There's currently no shortage of rice.
From a real estate broker in San Francisco, I find it hilarious.
‘super lucky elephant’ brand ? what genius made up that name ?
If you need more than 80 pounds of rice at once (and at worst can't deal with going through the line a couple more times), you should probably be buying it from somewhere other than Sam's Club. That's getting into the "four-pack of grand pianos" level.
Note that all the uproar is over Thai jasmine and Indian Basmati, basically the top shelf varieties. What is the level of demand for native rice grown in the US, from say, Texas, Louisiana or Arkansas? Are these being “rationed?” I haven’t read anything to indicate that they are.
I live in Southern California and was at my local Costco yesterday. I joked with the worker at the entrance and said, “RICE! I NEED RICE!! WHERE IS YOUR RICE!” He said, “We’re sold out”. I saw a story last night that the local restaurants are stockpiling to fight inflation and shortages which explains why the warehouse stores are short in stock.
This and all the grain shortages tell me - The USA is the equivalent of OPEC in food grains. We change the supply/demand equation due to biofuel mandates, and look what happens to world markets. The USA doesn’t at all produce the majority of food grains in the world - but like OPEC, we control the swing capacity. Makes me wonder - if Saudi Arabia or Russia had the same power over food, how would they use it???? Perhaps we should also understand our position/advantage a bit better also.
Sure sounds like gas prices, the terrible economy, and California's tanking real estate market are having a big effect on how people drive, shop, and behave.
Costco has been out of Thai Jasmine rice for about three or four months now. We go through a 50 lb. bag about every three months. When I went to buy it four months ago at the San Leandro store they had only the 25 lb. bags. About a week later they had some of the 50 lb. bags, but at the end March the San Leandro store didn’t even have the 25 lb. bags. Then we tried the San Francisco store, also out. So we bought American rice instead.
A few years ago you could get a 50 lb. bag for as little as $12.00 U.S. for Buddha Brand or Three Ladies or Golden Phoenix or Butterfly Brand or Chia Meng Bangsue Rice Mill brand in Oakland Chinatown.
A couple of years ago Costco began to undercut the Chinatown price by about a dollar a bag. Now the posted price at Costco for Super Lucky Elephant is $20.99, last time I looked (the Business Week article says $21.99), and they don’t have any.
And the next financial bubble to burst will be the commodities bubble.
The rice shortage is self-correcting. Poor people are eating more rice because they cant afford meat and process foods like noodles. As they shift to a basic diet heavy in rice, the supply of the more expensive foods will go up due to lack of demand. As people start eating more meat and less rice, the price of rice will come down.
The problem is oil, not rice and artificial shortages of food grains created by the Greenies. The oil shortage itself is artificial and is also the Greenies fault.
And the next financial bubble to burst will be the commodities bubble.
The rice shortage is self-correcting. Poor people are eating more rice because they cant afford meat and process foods like noodles. As they shift to a basic diet heavy in rice, the supply of the more expensive foods will go up due to lack of demand. As people start eating more meat and less rice, the price of rice will come down.
The problem is oil, not rice and artificial shortages of food grains created by the Greenies. The oil shortage itself is artificial and is also the Greenies fault.
Its an election year. Just like last election year, the meme is that the economy is in the tank. There are food riots. In Bangla Desh, or somewhere, not here, but there are food riots somewhere, so in journo-propaganda-world, that counts.
Oh, and even in the United States, there is food rationing. Food rationing? I hadn’t noticed, I somehow manage to be at the grocery store half a dozen times a week and didn’t notice we were rationing food. Rice? I’m limited to no more than a hundred pounds? You’re kidding, right? I don’t think I’ve ever bought anything more than a 5 pound bag at one time, so a hundred pound limit doesn’t really strike me as catastrophic.
But, as I say, its election season. So, in bizarro-propaganda world, it counts. Food riots and rationing.
I can’t believe I am still the only one who picked up on and commented on the fact that this lady did a 400 mile round trip to buy rice!
Paragraphs are nice. They are our friends.