Free Republic

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, along with 22 other AGs, sent a letter demanding answers from the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) over its Financial Institutions Net-Zero Standard. The letter, addressed to SBTi CEO, David Kennedy, demands documents on member commitments, funding sources, and insurer actions tied to the Financial Institutions Net-Zero Standard, which may violate the law, and have harmed consumers. Bird posted on social media: “Making net-zero a goal actively harms Americans, creates risk for energy independence, and increases the cost of safe, healthy, nutritious food." ... Specifically, the AGs argue that SBTi's Standards are unlawful and raise...

A flurry of mainstream media reports, from Bloomberg, The Guardian, Financial Times, and CNN, among other outlets, claim that climate change is causing rising food prices “worldwide,” based on a single new study. This is false. Bad weather has always impacted crop production, and there is no actual evidence that extreme weather is increasing. Globalization of media coverage is simply making it easier to hear about bad weather elsewhere in the world, meanwhile crop production and yields globally continue to set records – a fact the same media outlets largely ignore. Focusing on the coverage by Bloomberg, in an article...

Stocks, bonds, gold and bitcoin — pretty much everything but the U.S. dollar — soared Friday when Fed Chair Jerome Powell not only declared that the time has come for policy to adjust but that further increases in the unemployment rate would be unwelcome. Markets looked set for a calmer session Monday, a period of tranquillity that may run until Nvidia reports its results on Wednesday. In the meantime, it’s worth looking at food prices, which have become a potent political issue in the presidential campaign. Vice President Kamala Harris outlined a plan, still lacking many concrete details, that would...

Eating costs more in Biden's America. The last time this much of your income went to buying groceries was 30 years ago. Inflation may be ebbing but food costs are not. Don't look for relief any time soon. Restaurants and food companies are dealing with rising labor costs and the rising costs of some ingredients, like cocoa Prices at restaurants were up 5.1% last month compared to January 2023. Grocery costs increased 1.2% during the same timeframe. The sad fact is that once food items go up in price, they don't come back down. Shoppers have to adjust to the...

The typical American household must spend an additional $11,434 annually just to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed in January of 2021, right before inflation soared to 40-year highs, according to a recent analysis of government data. Such figures underscore the financial squeeze many families continue to face even as the the rate of U.S. inflation recedes and the economy by many measures remains strong, with the jobless rate at a two-decade low. Even so, many Americans say they aren't feeling those gains, and this fall more people reported struggling financially than they did prior to the pandemic,...

VIDEOA year ago, in July 2021, Sleepy Joe and pals went into a state of deep braggadocio boasting how they saved the public 16 cents on their Fourth of July cookout from a year before. That's right! SIXTEEN WHOLE CENTS!!! Of course, that "savings" figure was due to some very creative accounting on their part. However, as you can see in this video, there is NO WAY Sleepy Joe wants to even mention anything at all associated with the costs of the 2022 July 4 picnic. In fact, they prefer you just think of something else altogether.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported on Friday they are recording the highest Food Price Index since they started recording thirty years ago. With record highs in prices for cereals, vegetable oils, dairy and meats This issue has been a slow burning fuse toward the biggest powder keg in modern history, and it is about to get very serious. We have been warning about it since last fall. In the most deliberate and painstaking ways possible, we have been urging everyone to take this issue seriously.

A surge in food prices this year is impacting local grocery stores and restaurants, which in turn affects the people buying food from these places. But in many cases, owners of eateries and shopping venues say they have little choice but to raise prices to keep up with costs. “Oh yeah, prices have gone up like crazy,” said Mike Hetelekides, owner of The Villager Restaurant and Diner in Canandaigua. “We can’t keep up.” The U.S. Agriculture Department said last week that it expects retail food prices to increase 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent this year, after climbing just 0.8 percent...

The USDA has released their projections for food price inflation in 2011/2012, showing troubling forecasts that may send you to the grocery store today, before paying higher prices tomorrow. The report shows that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all food increased 0.8 percent between 2009 and 2010, and is forecasted to increase 3.5 to 4.5 percent in 2011. Items that are expected to inflate the most include beef, cooking oils, and seafood. Processed vegetables and beverages were projected to to see smaller changes in the CPI. The Wall Street Journal notes that “the midpoint of the new USDA outlook...

Food riots. Scores of panicked people protesting, burning effigies and chanting. Shops being ransacked, supplies running out as soon as they come in, and stricken communities stockpiling rice, bread and water for fear of going without. These have happened in Haiti and Egypt in recent months as the price of scarce food has soared. But what if they happened on the streets of Bromley? Or Newcastle? Or Bath? As bizarre as this might seem, the prospect of UK food shortages has started to be taken seriously by food manufacturers and retailers. The global food shortage has raced to the top...

How could we end up with a $10 tomato? The prices of tomatoes, potatoes, breakfast cereal and other commodities are generally kept fairly low because consumers control what they buy. No matter what we do in our current system of shopping, we will not see a $10 tomato until Obamanomics causes hyperinflation and we begin using tomatoes as currency. However, there is one other way that we could see a $10 tomato. That is if we get government involved in the food industry. For starters, the government could start a grocery insurance system for retired people to ensure sure that...

In 1973 Richard Nixon, US president, under political pressure be­cause of rising domestic food prices, banned the export of soyabeans. The policy had predictably dire results, but today, with the world in the grip of another bout of food price inf­lation, governments worldwide are rushing to distort the market with subsidies and quotas, price controls and export taxes. They should stop. In the run-up to its presidential election, Russia has imposed price controls on basic foodstuffs, and plans an export tariff on wheat. China already controls prices; other importers, including Egypt, Jordan, Bangladesh and Morocco, are increasing subsidies or fiddling...