Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.
Spiking food prices have led to riots in recent weeks in Haiti, Indonesia, and several African nations. India recently banned export of all but the highest quality rice, and Vietnam blocked the signing of new contract for foreign rice sales."I'm surprised the Bush administration hasn't slapped export controls on wheat," Mr. Rawles said. "The Asian countries are here buying every kind of wheat."
I suspect that if Washington continues to pursue biofuel strategies the shortages will occur in more grains than just rice.
Update: Food Alarmism
2 comments:
I live in nebraska. And the big crop here is corn and soy bean. But the gas here is 3.50 per gal and the ethenol plants are springing up all over. But the big complaint you will hear around here is that the price of corn is so high that people cant afford to feed the cattle. Ithink we are painting ourselves into a corner with all this biofuel and green this and that. It is making people paranoid to live normal lives. I think its all part of corperate greed!
I agree with your take... turning corn into biofuel is a boon to some farmers, but a bust for others and to consumers.
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