MUST SEE
The Dollar Bubble

Older Americans who were raised on stories of the Great Depression and acquired lifelong habits of thrift now find themselves crowding soup kitchens and food pantries in greater numbers for the first time after seeing retirement funds, second jobs and nest eggs wiped out by recession.
“What we see in line is lots of gray hair, lots of walkers,” said Marti Forman, CEO of The Cooperative Feeding Program in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The help is crucial for many fixed-income seniors, who can’t always keep up with rising food prices. SOURCE

How can Obama walk around laughing from ear to ear giving taxpayer money to his big campaign donation supporters while allowing older Americans to beg for food? Not only is he paying the people who supported him for president he’s also traveling around the World spending money at a faster rate than any president before him. Having big parties at the White House while these older Americans are crying for help. If the Obama government health care gets passed it will also cut billions of dollars from medicare/Medicaid that provides these same Older Americans with needed treatment and equipment such as motor chairs and other things that make their lives a little better.  Obama and the democrats are doing the same thing they accused President Bush of, giving to the BIG COMPANIES and to the Rich that supported him in the campaign! Obama is a little man with a big ego and could care less about the elder and the poor. How can you diehard Obama fans support him when he only cares for himself?   I know, I know that you liberals aren’t going to answer that question because it shames you!

LINKS:

(1)   I Believe We May Have Too Many, But Then What?

I just love Twitter. I know it sounds lame and I used to scoff at it, but seriously, it’s turning into such a useful tool.

Just the other day, @jambutter tweeted about how many calories a US dollar could buy. I tweeted back and asked for source info and he passed on a note that the stats came from a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. This “research” took about 45 seconds.

I did a little further digging and I found this Time Magazine article that summarized the source data well but I’ve put it in my own format:

$1US = 1200 calories of potato chips
$1US = 875 calories of soda
$1US = 250 calories of vegetables
$1US = 170 calories of fresh fruit.

Now, the obvious point is that potato chips and soda drinks are more calorie dense than fruit and veggies so you get more calories for your dollar; however, they are not more nutrient dense and that means you eat more of them to feel satisfied.

To put these stats into perspective, I turned to my colleague professional home economist Amy Snider-Whitson who always has something to say about nutrition:

“This is why we have an epidemic of obesity and people suffering from chronic diseases that healthy diets could help to prevent (…and, no wonder people can’t grasp portion control when you buy a cheap snack and end up eating half a day’s calories!).

Unfortunately, the way we produce food today makes the nutritious choice often much more expensive. So, people choose calories over content. While many, many people consume too many calories on a daily basis, not one of us can say that we are getting too many essential nutrients. One consolation is that if we invest today in choosing nutrient dense foods, we might save health care dollars in the future.”

When you’re shopping, do you consciously plan how much of your budget is spent on nutrient dense foods? Or do the ‘chips’ (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun!) fall where they may?

Thanksgiving is the forgotten holiday. Through no fault of its own, the day devoted to taking inventory of our countless blessings remains forever sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas, the nation’s most popular retail extravaganzas. Thanksgiving doesn’t feature costumed children trading jokes for candy. The day has just one parade and no decorated trees, hidden eggs or bowl games. And have you ever heard someone sing a Thanksgiving carol?

Like it or not, we don’t spend a lot of time being appreciative. Instead, we desire what we think we deserve, grouse about the things we have that could be better and worry about situations that, quite often, never materialize. We quibble about trivial matters, like what football teams will play in Pasadena and who created the Internet, and minimize the truly significant things in life… including life itself.

E.P. Powell, author and professor, once said, “Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men. But be careful that you do not take the day and leave out the gratitude.”

Indeed, we have so much for which to be grateful.

This Thanksgiving, let’s pause and remember the nearly 2.4 million men and women who are serving our country on active duty and in the reserves. This includes nearly 120,000 troops currently stationed in Iraq and more than 60,000 in Afghanistan. Let’s praise them for their selfless sacrifice, pray for their safety and families and salute them for their noble service and dedication. (To send your note of gratitude to our service men and women, log on to www.amillionthanks.com or www.letssaythanks.com).

This Thanksgiving, we pause and reflect on the blessing of family. “The only rock I know that stays steady,” says American businessman Lee Iacocca, “the only institution I know that works is the family.” Sure, few are perfect and too often we take family for granted. Yet as friends come and go, family remains constant. That’s a good thing especially in a world where many relationships are fleeting and change is constant and unrelenting.

Finally, this Thanksgiving, we pause and give thanks for the availability of wholesome food. As we prepare to gather around the dinner table this holiday, more than 1 billion people worldwide are undernourished due to a combination of severe food shortages and the global financial crisis. In addition, the plentiful food we’re blessed to enjoy is very affordable thanks to the dedication of farm families who live and work in Iowa and throughout the country. This year, U.S. families will pay 4 percent less for Thanksgiving dinner. A nationwide survey conducted by shoppers on behalf of the American Farm Bureau finds that a hearty meal for 10 including turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings will cost an average of $42.91 compared to $44.61 last year. That’s less than $4.30 per person, or about half the price of a movie ticket.

Remembering Thanksgiving isn’t easy these days. The pace of life is exceedingly quick and there are many things vying for our attention (including those can’t-miss pre-Christmas sales starting at 4 a.m. Friday, Nov. 27). Yet it’s worth our time to pause and reflect on our many blessings, not the least of which are freedom, family and abundant and affordable food. May we never take them for granted.

Written by Aaron Putze
Aaron is the Executive Director-Public Relations Officer for the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers.

I have been trying to think of a good subject for this week – one that isn’t too dire and downbeat – while we in the United States are in the midst of our national feast called Thanksgiving.   We’re living in a country where I can get a free range turkey with all the bells and whistles – or soybeans from Texas, the best orange marmelade from Scotland or fresh raspberries from Chile.  This abundance comes at a cost -  it is estimated that if United States’ consumption rates were mimicked by the entire human population,  it would take the resources of 5.3 Earths.(1)  It is this abundance that allows us to ignore what is happening in the rest of the world.  Doesn’t have a direct bearing on textiles, but the long term implications are there.

An inescapable fact in most of the developing world – and largely unnoticed in the United States except in slightly higher food prices -  is that in the past couple of years, food prices have soared.  Between the mid-1970’s and 2005,  grain supplies rose and prices fell by about a half, leading “many experts to believe that there was no limit to humanity’s capacity to feed itself.” (2)  But then in 2006, the situation reversed:  food prices rose slightly that year, then increased by about a quarter in 2007, and finally skyrocketed in 2008.  Between 2006 and 2008, average world prices for rice rose by 217%, wheat by 136% and corn by 125% (3)  These rising prices meant that many people could not afford food – and  this led to riots  in 15 countries around the world in 2008.  Countries that could produce enough food for export worried about feeding their own populations, and placed restrictions on exports.  This became a serious problem for countries which were not fully self sufficient in food production.

Susan Payne, chief executive of Emergent Asset Management, said that by 2020 they think there could be genuine food shortages in the world.   During a talk on Africa’s agricultural potential, she showed a series of slides citing chilling statistics:

• grain stocks worldwide are at their lowest levels in 60 years
• global warming is turning arable land into desert
• freshwater is dwindling and China is draining its reserves
• and the really big problem:  the world’s population is growing by 80,000,000 hungry people each year.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that in order to feed the world’s projected population in 2050, we need to increase the amount of cereals in the world’s food supply to an amount equal to the total production of Australia in 2008.

Indeed, the food crisis of 2008 has put the spotlight on a new area of business potential, where the payoff could be immense: the area of agricultural investment and the newly lucrative world of food trade.  Financial firms like Goldman Sachs and BlackRock have already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in overseas agricultural projects.   Africa is the focus of their interest because in Africa land and labor come so cheaply that the risks are assumed to be worthwhile.  As a example, an Ethiopian farmer’s  yields for their wheat crops  are only about a third as much per acre as their counterparts in other parts of the world.  But with the addition of advanced implements, and improved seeds and fertilizer, these yields can be doubled.  Ethiopia, like all of Africa, is full of such opportunities.

Andrew Rice wrote an article in the November 22 New York Times Magazine in which he describes what some of the wealthy nations are doing to ensure a food supply for their people.

The nations of the Persian Gulf already import 60% of their food, and Saudi Arabia plans to phase out wheat production by 2016 in order to maintain its supply of underground freshwater.  Instead of relying on technology to increase their capacity for growing food  (along the lines of the Green Revolution of the 1960s),  these countries feel that they must control the means of production.  They want land.

The Saudi Arabian government and individual Saudi bankers and executives have said they intend to spend billions of dollars to establish plantations to produce rice and other staple crops in Africa, in nations like Mali, Senegal,  Sudan and Ethopia.  A newly formed company, Saudi Star Agricultural Development, announced it’s plans to “obtain the rights” to more than a million acres – that’s about the size of Delaware – in Ethiopia.  And in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia, farms are already growing fruits and vegetables for export to the Persian Gulf.(4)

This raises the question:  what about the people who live in Mali, Senegal, Sudan and Ethopia?  Do they benefit from these investments?  Am I the only one who thinks this spells trouble?

(1) New Economics Foundation, http://www.naturalnews.com/022890.html

(2) Rice, Andrew, “Agro-Imperialism”, New York Times Magazine, November 22, 2009

(3)  “Cyclone fuels rice price increase”, BBC News, May 7, 2008

(4) Rice, op.cit.

http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?Channel=News_Home&ArticleId=1518-25_2562024&IsColumnistStory=False

Morning All

As previously predicted in prior posts of mine, the secondary effects of the proposed 3 x 45% Electricity Increase Hikes will be catastrophic.

One must remember that, like petrol, electricity costs affects every business most of whom will not be able to absorb these HUGE cost increases. Those that do not go bust will raise their prices substantially.

It is sad as this will most likely result in small business closures and if one looks at the food prices being led by the big retailers it paints a bleak picture.

Homeowners and individuals can protect themselves against these increases by going green, going efficient.

2 Simple Ways: Energy Saving Showers and LED Lighting. Both options are easily installed by the homeowners, requiring no specialist installers.

 Solar Water Heating: Water heating is the single biggest electricity cost in your home. You can reduce your total bills by 30% by using the Sun to heat your water!

 Have a Solar Day!

info@urban-solar.co.za

Remember the global food crisis? There was a big jump in commodity prices in 2007 which caught everybody’s attention. The boom was part of the excitement over the commodity super-cycle but went bust with Wall Street in 2008.

Central market of Léo, Burkina Faso

Well, food prices are on the rise again — and it’s caught the attention of The Economist. Food prices have already risen 10% this year.

The main issue is staple foods — the foods that form the basis of diets, such as rice and wheat. The initial commodity price boom had major negative poverty effects in countries such as Mozambique (Arndt, et al. 2008), Pakistan (ul Huq, et al. 2008)  and Mexico (Valero-Gil and Valero 2008). The effects are usually worse in urban areas, possibly because subsistence farmers can feed themselves, but poverty effects vary greatly by commodity and by country (Ivanic and Martin 2008).

The cause of higher food prices, and how prices are transferred from farmers to consumers, is debatable. Commonly fingered culprits include higher oil prices and biofuels subsidies, which were intended to reduce oil dependence. However, the explanations are many and varied (Alexandratos 2008, Dewbre, et al. 2008, Hamilton 2009, Headey and Fan 2008)

The Agricultural Economics journal had a special edition on the world food crisis that includes some descriptive analysis of interest to economists and generalists alike (Masters and Shively 2008).

Students and teachers seeking a broad and less technical economic explanation could refer to Alexandratos (2008), or Katz (2008), who includes links to other web sources.

References

Anonymous, (2009) If words were food, nobody would go hungry. The Economist, 19 November.

Alexandratos, Nikos (2008). ‘Food Price Surges: Possible Causes, Past Experience, and Longer Term Relevance.’ Population and Development Review 34(4): 663-97.

Arndt, Channing, Rui Benfica, Nelson Maximiano, Antonio M. D. Nucifora, and James T. Thurlow (2008). ‘Higher Fuel and Food Prices: Impacts and Responses for Mozambique.’ Agricultural Economics 39(s1): 497-511.

Dewbre, Joe, Céline Giner, Wyatt Thompson, and Martin  Von Lampe (2008). ‘High Food Commodity Prices: Will They Stay? Who Will Pay?’ Agricultural Economics 39(s1): 393-403.

Hamilton, James D. (2009). ‘The Causes and Consequences of Rising Food Prices: Discussion.’ American Journal of Agricultural Economics 91(5): 1257-58.

Headey, Derek, and Shenggen Fan (2008). ‘Anatomy of a Crisis: The Causes and Consequences of Surging Food Prices.’ Agricultural Economics 39(s1): 375-91.

Ivanic, Maros, and Will Martin (2008). ‘Implications of Higher Global Food Prices for Poverty in Low-Income Countries.’ Agricultural Economics 39(s1): 405-16.

Katz, Solomon H. (2008). ‘The World Food Crisis: An Overview of the Causes and Consequences.’ Anthropology News 49(7): 4-5.

Masters, William A., and Gerald E. Shively (2008). ‘Introduction to the Special Issue on the World Food Crisis.’ Agricultural Economics 39(s1): 373-74.

ul Haq, Zahoor , Hina Nazli, and Karl Meilke (2008). ‘Implications of High Food Prices for Poverty in Pakistan.’ Agricultural Economics 39(s1): 477-84.

Valero-Gil, Jorge N., and Magali Valero (2008). ‘The Effects of Rising Food Prices on Poverty in Mexico.’ Agricultural Economics 39(s1): 485-96.

Thanksgiving Dinner Costs Less to Make This Year; Recovery or Not, Japan Deflation Concerns Mount

Courtesy of Mish

Japan is off and running or so they say (for the nth time in 20 years). Yet inquiring minds will be quick to note Japan Deflation Concern Rises Even as Growth Quickens.

If you don’t have your Thanksgiving turkey yet, and you enjoy the whole bird, get thee to Baker’s in the next few days!

Jennie O whole frozen birds, limit 2, a mere .39/#!!!!!

Other whole birds are also on sale, limit 2, for .49 to .99/#.  Sale runs Sunday 11/15 thru Tuesday 11/17, while supplies last.

For whole birds, you can’t beat this deal.  At least I don’t think, at least not before Thanksgiving, usually.   Stock up your freezer for the winter, too — turkey is great any time, and makes great leftovers (which can be frozen).  Use like chicken.  When do you usually find chicken for .39/#, hmm?

I was recently asked if I could possibly feed a family of four dinner for less than $5.  Pshaw!  All the time!

I rarely exceed $5/dinner for my family of four, including a teenage boy (aka “eating machine”).  Last week I thought I splurged excessively for a dinner, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Jennie O turkey meatloaf on sale $2.99 — This was the big splurge for me.  But in the store, I figured ground turkey breast itself was nearly $3/#, and this was a 2# loaf, so this was a bargain.  Protein, sodium, fat and carbs were quite acceptable to me.

Twice-baked potatoes $1 — With potatoes and other ingredients purchased on sale, and a bunch of these stashed in the freezer, this is a wonderful bargain.

Broccoli/cauliflower blend .77 — Also a sale freezer bargain.

Milk (3) 8-oz. servings .27 — I have water.

Grand total for four:  $5.03

Normally, though, I don’t splurge on the protein.  I purchase poultry, meats and eggs on sale and use for lower-cost meals.  I often prepare meals or components of meals for the freezer.  I recently found boneless, skinless chicken breasts for .99/#.   If the portions of this new-to-me brand are not consistent, I can cut them for fajitas, stir-fries, etc., and use about 1.5# per meal — yes, that’s for four.  A future meal I envision, based on sale prices, might be:

Chicken $1.50 — (2) 8-oz servings and (2) 4-oz servings

Stir-fry vegs $1.12 — 1# serves 5, but we divide into 4

Brown rice $.50 – (2) 3/4-cup servings and (2) 1/2-cup servings, but I make 8 and freeze the rest.

Milk .27

Grand total for four:  $3.39

This is normal for us.  We eat healthfully throughout the day.  Well, at least the breakfasts, snacks and dinners I supervise.  Lunches are made at home, and are healthy when they go out the door, but what actually gets consumed is the age-old trust of parents.  Anyway, because we don’t eat junk throughout the day, and have healthful snacks, our dinner is not often huge portions of cheese-covered, canned-souped whatnot.  We eat appropriate portions of protein, good carbs, vegs and fruits.  And this saves us money while keeping us nurished.

What’s your average cost for a meal for your family?

I’ve finally recovered from my illness, and have returned to my “abnormally normal” routine.  This past week I tossed in a couple trips to the new No Frills at 132nd and Center.

Because I had really bad cabin fever, I went last Saturday.  Mistake!  I personally do not like shopping anywhere on Saturdays (and definitely not on Sundays), but I was dying to see the store and get some of those deals.  I was dismayed at the crowd, the odor of cigarette smoke permeating the entryway, and the “beep-beep” of the construction vehicles and parking lot traffic.  These are things that really annoy me, which I try to avoid, so in an attempt to be fair in my review I returned at a “normal” for me time, during the day during the week.  Actually, my normal time would be in the morning, but last week didn’t allow for that.  I’m going to have to reprogram and try that.

The weekday trip proved more promising to me.  It was more the way I prefer to shop.  Fewer folks in the store, more available parking, happier faces.  I realize it’s this way all over town, and this is why I prefer my established shopping route.  I was more impressed with the weekday, so for the Saturday trip, I’ll just count my blessings with the deals I got.

No Frills offers great deals, mostly loss leaders, and I would like to fit the store into my normal routine.  You should try, too, if you happen to pass this store in your weekly travels.  The Grand Opening deals at this particular store are quite impressive: turkey breast (whole frozen) .88/#; IQF chicken breasts .99/#; bagged salads .88; chicken broth .49; can pumpkin .68; kids’ snack pizzas .77; 1/2 gal ice cream .99, GM cereals 1.88; and many more.  Combine some of these deals  with coupons, and you’ve got some real bargains!  I was able to nearly fill the freezer and pantries.

We know one family that went to NF to stock up on Thanksgiving turkeys and fixings for their huge dinners.  “DING!  DING!”  They got their order FREE!  We heard it was over $200.  This is a very nice marketing promo, and I can see why that parking lot is constantly full.

I was particularly impressed that the produce is quite fresh.  The bagged salads had use-by dates a week out.  You don’t usually find that, and when the price is so compelling, it’s nice to know you can actually get a few to last a whole week.  Most other stores have use-by dates 2-3 days out, which makes it almost useless to get the bagged versions.  (Yes, I know — it’s almost always cheaper to get the elements and make your own salads.  But sometimes consumers need a little something to make life easier, and .88 salad for four is one of those little luxuries, huh?)  So, produce good.

I did not visit the fresh meats, except to pick up 93% lean ground beef for 1.88/#.  It was crowded.  That’s a good sign, actually, that the stuff isn’t sitting out too long getting dry and icky.  But I didn’t confirm that.  To be confirmed or busted at a later date.

One thing that did strike me is the unimpressive inside of the store.  It’s almost the identical layout as the old Baker’s.  Okay, that’s not so bad, but they took how many months to “remodel”?  Yes, there’s a new floor (thank goodness).  And it smells a lot nicer (also thank goodness).  The restaurant is gone, with a pharmacy in that area, which is nice for those who need it. 

But it’s still very akward getting in and out of the store.  The east entrance has a teeny-tiny entry and hallway to accommodate everyone coming in to get carts, wipe the handles, and maneuver them through the hallway, with shopping carts loaded down with deals coming out at them, trying to maneuver the short, sharp corners.  The west entrance could use a reversal of entry/exit doors — coming in or going out, you have to cross paths with the opposite, and this creates logjam.   Also, if the bell-ringer would move westward by maybe 2 feet, that would help.  (Love the bell-ringers!  The issue is access.)   They should have put more thought into the entry/exits, for all their reconstruction.

I’m  anxious to see what it will be like without the construction, and once the intial excitement produces a regular flow.  Parking and vehicle traffic should improve.  Awestruck, middle-of-the-aisle stopper-shoppers, and constant-but-necessary giant restocking carts should diminish.  We’ll see if the number of available cashiers stays high and checkout lines stay short.  These are some of the true tells of a value store, and we’ll have to see over time if this location can handle it.

When the Grand Opening deals fade, it will be interesting to see how the competition responds.  I already notice a little come-back from BagNSave, which is good for bargains.  With Aldi right across the street, BagNSave a mile down, and the Oakview HyVee closing/moving in May, it’s a Great Unknown out there.  I’m hoping the competition increases, and NF deals will continue.  That’s the incentive I will need to add another store to my regular route.

What did you think of your visit to the new No Frills?

In recently news that unemployment number was rise a bit to 5.8% even though 24,500 jobs were created as 21,500 jobs were part time work.

If you that’s bad think again! Interest rates will raise due to inflation!

Yes that’s right inflation, you may know that food prices have risen on the average 48% since a decade ago. Well its not the dual poly of these supermarkets are creating, it is also due to credit expanison!

The US and UK central banks is printing money like crazy as they called it QE (Quantitative easing) it hope to allow cheap credit flowing thorough their economies.

Whats more disturbing is that, China’s stimulus package lead its citizens to go on a consumption binge, they borrowing money from their banks like mad, consumer products and real estate is the main elements of this massive spending spree.

At least Australia is benefiting of the stimulus action, but a price of inflation, where all the inflation slapped on goods and service around the world and some are heading towards Australia’s doorstep.

What did I mean by Stagflation? I mean high unemployment rate and high inflation across goods and services and yes that’s right what are going to face in the next couple of months or the next 3-5 years time.

Cheers, good luck for recovery!

It was said to me recently by a defector of the southern cities, meaning Sydney and Melbourne that our food prices here at restaurants and providores are to a certain extent lofty.

This human being, for the purpose of this piece of work will remain in the shadows.

Her main beef was with the eateries, comparing prices with top end restaurants in either city. Some restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne…yes are very exorbitant when it comes to charging patrons for the right to eat their food, but a large number of them sit beside our Gold Coast restaurants and go toe to toe for similar outlay.

When comparing the standards of food (GC Vs other cities)in regard to use of ingredients, modern interpretations, imagination and originality quite a few restaurants here turn up very short of the mark. The author notes here that there are most certainly some very good restaurants/chefs doing good things on the Gold Coast and am very quick to defend that we do have some talent here …you know who you are…we just need more of them.

Should we be pleased to pay 15 bucks for a dessert or 35 to 40 for a main meal…some say yes, look at the location of the restaurant, the décor, even the restaurant name on the wine glass (why?I still haven’t worked it out)…or do you, like my friend find happiness in shelling out the above prices when food is sourced locally from a sustainable supply, wait staff are ‘professional and informed’ food is modern, distinctive and the chefs who are cooking your food and overseeing the kitchen are well trained even some maybe well known and respected.

All this guff was still swirling around in my head when my wife decides we all should meander down to the Ferry Road Markets.  For those who can shop here (for the greater part of their kitchens provisions) well done, it has some top quality produce. Here you can find the freshest of seafood , great meats, game included, a fruit shop that gets an A plus in fruit stacking, deli, coffee house, a specialized tea centre, bakery and take a breath….a café.

Like me and I’m thinking most of the plebeian race use this as a place merely to indulge, pick up that elite ingredient, find some respectable fresh fish or astound the dinner guests with your Indiana Jones like discovery of restaurant quality components.

long have we known that fresh fish and seafood can come at a cost

I had a quick scan of the seafood, fresh and I mean fresh although top drawer prices. Salmon comes in at $39 a kg, coral trout 60, gold band snapper a steep $45 a kilo while the house cured ocean trout fetches a mean 79 bucks for the kilogram.

Also scanned the café prices while I was passing, glad my wife didn’t want a seat, squinted to see a chicken Caesar salad listed for $19.50…it would want to be a bloody first-class salad for that. I wonder if anyone can remember what price Horizon’s (once a force at the Sheraton) charged for theirs made tableside? The café is named Spendelove btw.

So retorting back to the opening sentence, is this a bit steep for lettuce, parmesan, dry bread, dressing, and a little protein with or without an egg?

A fleeting search tells me that with a crisp red back or 2 smurfs I can for the same price as Spendelove’s Caesar salad delve into seared fresh Yellowfin tuna with a flat bean and asparagus salad w sauce gribiche ($19) from Bamboo (Casuarina Beach) or sit down to the iconic ‘Salad Lyonnaise’ of frisee, pancetta, garlic sausage, smoked tongue, confit of gizzards and soft poached egg yolk at Melbourne’s poignant Cutler and Co. ($19)
Still want some contrast..? Those 2 may have been a little unfair, as they are stout restaurants and Spendelove is a café, so back in Melbourne you can head to Café Vue (one of Shannon Bennett’s offspring) for a quick lunch consisting of a Wagyu Burger and fries (12), a pot of Little Creatures Ale (4.50). Throw down an espresso (2.50) on the way out and you’ll still be 50 cents better off.

How’s the Chicken Caesar looking now?

You can’t imagine how you can empower yourself through smarter shopping?  Easy! 

It seems that every time you turn the television on to watch the news or whenever you pick up a newspaper or magazine there is a message that gets thrown in our faces about the ever-increasing prices of food.

And the way the media delivers this information to us is in such a way as to make us feel as if we are not empowered to do anything about it. 

I hardly watch the news as a rule, however this evening I was visiting with a relative who was watching the evening news and it seems that the supermarket giants ( namely Woolworths and Coles here in Australia) have the consumers right where they want them – or so it seems.

Consumers are paying ‘through the nose’ prices and as the media conveys this message is do so as to make consumers feel they have absolutely no control over this situation and are not empowered to do anything about it.

Fact is as consumers we have an opportunity here to take back our power from these giants who seemingly have us where they want us – in their supermarkets paying more for less.

I grew up in the sixties where it was quite common to go to the local grower for our produce, get the milk delivered from the milkman and the bread delivered daily to your doorstep.  We would go to the butcher for meat and the fish market for fish and in the late 70’s I used to go fishing down to the George’s River which wasn’t far from my home.

The consumer today still has many choices available to them to save money on the average grocery bills and all it takes is a little time and a little effort.

Here are some ideas that you may want to consider which will both save you money on your family grocery bills and make you feel as if it is YOU who is in charge and not a victim of the supermarket giants.

• There are many local growers of fresh produce that take their products to the local markets.  All you need to do is find out where and when these markets are held.  Being local, their produce is remarkably fresher than the stores as it is usually picked the day before or just a couple of days prior to selling. 

These markets quite often have more than just fresh produce .  In fact you may find some that have almost everything you can get in your supermarket and most of them at bargain prices!

• Support your local small businesses like the local butcher and bakeries. 

• Find other clever ways to save money on food by learning to make some basic things yourself such as mayonnaise dressings, salad dressings, sauces, pickled foods and even baby foods.  These are costly items in the store and you can make them in less time than it has taken me to write this post for a fraction of the price and minus all the unnecessary sugars, salts and preservatives.

• The latest craze at the moment in shopping without spending a cent is known as ’swap shopping’.  People feel so empowered when they can take an item or items they no longer want or need and swap them for items they do want.  These are being conducted in all areas and is suprising successful – particularly women’s fashion.  Can you imagine how many happy husbands are out there now when their wives come home from a day of clothes swapping shopping and haven’t spent a cent?

It seems to be easier to head down to the one huge store where everything you want is under one roof  and it takes a courageous person to stand up to the supermarket giants and  decide to embark on making that extra effort to discover clever and creative ways to save money.

The money you save is yours and this gives you a sense of  empowerment and control over your money and finances.

Social Bookmarking Service

New Delhi: Forecasting that “food inflation” would ease out by the end of the current fiscal year (2009-10), the deputy chairman of planning commission, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on Sunday said, at the end of a bad monsoon, particularly at this point of time, the pressure is on vegetables.

 Speaking at the India Economic Summit here, Dr Ahluwalia said, “The rising food prices will come down by the end of current fiscal and it will be triggered by softening in the prices of vegetables.”

 For the week ended October 24, food inflation shot up by 13.39 per cent primarily on rising prices of potatoes and onions. The prices of potatoes have doubled on an annual basis while onions have become dearer by 50 per cent during the year.

 Drawing confidence from the comfortable food stock, Dr Ahluwalia said, “We are in a strong position as far as stocks (of food grain) are concerned. So, we don’t have to worry on that score. I think by December or January, at least with regard to vegetables, you will see a very different position.”

 Discussing the issue of poverty and the government’s plans to improve the lives of the people, who live below the poverty line (BPL), Dr Ahluwalia said, “The government has been following a strategy, which is focused on agriculture, rural infrastructure and delivering better services in health and education.”

Claiming that the government has successfully introduced the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and has succeeded in raising the minimum wage in the country, the deputy chairman said, the rural consumption sustained the manufacturing or rather overall economy well during the global economic crisis.

“This is an indication that the social sector schemes of the government have worked to protect the incomes of the weaker sections,” he added.

Guess who is killing most people. It’s not war or terrorism or naxalism or riots or mobs or gangsters. It’s INFLATION. You will say I’m kidding inflation is just 1.51% in India and not very long ago RBI was worried with negative inflation. But believe me it’s true rising food prices have broken the back of common man in India.

Prices of important commodities are ruling high. Common man is suffering as now even the most basic needs are getting out of their reach. Pick up any newspapers and one can see prices of commodities like sugar, pulses, and wheat, are at historical highs; the highs which were not seen even the severest of droughts. The official inflation rate is still only 1.51% when retail prices have crossed Rs 34/kg, Rs 100/kg, Rs 1600/Quintal for sugar, tuar dal, and wheat 147 respectively.

This is the situation when warehouses of Bhartiya Khadya Nigam (Food Corporation of India) are full of wheat and when the government has removed all the import duties from the import of sugar and pulses import in wake of rising prices and expected poor supply. What are the reasons for such a surge in prices of these commodities? Well, following reasons come to mind:

First, given the poor rainfall this year (however, not that scanty at all), the total sugarcane and hence sugar production is expected to fall. In fact, the estimates for sugar production in 2009 stand at 45% decline which is also going to bring down global sugar production by 11%. However, the demand of the sugar is relatively price inelastic, i.e. no matter what the price is consumption is going to remain more or less same. Reduced supply, constant demand, from basic demand supply equilibrium we know that the prices are going to rise. But the sudden surge is not completely explained by this phenomenon as prices were not this high even in the festive season of Diwali.

In case of pulses, which is experiencing price rise for quite some time now (last year and a half or so), India always had supply demand mismatch atleast over the last decade. India’s current production levels are pegged at around 14 MT whereas demand is around 18 MT and the gap is filled with imports. No significant fall is expected in Indian pulses production. Infact, it is estimated to grow a little bit. Then, fall in global production of pulses or increase in global demand or both may be riding price rise of pulses. I think both of these effects are working together. But Indian which is anyway a under nourished society will suffer as pulses are cheapest source of protein.

The case of wheat is different. The production is increasing and government warehouses are full of wheat. The demand for wheat is also suddenly not increased that much to drive prices to the current historical levels. Then we can only speculate on the price rises of wheat.

Black marketing and hoarding is also one of the prominent reasons for rise in prices of essential commodities. This is evident form all those reports on raids on traders’ warehouses and confiscation of huge amounts of these commodities. There is also report from Press Trust of India, which you can read here, which says that sugar and pulses are stockpiled (in fact in real large quantities – 6.50 lakh tonnes of sugar and 2.01 lakh tonnes of pulses) on ports. This stockpiling is done by importers who have seen the skyrocketing of prices. As a matter of fact, these imports are exempted from any import duty by the government to control the prices. But at present, as we are seeing, exactly opposite is happening.

Third reason for price rises can be attributed to futures trading. Futures trading, which was essentially meant to benefit farmers through which they could hedge their risks of price volatility, is currently serving the cause of speculators. Speculation leads to increase in food prices by creating a demand which is not actually there, i.e. speculators’ demand is not consumption demand. The speculators create a kind of positive feedback loop in which they overreact to a trend there by shifting the prices more then they should in any particular direction. A more detailed explanation of how speculation affects prices can be found here. However, in the present scenario, i.e. recession and various government controls on derivative trading the impact of speculation is, as I understand, not too strong to explain Himalayan highs in food prices.

Another factor which plays role in rising food prices in developing countries is structural shift in nature of agricultural production as farmers in these countries shift from production of food crops to production of cash crops. However, this is more of a long term trend and is not sufficient in explaining current short term trend.

One question which is left unanswered is – did increased money supply play a villainous role here? I am not sure of that either as demand does not increases by much with increase in money at hand. In fact, this is the reason why farmers suffer in case of bumper crops. In such a case supply increases but demand does not even at the lowest of prices.

So, the overall scene seems pretty complex and so are policy implications of each of the factors playing part here. What can policy maker do in order to contain prices? (I’ll write about that in next post).

I’ve been waiting with great anticipation for the No Frills at 132nd and Center to open.  Wouldn’t you know it?  This week, for its grand opening, I’m out of commission.  Sick with an unyielding case of nasty bronchitis that has me down for the fourth day in a row.

However, I can tell from the paper ads, the TV ads, and the competition’s stepped-up advertising, this is gonna be great!  This week alone (if you’re able to take advantage of it), there are excellent deals AND chances to win free groceries.

With Aldi right across the street, I expect excellent grocery shopping in the coming weeks and months.  Bag N Save down the street has lost one of its good managers to this No Frills.  The only drawback I see is the ongoing construction and continued reno going on at the center.  The “Baker Square” sign was down Tuesday; I’m wondering what’s going up in its place.

If you’ve been healthy enough to visit the Grand Opening of this No Frills, please let us know!  I will report next week, when I return to the real world.

I hate being sick.  I’m missing work and putting my bosses in a bind.  I’m unable to take care of the family so DH has to take sick days to do my job (totally allowed).  And it hurts to cough, breathe and talk.  Healing is underway, though, and that’s the blessing.  Till next time!

By Kelsey Kober

Staff Writer

It’s fifth period, in the midst of a hectic week. You trudge into the cafeteria, ravenous and fatigued by the pressures of the school day. You groan when you realize you forgot to ask your parents to put money on your lunch card. Frantically, you dig through your bag, but can only come up with two dollars and fifty cents. What can $2.50 buy you in the BHS cafeteria? A stale muffin, possibly? Maybe a pretzel, if you choose to skip the drink. Whatever you can come up with, it will by no means be substantial enough to satisfy the nutritional needs of a teenager.

“My mom doesn’t pack me a lunch and only gives me fifty dollars a month, which is barely two dollars a day. So I eat nothing!” Claims one student, who has a busy schedule on the swim team that demands decent nourishment.

“The prices are outrageous!” Complains sophomore Neha Anad. Is it not enough that the food is of a less than appetizing quality? That the selection is gradually deteriorating? Apparently not, because they feel the need to overcharge us for food that is normally cheaply manufactured. Seriously, one dollar for a pack of gum? Three dollars for a pack of Bosco Sticks, when it’s common knowledge that two sticks aren’t enough to satisfy your appetite? They’ve even gone so far as to charge $1.25 for a two-serving bottle of water, while the average cost of water in the U.S. is less than one penny a gallon. It seems like they’re on a mission to exploit us and grab our money.

But who’s “they,” exactly? It’s not the school, who has no control of how much our caterer, Sodexo, charges. Students not only at BHS, but also at various schools and universities supplied to by Sodexo are complaining about this increase. But Sodexo claims they have no say in the prices. According to the Whitworthington, one of their managers says that the price of food has shot up 10% and they’ve been trying to keep it under control.  It’s all a vicious blame-game. Unfortunately, there’s not one sole person or group we can direct our rage at.

Now, one question remains: What are we, as students, going to do about this? Sitting back and complaining will do absolutely nothing. Let’s face it, we are essentially powerless; they know that we’ll keep buying their food no matter how horrendous their prices get. Or will we? Students at a Florida high school were also fed up with their cafeteria’s outrageous prices and assembled a fairly successful school-wide boycott. Although it won’t be easy to get all 3.000 students behind it, this is definitely an option.  We need to show these people that we aren’t going to accept being taken advantage of!

SF Gray Panthers Newsletter, November, 2009

You Are What They Feed You!

The way food is grown, controlled and marketed affects everything from cost to rising numbers of children with diabetes to environmental pollution and the waste of water resources. Lobbyists for agribusiness, an interlocking of chemical companies and a conglomerate of corporations, secure hundreds of billions in government subsidies to control research in universities and insure massive mono crops—chemically dependent farming. Every pound of food grown by agribusiness methods means a loss of six pounds of healthy soil. 500,000 tons of Monsanto and Dow petrochemicals are dumped on our food yearly. World food prices rose 80% last year, largely due to corporate speculation and hedge fund bidding on land leases in Africa, India, and Latin America. Corporate agribusiness farms replace small farms, displacing farmers. In India this has caused 200,000 farmers to commit suicide. One billion people are starving world-wide, not for the lack of food, but because corporate controls and speculation encourage exporting for profit rather than producing for local consumption.

The documentary, “Food, Inc,” exposes the tragedy of this corporate controlled food system through the story of a Mexican-American family, agonizing in a supermarket, not having money to buy fresh organic fruits and vegetables for the family. They resort to buying drive-in fast foods, trapped in the cycle of eating these so-called cheap foods as they must spend most of their income for the father’s diabetes medications. But a higher price is ultimately paid with the myriad of problems caused by chemically grown, GMO, toxic foods. Foods are artificially cheap only because of government subsidies supporting agribusiness. From 1995 to 2005, $164.7 billion in subsidies went to unhealthy, unsustainable farming.

Solutions must go beyond local involvement toward supporting sustainable farms and raising living standards for farm workers worldwide. The entire food system would transform globally by ending dependency on oil: no petrochemical fertilizers, no diesel farming equipment, drastically reduced carbon footprint, and an end to stock market speculation on oil pricing. We need food grown to feed people, not for the benefit of corporate food profiteers.

The Video is Excellent in  Liz Kay’s Weblog.

The Story is even better

Liz Kay of the Baltimore Sun went to a Baltimore Host Site, The River of Life Christian Center, and discovered Angel Food Ministries and the benefits it has for the people who utilize the service.

In a tough economy, the need for food relief is high, and Angel Food answers this call.  If you’ve not heard of Angel Food Ministries, come take a look.
Try it out and see for yourself.

Again, only God knows for sure what is happening. I post these videos to spur thought, or to get people curious to research what the bible says. If you don’t believe in the bible or the end times prophecies, I challenge you to read the bible and prove it wrong.

So, which one will it be? Only time will tell. By the way, if you haven’t seen the movie Left Behind 3, you might be surprised to know that the president of the USA is black in this movie. It was filmed in 2000 or 2001.