yes really, it doesn't have near the lubricating capability.

It has a lot less octane.

So a car that gets 25 mpg on reg gas will only get something like 18 on corn.

 

[Doppel]

Yes really, it doesn't have near the lubricating capability.

It has a lot less octane.

So a car that gets 25 mpg on reg gas will only get something like 18 on corn.

Octane isn't energy.

 

[AMFMQAM]

Pity me, for I am a 9/11 truther who is off his meds.

 

[CPA]

Great, now we have another thread that Dave can provide daily updates on food prices as well as people being carded when purchasing vinegar.

lol, it only took 3 posts after yours for your prediction to come true.

 

[fskimospy]

Ethanol increases wear on engines and is far less efficient than gasoline (takes more to go the same distance).

And, I really, really hope you're not trying to claim that farming is in any way shape or form a free market. (What I'm saying is that farming subsidies need to stop. That would bring the cost of corn and meat down faster than any other possible policy the government could enact, short of a price ceiling.)

There are national security implications to ending farm subsidies, btw. It's quite likely that in a non subsidized market that our producers will be unable to effectively compete with foreign farmers, meaning that our native industry would probably shrink a great deal. In that case if our foreign supplies were ever cut off, that could be catastrophic.

I'm really not saying that farm subsidies are worth it (generally I'm against supporting mature industries), but it is something special about this case to consider.

 

[Texashiker]

What I'm saying is that farming subsidies need to stop.

Do you like to eat?

Yes, you like to eat - keep the subsidies going.

No, you do not like to eat and you want to either spend a fortune on food or starve to death - end subsidies.

Take your pick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for the price of food, I think there are several driving forces.

1 - the price of fertilizer is directly linked to the price of fuel. Nature gas is used to make commercial grade fertilizer. As the price natural gas goes up, the price of fertilizer is forced up.

2 - the price of food is directly linked to the price of fertilizer and transportation cost.

3 - the price of food is directly linked to climate change. Droughts, fires and crop failures "will" drive the price up.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

lol, it only took 3 posts after yours for your prediction to come true.

I noticed that. He's like the "Old Faithful" of ATPN, guaranteed to spew forth hot air/gas.