America Begins Food Rationing

[Evilspartacus]

This is just the beginning. Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing. 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.

At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers grew frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.

"Where's the rice?" an engineer from Palo Alto, Calif., Yajun Liu, said. "You should be able to buy something like rice. This is ridiculous."

The bustling store in the heart of Silicon Valley usually sells four or five varieties of rice to a clientele largely of Asian immigrants, but only about half a pallet of Indian-grown Basmati rice was left in stock. A 20-pound bag was selling for $15.99.

"You can't eat this every day. It's too heavy," a health care executive from Palo Alto, Sharad Patel, grumbled as his son loaded two sacks of the Basmati into a shopping cart. "We only need one bag but I'm getting two in case a neighbor or a friend needs it," the elder man said.

The Patels seemed headed for disappointment, as most Costco members were being allowed to buy only one bag. Moments earlier, a clerk dropped two sacks back on the stack after taking them from another customer who tried to exceed the one-bag cap.

"Due to the limited availability of rice, we are limiting rice purchases based on your prior purchasing history," a sign above the dwindling supply said.

Shoppers said the limits had been in place for a few days, and that rice supplies had been spotty for a few weeks. A store manager referred questions to officials at Costco headquarters near Seattle, who did not return calls or e-mail messages yesterday.

An employee at the Costco store in Queens said there were no restrictions on rice buying, but limits were being imposed on purchases of oil and flour. Internet postings attributed some of the shortage at the retail level to bakery owners who flocked to warehouse stores when the price of flour from commercial suppliers doubled.

The curbs and shortages are being tracked with concern by survivalists who view the phenomenon as a harbinger of more serious trouble to come.

"It's sporadic. It's not every store, but it's becoming more commonplace," the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, James Rawles, said. "The number of reports I've been getting from readers who have seen signs posted with limits has increased almost exponentially, I'd say in the last three to five weeks."

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 a 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." Mr. Rawles said it is hard to know how much of the shortages are due to lagging supply and how much is caused by consumers hedging against future price hikes or a total lack of product.

"There have been so many stories about worldwide shortages that it encourages people to stock up. What most people don't realize is that supply chains have changed, so inventories are very short," Mr. Rawles, a former Army intelligence officer, said. "Even if people increased their purchasing by 20%, all the store shelves would be wiped out."

At the moment, large chain retailers seem more prone to shortages and limits than do smaller chains and mom-and-pop stores, perhaps because store managers at the larger companies have less discretion to increase prices locally. Mr. Rawles said the spot shortages seemed to be most frequent in the Northeast and all the way along the West Coast. He said he had heard reports of buying limits at Sam's Club warehouses, which are owned by Wal-Mart Stores, but a spokesman for the company, Kory Lundberg, said he was not aware of any shortages or limits.

An anonymous high-tech professional writing on an investment Web site, Seeking Alpha, said he recently bought 10 50-pound bags of rice at Costco. "I am concerned that when the news of rice shortage spreads, there will be panic buying and the shelves will be empty in no time. I do not intend to cause a panic, and I am not speculating on rice to make profit. I am just hoarding some for my own consumption," he wrote.

For now, rice is available at Asian markets in California, though consumers have fewer choices when buying the largest bags. "At our neighborhood store, it's very expensive, more than $30" for a 25-pound bag, a housewife from Mountain View, Theresa Esquerra, said. "I'm not going to pay $30. Maybe we'll just eat bread."

[ina]

Have you got the reference for this article? I'd like to send it on to somebody, but preferably as a link.

[Evilspartacus]

http://wwwstayalive.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... rizon.html

[johnhcrf]

Australia's rice crop failed due to drought. Farmers there are switching to less water intensive crops (wheat). Less available,we should leave it for the Third World.

John.

[ina]

http://wwwstayalive.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... rizon.html

Cheers!

[Stonehead]

Be a little wary in taking the story as totally accurate. It's originally from the New York Sun, which is a neo-conservative newspaper. Salon, which has its own agenda, did apiece on the Sun that some might find informative.

[eek]

Seeing as how I live in the states this is news to me! Prices have jumped pretty dramatically, but I have yet to see rations.

We have trucker strikes due to gas prices, that aught to send prices higher. I fear things are going to get worse, though I have not "stockpiled" anything. I joined the local CSA and have planted the garden.

Things are not looking good.

[Ellendra]

I'm in the US too, and I haven't heard a whisper about rationing or purchase limits. None of the stores in my area have experience supply shortages, although prices have been increasing.

At any rate, I'm starting a new market garden this year, and was planning on including grains. Now I have even more incentive.

[johnhcrf]

Scaremongers are not welcome. This forum has a positive vibe. Welcome to UK, US contributors!

John

[eek]

It's not so much scaremongering as it is being uninformed. I'd rather be informed so I can prepare better for situations. Gardening is just meditative for me so I'd do it anyway.

I do love this forum and all the information so freely shared. The comeraderie (?) is the best laugh I have all day!

[Evilspartacus]

Scaremongers are not welcome. This forum has a positive vibe. Welcome to UK, US contributors!

John

Apologises

I shall return to lurking

ciao

[red]

Scaremongers are not welcome. This forum has a positive vibe. Welcome to UK, US contributors!

John

er John.. this is not a UK forum.. all nationalities here

and the great thing about an international forum is that you can report an article and then hear from the residents if there is anything in it.
No need to lurk ES

[Annpan]

Please don't just lurk Evilspartacus.

I want to read different points of view, and the debates that emerge...

Sometimes it is because that is what other people believe, sometimes it is half truth, sometimes, the alternative to the main stream is the true story.

It is not scaremongering.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Please don't just lurk Evilspartacus.

I want to read different points of view, and the debates that emerge...

Sometimes it is because that is what other people believe, sometimes it is half truth, sometimes, the alternative to the main stream is the true story.

It is not scaremongering.

I'm with Annpan. Maybe the tale was an exagerated example, but I'd rather hear it than not. There is a real possibility that food rationing could become an issue in the "developed" world in the next couple of years. I may be sticking my neck out, but I doubt anyone on this board would discount that scenario out of hand. So let's talk about it.

[ina]

I agree - let's hear about it. Because I think that even if at the moment it may be still a little exaggerated (although who knows - the USA is a big place!), it's something we may all have to face sooner or later. And maybe it wouldn't even be bad; would certainly cut down on waste. And on waste packaging!