Posted on 04/23/2008 3:39:19 PM PDT by chessplayer
NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Sam's Club warehouse division said on Wednesday it is limiting sales of several types of rice, the latest sign that fears of a rice shortage are rippling around the world.
Sam's Club, the No. 2 U.S. warehouse club operator, is limiting sales of the 20-pound (9 kg), bulk bags of rice to four bags per customer per visit, and is working with suppliers to ensure the products remain in stock.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Jack Cafferty was talking about this on CNN and made it sound like food riots could break out across the US anytime now.
I know many people eat rice, but I can’t remember the last time I had it. I think it came with a meal I ordered about 6 months ago. Do people really eat that much rice?
Just goes to prove ... "Jack's a Joke"
Am I the only one who read this article and shook their heads and thought “SO WHAT!!” The next articles will be about “hoarders.”
Just another reason why I watch no news on TV. NONE!
The story as presented on NBC Nightly News was interesting. Their reporting indicated there is no shortage, just a 150 % increase in price since January based on international food riot news stories.
I’m thinking that the point in the 90s when we decided perception would be reality was the beginning of the end.
NOw there is going to be a run on RICE!
When we lived in Hawaii, if you opened an account at a bank, instead of a toaster, etc., they gave away rice. No kiddin’!
I can only buy 200 lbs of rice in a single visit? Whoa - next thing you know they’re going to limit an individual customer to 20 tons of concrete per visit. The humanity!
Besides, I was watching that network news way back in the 1960s whenever we actually had a working TV in my home.
I am of the mind that I should know my enemy.
The incredible distortion coming from that enterprise keeps my mind working.
The company can't be accused of price gouging, because the increasing product price is not in its control right now. And it certainly can't be accused of "forcing hoarders to buy rice." This is actually rather a brilliant marketing move -- create an artificial panic, based on a realistic shortage during times of high prices -- instant higher sales!
On another note.... the real heavy demand for rice is around the world, in cultures and countries where rice is a primary ingredient of the daily food intake. Here, it's a side dish. Why would Walmart/Sams limit sales HERE to address potential shortages elsewhere?
Potatos- we grow potatoes here.
Let them eat Tator Tots.
It’s still less than $10 for a 10 pound bag at the Chinese markets here in Cleveland. I eat a lot of rice! My babe is Chinese-born. Been an American citizen for several years. I’m very proud of her. Great cook, but makes a lot of rice!
This doesn’t inspire confidence if we have to ration RICE. It stinks of the early days of Soviet collapse.
Something funny is going on and I’d recommend that everyone keep an emergency food supply stored.
Jack Cafferty couldn’t pour p*ss out of a boot with the instrictions written on the heel.
I think folks from the southern US eat a lot more rice than the northern bunch. I have southern female mothers/grandmothers on both sides of the family, and even though we live in the chilly north, rice was always the preferred side dish.
If you consider ethnic dishes, and wheat sensitivities, it is easy to understand why people might get nervous about a shortage of this staple.
Rice is a major comfort food for many of us, especially in soups, paella, stir-fry, fried-rice, etc... It makes a good cheap meal, and is wonderful for filling the tummies of growing children.
It can be breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The base for many desserts, and combined with beans or lentils, and some seasoning, a complete meal. I remember one time when money was hard to come by, keeping my four children happy and content with rice pudding for snacks and desserts... fortified with a few eggs, dried milk powder, raisins, etc...
Rice is a great grain. Brown rice takes longer to cook, but is more nutritious than converted white. It has a shorter shelf life, but the advantage from a vitamin point of view makes it worth buying.
Try some rice, you might like it!
We aren’t rationing rice. This is not a ration system, this is a typical hickup in the supply chain “limit X per customer”. Nothing about this is stopping you from getting all the rice you want, it just means that you can only get 200 pounds in one register transaction, then you need to take it out to your car then come back in and grab another 200 pounds. Or don’t shop at Sam’s Club, go someplace where they aren’t worried about their supply chain. WalMart uses the just-in-time supply system, the benefit of that is you don’t waste space and money storing stuff you won’t be selling for months, the downside is you have no stock sitting in warehouses to get you through the occasional hickup. Welcome to a hickup, go someplace that doesn’t do JIT and you’ll be fine. If there was rationing the limit would be way below 200 pounds.
We cook a lot of Indian and Thai food, in those cuisines rice is the staple, comparable to bread, and I have a rice maker that will do ten cups at a time. But I don't make that much at once, there are only 4 of us, so I do 3 cups at a time and put some away for lunch. I buy rice in 10 pound bags, and that's plenty to cook for now and store the rest in 2 large plastic containers in the pantry.
I’d say we go though 7-10 pounds of a rice a month.
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