Posted on 04/24/2008 4:59:23 PM PDT by Nachum
I don't want to alarm anybody, but maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.
No, this is not a drill.
You've seen the TV footage of food riots in parts of the developing world. Yes, they're a long way away from the U.S. But most foodstuffs operate in a global market. When the cost of wheat soars in Asia, it will do the same here.
Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.
"Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. "I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know how the food companies can absorb higher costs." (Full disclosure: I am an investor in Quaker Strategic)
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
You are not alone; better safe than sorry. Food, water, ammo, and beer/liquor if you drink. It is wise to always have those anyway.
Good time to have a backyard garden.
Well, there you go—
Dot Com Bubble
Housing Bubble
And now . . .
The Food Bubble!
My wife and I have been slowly buiding our reserves of things we would need in a melt down.
It’s a good idea for folks to think ahead, and I think most of us have thought along those lines for a long time. Buy up a variety of dried beans, rice and other staples. With very few purchases, you can insulate yourself against severe moderate term shortage. Then fill in with other items as time goes by. In not too long a period of time, you’ll have plenty to keep your family well fed in just about any emergency.
And you won’t have to make a run on the shelves to do it.
Good suggestion.
There is a lot of reactionary things going out there, and in the short term, yes, I think you could get ‘better rates of return’ on a bag of rice, a huge sack of flour, or a good sized jug of cooking oil. I also think that it'll be short lived - not that this will stop politicians from panicking and over reacting. Can't wait for the National Food Security Act to be proposed and pass, giving farmers money to plant fields of wheat, corn, rice.
Go to your nearest authentic Asian market and stock up on rice, canned goods, etc. Also ammunition, water (reuse milk containers), sugar, flour, salt, matches, candles, dry milk (if you use or there are kids in the household), TP, emergency radio and first aid products. I went through Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi and these things come in handy. There may be food riots, foreclosure riots or political/race riots this year, not to mention bad weather. Better safe than sorry.
How about “Give us this day our daily bread,” instead?
This will make it appear that something is being done and give the population someone beside politicians to blame for the problem.
If people have an ounce of common sense, they have been doing this for years anyway.
Nobody knows what the future brings. A prudent person prepares for the possibilities well ahead of time.
Is it me or is this hysteria a trickle over from the energy price run up and the ones saying “the prices are going to go through the roof!” are the ones who own oil stocks, gas futures, and food futures?
I have to believe that there are a bunch of people making HUGE money of this rumor and fear mongering. Everyday on the radio I hear the news cite some “source” that gas will be over $5/gal and diesel over $6/gal by year end. And sure enough the next few days the price of oil jumps another dollar or two a barrel.
I would love to see some investigation into the people who get all this face time on the financial shows and radio spots to see “whats in it for them” if they keep talking up their portfolios.
Something just doesn’t smell right. There is just no reason for all this hysteria and false “shortages” BS.
I guess Thomas Malthus was wrong! :D
My pantry and freezer are always well stocked. I buy in quantity when things I use go on sale. I also use coupons. That only delays the pain. Eventually, I will have to pay the higher prices.
Avoiding prepared foods is a very good way to save money...and to eat healthier.
India just announced it will not be importing wheat since they have a bumper crop
Sounds like all the Y2K members here are back in force
Some major food outlets in Houston have placed a limit on rice purchases this past week.
Is it the supply chain just slowing down? With diesel at $4.25/gallon and trucks getting 5-6MPG, why not let it sit in a warehouse until the price goes up enought to pay the freight and make a buck?
Prices are not going up. What is happening is the value of the dollar is dropping, and dropping very fast.
If you store your wealth in dollars, you are screwed. Far better off storing your wealth in something tangable, like corn, rice, gold, firearms, land, etc.
“In a real food crunch, I would expect the government to confiscate private stockpiles and redistribute them.”
If it got to that point the stockpiles of ammunition would come into play.
But it wouldn’t hurt to have a couple week’s food set aside in case there are strikes by truckers protesting the price of gas.
News of shortages cause folks to stockpile. Stockpiling causes shortages because of the “just in time” pipeline.
The availability of some bullet calibers has gotten better, the price has gone up a bunch. Causing stockpiling. Then we go back to shortages.
We ran this play back in the 70s.
The Arab Oil embargo caused gas lines due to price control induced rationing.
Next thing you know toilet paper was in “short supply”.
yadda yadda
Now with the internet, any half baked idea gets spread virally in hours.
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