Food price inflation is coming.
by Jeff Davis
Don’t be too surprised if your grocery bills, which used to be mere two-figure amounts, start climbing higher and higher into the three-figure range.
Omaha.com reports: “Warnings of higher food prices headed for American supermarkets and restaurants were swallowed easily across much of farm country Wednesday. The big gulp came when the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that global demand had pushed U.S. corn supplies to their lowest point in 15 years. The price of corn, which has doubled over the past six months, affects most food products in supermarkets. It’s used to feed the cattle, hogs and chickens that fill the meat aisles. It [corn] is the main ingredient in Cap’n Crunch and Doritos. Turned into syrup, it sweetens most soft drinks and many foods.”
Maybe we shouldn’t be exporting so much food to the rest of the world. There used to be tariffs to protect American consumers, but these have all been abolished in the name of free trade –which means much bigger profits for the mega-corporations while the little guy gets the shaft.
Remember the Soviet Union deliberately starved White people so they could export food. Instead of Communist tyrants, we have the CEOs of big agriculture companies sending US food overseas for top dollar.
Omaha.com goes on: “Corn also is part of the agricultural blend that fuels the economies of Nebraska, Iowa and other farming states. Iowa is the nation’s top corn-producing state; Nebraska is third. Shoppers could see higher grocery bills as early as three months from now, though most of the impact won’t be felt for another six months, said Scott Irwin, an agricultural economics professor at the University of Illinois. Chicken prices are among the first to rise because the bird’s life span is so short that higher feed costs get factored in quickly, he said. Price hikes for hogs take about a year and cattle two years. Prices on packaged foods take six or seven months to rise. Tyson Foods, the nation’s biggest meat company, said chicken, beef and pork prices are expect to rise this year, if only slightly, as producers seek to cover costs. ConAgra Foods Inc. — the Omaha-based producer of brands including Healthy Choice, Banquet and Chef Boyardee — is raising prices on some of its products because of higher costs for corn and fuel, said Teresa Paulsen, a spokeswoman. Corn prices have risen over the past six months from $3.50 a bushel to nearly $7. The U.S. will have a reserve of 675 million bushels left over in late August, when this year’s harvest begins. That’s roughly 5 percent of all corn that will be consumed, the lowest surplus level since 1996.”
The thing here is that a rise in food prices combined with 20% real unemployment may well create something which has never before been seen in America’s history: genuine hunger, as opposed to mere malnutrition caused by bad food choices and an excess of industrially-produced, chemical-laden food products.
Even those White blue-collar families who have been able to hang onto a couple of jobs and a house by the skin of their teeth are going to be faced with a choice of food or rent at some point. The price rises aren’t too noticeable yet, although a quick trip to your local Safeway or Albertsons will confirm rising prices and noticeably less variety and choice of products in grocery stores these days.
The long, slow slide into Third World status for America continues.
