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Load Up the Pantry
WSJ ^ | April 21, 2008 | BRETT ARENDS

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 ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: load; pantry; up
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To: IamConservative
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?

A lot of shippers have gone to a just-in-time supply chain to eliminate the cost of maintaining such warehouses. Not many exist any more. Part of the problem...

21 posted on 04/24/2008 6:05:24 PM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ("Wise men don't need to debate; men who need to debate are not wise." -- Tao Te Ching)
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To: CapnJack

I’m with you. There appears to be a Chicken Little effect going on..more trumped up panicking, especially here in the US. Other than the asian and perhaps the Hispanic community, I don’t know that the American public in general uses all that much rice. I certainly don’t. I have enough on hand to last a year. My cereals haven’t gone up in price, still 3.29 a box. Potatoes, sweet potatoes and pasta still very reasonable. Fresh vegetables, well many in our community are rasing their own and selling at a town market each weekend. I am going to learn how to can this summer..tomatoes and beans :-)


22 posted on 04/24/2008 6:08:04 PM PDT by SueRae
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To: Nachum
"Load up the pantry,"

Done!

23 posted on 04/24/2008 6:13:26 PM PDT by processing please hold ( "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.")
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To: Aglooka
In a real food crunch, I would expect the government to confiscate private stockpiles and redistribute them.

Very true. Now we're just preparing. They'll call it hoarding then.

24 posted on 04/24/2008 6:16:01 PM PDT by processing please hold ( "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.")
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To: processing please hold

Well, I grew my eye teeth on rationing vittles. We grew a garden in the back yard. We also raised white rabbits in the back yard. We ate pretty hardy. Margarine with those little yellow dye packs was not too bad. Carnation milk I still hate to this day, but hey, it kept us alive and healthy. Gas and tires, shoes, sugar, all rationed. We managed, as did millions of families. Everyone in the neighborhood had a “Victory Garden”. I still have some of my ration stamps. Might come in handy again. LOL.


25 posted on 04/24/2008 6:26:16 PM PDT by WVNan
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To: gedeon3

Articles like this are irresponsible and the trigger for panic buying, shortages, and runaway inflation.


26 posted on 04/24/2008 6:27:15 PM PDT by informavoracious (God BLESS America)
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To: informavoracious

Those of us who knew hard times don’t panic. We survived the Depression and WWII. Why should we panic?


27 posted on 04/24/2008 6:28:52 PM PDT by WVNan
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To: Nachum

I’ve had 50#of rice in the basement for over 5 years now. I’ve also got 6 5gallon buckets of wheat grain...NOT flour. I try to keep canned veggies stockpiled too but that’s hard to do. I like to eat those right out of the can.


28 posted on 04/24/2008 6:32:08 PM PDT by mamelukesabre (Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?)
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To: Nachum
I don't want to alarm anybody

Nah.

29 posted on 04/24/2008 6:38:02 PM PDT by Alouette (Vicious Babushka)
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To: uncbob

they probably won’t be exporting wheat either cause they will probably take care of their own.

Too bad the U.S. doesn’t have that train of thought.


30 posted on 04/24/2008 6:44:19 PM PDT by television is just wrong
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To: CapnJack

You’re right. This smells a lot like the manufactured California electricity crisis in 2001. REEKS like it. Remember E N R O N? Cherchez la profit.


31 posted on 04/24/2008 6:46:11 PM PDT by informavoracious (God BLESS America)
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To: WVNan
We have a big garden this year, bigger than last years.

We have can upon can of Carnation Evaporated milk. I have to roll them once a month. In a pinch they'll come in handy, but for me, only in a pinch. lol

I still have some of my ration stamps. Might come in handy again. LOL.

I'm sure our gov. will still honor them. *snicker*

32 posted on 04/24/2008 6:49:24 PM PDT by processing please hold ( "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.")
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To: mamelukesabre

In the deep south we have a problem with stocking up on items like flour, rice and other dry staples. Unless you have a gigantic freezer, things spoil or get buggy very quickly here in the heat and high humidity.


33 posted on 04/24/2008 6:53:09 PM PDT by varina davis
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To: informavoracious

You know I was curious one time and looked up how much food for grocery stores they kept on hand. Two weeks worth then the shelves go dry. Food in NO didn’t last that long.


34 posted on 04/24/2008 6:57:03 PM PDT by processing please hold ( "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Might I also suggest a high quality water filter,the ones with the ceramic filters that remove just about every contaminant are the best.


35 posted on 04/24/2008 7:03:20 PM PDT by Farmer Dean (168 grains of instant conflict resolution)
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To: processing please hold

I sure hope you guys are being sarcastic!


36 posted on 04/24/2008 7:12:28 PM PDT by lainie ("You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." - C.S. Lewis)
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To: Nachum

Alrighty then, I’ll throw another log on this fire. Maybe the Tennessee governor knows something we don’t. He is building an enormous multi million dollar underground bunker at the governors mansion during a time of budget shortfall, completely ignoring public outcry and pushing it through.


37 posted on 04/24/2008 7:17:40 PM PDT by Boiling point (If God had wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
"I went through Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi and these things come in handy. "

Yup. I'm in Mobile and I got my 'hurricane gasoline' yesterday. It's a little early so I added stabalizer to it.

38 posted on 04/24/2008 7:28:58 PM PDT by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: All

xref.. article posted twice

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2006668/posts


39 posted on 04/24/2008 7:37:12 PM PDT by lainie ("You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." - C.S. Lewis)
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To: processing please hold

Yeah, I’m thinking of making a container garden. I have a very small yard. I don’t think the town will let me keep rabbits either. LOL. But I think the gov. really should honor my ration coupons, especially for gas. I’m not driving much these days. Thinking learning to ride a bike again. Maybe a three wheeler for safety’s sake. Or perhaps I will get off my lazy bum and do some walking.


40 posted on 04/24/2008 8:01:24 PM PDT by WVNan
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