ChristiansUnite Forums

Wheat shortage sends bread, pasta prices soaring
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 | 12:13 PM ET
CBC News

Soaring wheat prices have Canadian bakeries struggling, farmers rejoicing and customers digging deeper at the till to pay for their bread and pasta purchases.

The price of flour has doubled in the past two months as weather problems, including two years of droughts in Australia, have depleted wheat stocks to lows not seen since the 1970s.

Also contributing to the shortage is the flux of grain farmers switching to other crops, such as canola or corn, that produce biofuels.

"It's a very, very tight situation," said Canadian Wheat Board analyst Bruce Burnett. "World production has been under consumption in the last couple of years, so we have been drawing stocks down … and we've finally hit levels that have made the market very, very concerned about supplies and rightly so."

Burnett said the prices are likely to remain high for at least another 18 months, as it could take up to three years of strong harvests to rebuild the worldwide stocks.
Bakers rising prices

The pricing crunch is affecting bakeries, and their customers, across the country. In Winnipeg, KUB Bakery said its prices need to go up to help cover the rising costs.

"We're not going to gouge anyone, we're going to take what we need to stay afloat. Bread is going to have to go up, any product with wheat in it will go up, that's a certainty," Ross Einfeld, the bakery's manager, told CBC News.

"I'm sure all bakeries across the board have the same problem. Their flour price has doubled, their ingredient price has doubled. So you're going to see prices increase."

Calabria Bakery, in Scarborough, Ont., is also finding rising flour prices a challenge.

The bakery's Sam Cuzzolino said they use roughly 15 tonnes of flour a month for bread and pizza dough and "as far as the bread side goes, if we're breaking even I'd be amazed at this point."

He said if the profits in the 50-year-old business continue to decline, he'll have to consider stopping baking bread altogether.

"It's such a labour intensive thing and really, when you see the cost going up …to pass it on to the customer, it's a very big increase for them to swallow," he said, adding that his customers would be upset if he raised his prices from $1.75 to $2.50 a loaf to help cover the costs.

The rising costs are also shrinking the bottom line at Coleman's grocery store in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland.

"From what we were paying a year ago to what we're paying now, it's actually phenomenal," said Tom Bennett, bakery manager.

"You wouldn't really think all these different things going on would affect the price of flour here in Mount Pearl, but it has."
Soaring prices have farmers 'optimistic'

While bakeries are struggling, the high prices are encouraging for farmers.

Doug Chorney, a wheat farmer near Winnipeg and a member of farmers' group Keystone Agricultural Producers, says he and his colleagues are "very optimistic."

"These are the best prices for wheat we've seen in many farming careers, perhaps ever. Everyone is optimistic this is going to be a good year, providing we can produce the crop that hasn't grown yet," he said.

Chorney, who said he has already decided to plant more wheat this year, also said the expected profits may help keep some farmers in the industry.

It "may encourage some young farmers to stay on the land and take up farming as a career," he said.

Wheat shortage sends bread, pasta prices soaring (http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/02/20/wheat-prices.html?ref=rss)

America's grain stocks running short

By Robert Pore

Global demand for grain and oilseeds is at record levels, causing the nation's grain stocks to reach critically low levels, according to Purdue University agricultural economist Chris Hurt.

With a weak U.S. dollar and global demand so high, foreign buyers are outbidding domestic buyers for American grain, Hurt said.

"Food consumers worldwide are going to have to pay more," Hurt said. "We ended 2007 with our monthly inflation rate on food nearly 5 percent higher. I think we'll see times in 2008 where the food inflation rate might be as much as 6 percent."

Increasing food costs will ignite the debate on food security this year, Hurt said.

"We'll have discussions about whether we should allow the foreign sector to buy our food," he said. "Is food a strategic item that we need to keep in our country?"

The USDA recently released a revised forecast for agricultural exports, predicting a record of $101 billion for fiscal year 2008.

According to the U.S. Grains Council, a significant increase in feed grain exports buoyed the forecasts. Specifically, the forecast for coarse grain exports is raised to 70 million tons, up 2 million tons since November. Corn and sorghum exports are up $2.4 billion from November. Coarse grain exports are forecast at $14.1 billion, $4.3 billion above last year's level.

Hurt said the 2007 U.S. wheat crop is virtually sold out, while domestic soybean stocks soon will fall below a 20-day supply. Corn inventories are stronger, but with demand from export markets, the livestock industry and ethanol plants, supplies also could be just as scarce for the 2008 crop.

More than 70 percent of Nebraska corn crop this year could go to ethanol production.

But what concerns Hurt the most is weather. Adverse weather could trim crop yields this year and cause crop prices to skyrocket even further.

Last year, Nebraska had a record corn crop of nearly 1.5 billion bushels. But rainfall was exceptional last year, especially during the growing season, which helped increase crop yields.

He said recent cash prices for wheat, soybeans and corn are up dramatically from two years ago. Wheat prices have been near $10 a bushel, more than $6 a bushel higher. Cash prices for soybeans are about $13 a bushel, up more than $7 a bushel. Corn is pricing at almost $5 a bushel, an increase of greater than $3 a bushel.

America's grain stocks running short (http://www.theindependent.com/stories/02242008/new_grain24.shtml)

U.S. producer prices soared in January
New data show prices rising at fastest pace in over 26 years
The Associated Press
updated 3:34 p.m. MT, Tues., Feb. 26, 2008

WASHINGTON - In more bad economic news, consumer confidence and home prices posted sharp declines while higher costs for such basics as food and energy left wholesale inflation rising at the fastest pace in a quarter-century.

The new reports Tuesday raised the threat of a return of "stagflation," the economic curse of the 1970s in which economic growth stagnates at the same time that inflation continues racing ahead.

The 1 percent January jump in wholesale prices was led by a surge in the prices of energy, food and prescription drugs and followed a report last week that consumer prices had risen by a bigger-than-expected 0.4 percent because of price pressures in the same areas.

Over the past 12 months, wholesale prices rose by 7.4 percent, the largest yearly gain since late 1981. Analysts warned consumers to brace for more bad inflation news with crude oil prices rising to records above $100 per barrel and with more evidence that the prolonged jump in energy prices is starting to break out into more widespread price problems.

Meanwhile, the New York-based Conference Board reported that its confidence index fell to 75.0 in February, down from a revised January reading of 87.3. The drop was far below what analysts had forecast and put the index at its lowest level since February 2003, a period that reflected anxiety in the leadup to the Iraq war.

A third report showed that home prices, measured by the S&P/Case-Shiller Index, dropped by 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, compared with the same period in 2006, the steepest decline in the 20-year history of the index.

"Home prices across the nation and in most metro areas are significantly lower than where they were a year ago," said Yale University professor Robert Shiller, one of the index's creators. "Wherever you look, things look bleak."

Analysts said rising inflation, slumping home prices, a turbulent stock market and an economy flirting with a recession were all combining to rattle consumers' nerves.

"There is no evidence that the recent collapse in consumer confidence is going to turn around any time soon," said Brian Bethune, senior economist at Global Insight. He said the drop in confidence will lead to a cutback in consumer spending that will trigger a brief recession in the first half of this year. And he cautioned that "severe negative dynamics" at present could make the forecast of a mild recession too optimistic.

However, Wall Street was able to shake off the spate of bad economic news Tuesday, focusing instead on an announcement by IBM of a $15 billion stock buyback program designed to boost its 2008 earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 114.70 points to close at 12,684.92.

Private economists predicted further declines in housing prices in the months ahead as the two-year housing slump continues with no signs of a turnaround. The demand for homes is being constrained by tighter lending standards imposed by financial institutions suffering multibillion-dollar losses from soaring mortgage foreclosures. Those foreclosures are dumping more homes back onto an already glutted market.

RealtyTrac Inc., based in Irvine, Calif., reported that the number of homes facing foreclosure climbed 57 percent in January from the previous year and more lenders are being forced to take possession of homes they can't unload at auctions.

The Bush administration insisted that the recently passed $168 billion economic stimulus bill, which will provide rebate checks to millions of families and tax breaks to encourage business investment, should stabilize the economy.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said President Bush had been briefed on all the economic figures released Tuesday and was closely following developments. "We're in a softening period," she said. "And the question is, how soft is it going to be and how steep is the downturn going to be?"

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to deliver the central bank's twice-a-year economic report to Congress on Wednesday, testimony that will be closely followed to see whether the uptick in inflation will divert the Fed from what became in January an aggressive rate-cutting campaign to combat a possible recession.

Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn, in a speech Tuesday, said the Fed remained concerned about the weak economy, signaling the possibility of further rate cuts. While noting recent "disappointing" news on inflation, he said, "I do not expect the recent elevated inflation rates to persist," in part because the slowing economy should ease pressure on wages.

The 1 percent jump in wholesale prices in January followed a 0.3 percent decline in December and a 2.6 percent spike in November.

The wholesale report said energy prices jumped 1.5 percent, as gasoline prices rose by 2.9 percent and the cost of home heating oil soared by 8.5 percent. Food costs jumped by 1.7 percent, the biggest monthly increase in three years.

Core wholesale inflation, which excludes food and energy, posted a 0.4 percent increase, the biggest increase in 11 months and double what analysts had expected. This gain was led by a 1.5 percent spike in the cost of prescription and nonprescription drugs as well as higher costs for books, autos and plastic products.

U.S. producer prices soared in January (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23349559/)

It is easy to see, why Revelations 6:6 will be the way it will be........

Revelation 6:6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice from the midst of the four living creatures, saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius [a whole day's wages], and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not harm the oil and the wine!

I'm also adding Deuteronomy 28:33, for just a measure........

Deuteronomy 28:33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:

'Doomsday' seed vault to open in Norway
February 26, 2008

A vast underground vault storing millions of seeds from around the world is scheduled to open this week in a mountain on a remote island near the Arctic Ocean.

Dubbed the "Doomsday Vault," the seed bank is considered the ultimate safety net for the world's seed collections, protecting them from a wide range of threats including war, natural disasters, lack of funding or simply poor agricultural management. The Norwegian government paid to build the vault in a mountainside near Longyearbyen, in the remote Svalbard islands between Norway and the North Pole. Building began last year, and the vault is scheduled to open officially Tuesday.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, as it is officially known, can hold as many as 4.5 million seed samples and will eventually house almost every variety of most important food crops in the world, according to the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which is paying to collect and maintain the seeds.

 The United Nations founded the trust in 2004 to support the long-term conservation of crop diversity, and countries and foundations provide the funding.

"The seed vault is the perfect place for keeping seeds safe for centuries," said Cary Fowler, executive director of the trust. "At these temperatures, seeds for important crops like wheat, barley and peas can last for up to 10,000 years."

The vault's location deep inside a mountain in the frozen north ensures the seeds can be stored safely no matter what happens outside.

"We believe the design of the facility will ensure that the seeds will stay well-preserved even if such forces as global warming raise temperatures outside the facility," said Magnus Bredeli Tveiten, project manager for the Norwegian government.

 The vault sits at the end of a 120-meter (131-yard) tunnel blasted inside the mountain. Workers used a refrigeration system to bring the vault to -18 degrees Celsius (just below 0 degrees Fahrenheit), and a smaller refrigeration system plus the area's natural permafrost and the mountain's thick rock will keep the vault at least -4 C (25 F).

The vault at Svalbard is similar to an existing seed bank in Sussex, England, about an hour outside London. The British vault, called the Millennium Seed Bank, is part of an scientific project that works with wild plants, as opposed to the seeds of crops.

Paul Smith, the leader of the Millennium Seed Bank project, said preserving the seeds of wild plants is just as important as preserving the seeds of vital crops.

"We must give ourselves every option in the future to use the whole array of plant diversity that is available to us," Smith told CNN.

The idea for the Arctic seed bank dates to the 1980s but only became a possibility after the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources came into force in 2004, the Norwegian government said. The treaty provided an international framework for conserving and accessing crop diversity.
advertisement

Svalbard is designed to store duplicates of seeds from seed collections around the world.

The Norwegian government says it has paid 50 million Norwegian Kroner ($9.4 million) to build the seed vault.

 'Doomsday' seed vault to open in Norway (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/02/25/norway.seeds/index.html#cnnSTCText)

Warning over world food shortages
MARCH 12, 2008

The UN secretary general has warned that millions of people are at risk of starvation as global food stocks have fallen to their lowest levels for decades.
 
In a letter to a US newspaper Ban Ki Moon warned that shortages are forcing prices to rise which may have devastating consequences for the world's most vulnerable communities
   
The most acute effects have been seen in Egypt, where thousands of people have resorted to violence due to shortages of basic food commodities and rising food prices.
 
At least 10 people have died over the past two weeks, in riots that erupted at government subsidised bakeries.
   
The unavailability of basic food products such as bread, rice, sugar and cooking oil, coupled with high food prices has led many to protest against the Egyptian government and resort to violent tactics.
 
National crisis
 
An Egyptian man said: "People are fighting. Killing for bread, some are even pulling out knives. What is happening? What is this? Famine? "

Another woman, waiting at a government bakery said: "I've been standing here from 7am. Its now 2pm and I can't get hold of even one loaf of bread."

"I have five children. What am I supposed to do? You now need to bribe someone to get bread, if you do not want to get trampled on."

Egypt is one of the world's largest importers of wheat and this year alone spent $2.6 billion on its wheat-import.

However, soaring food prices has driven many Egyptians to the brink of starvation.

Al Jazeera's Jamal El Shayyal reported from Cairo, that people were demanding  drastic measures to be taken and wanted the military to be called in, to solve the food crisis.

An Egyptian waiting in a queue for bread, said: "The army is the only power capable to plant the people's wheat. We want the government to distribute the wheat fairly amongst the poor."

Meanwhile, the Egyptian government has added an additonal 15 million names to the register of people who are eligible to receive subsidies on basic products such as sugar, rice and oil, which has compounded the problem.

Egyptians are demanding for the regular availability of basic food products and a cut in the price of essential commodities.

Global phenomena

The shortage of food has now assumed a global dimension; some 73 million people in 78 countries depend on the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP).

According to their figures, 1 out of every 80 person relies on somebody else to provide for basic food requirements.

Most of these handouts are taking place in Africa, Asia and Central America, but developed countries are feeling the impact for the first time as well.

Rice, corn, dairy and poultry products are the worst affected commodities,around the globe.

Multiple factors

Marcus Prior, spokesman for the World Food Programme in East Africa said, that there were multiple factors contributing to this global crisis.

"There are a number of elements that have all come together at the same time," he told Al Jazeera.

"Perhaps, the most important is the rise in global fuel prices, which is having a chain-reaction effect through the food production system. Right from the cost of input such as fertiliser and seeds, through the harvesting and the storage and delivery process."

Prior said that there has been an enormous increase in the demand from booming economies such as India and China.

"People there are eating a lot more meat than they used to," he said.

The UNWFP said another key factor contributing in the global decrease of productivity was weather irregularities all across the world.

Warning over world food shortages (http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/958CC5D2-638C-428E-AF84-91041B355EF0.htm)

hmmm  ..... things don't jive here. World food stockpiles are actually much higher right now due to the warmer weather we have seen world wide in recent years. Food prices for consumers has increased as much as 75% since 2005 but it is not due to any lack of supply. It is due to the flailing economy. It sounds like more of that global warming type of ideology.

To me is sounds like murder of those, that don't have enough eat. This  is a deep issue and most of it involved greed and a desire to kill off the worlds population!! But this is only my opinion.

That is an agenda of many environmentalists/global warming advocates and the desire of those governments mentioned to control people.

Million face famine after plague of rats devastates rice crop in Mizoram, India
March 18, 2008

SATEEK About a million people are facing famine in India's northeastern state of Mizoram after rats ate the region's entire paddy crop.

The rats swept through the forests, feasting on the fruits of wild bamboo, which flowers every 48 years. When they finished the bamboo, they turned to the farmers' crops. The last time the bamboo flowered was in 1959 when a similar influx led to severe food shortages.

Aid agencies have said that most villagers are surviving on wild roots, yam and sweet potatoes. “Conditions of widespread food shortage and hunger prevail in all eight districts of Mizoram,” said a report by the international aid agency Actionaid. “The Government is reluctant to accept that the situation is rapidly slipping out of its control.” Mizoram needs about 15 million kilos (16,500 tons) of rice a month, but only about a fifth of that is available.

Local people call the famine that follows bamboo flowering mautum, which means bamboo death. In 1959 the famine led to the birth of the Mizo National Famine Front, which ended up fighting the Indian Government for independence. After 20 years of war and 3,000 deaths, the rebel group won recognition for Mizoram as a separate state but not independence.

Million face famine after plague of rats devastates rice crop in Mizoram, India (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3571748.ece)

Global food riots turn deadly


April 10, 2008

Video: Haitian leader's pleas fail to stop riots  (http://javascript:void(window.open('http://video.ap.org/vws/search/aspx/ap.aspx?t=s59&p=ENAPworld_ENAPworld&g=0409dv_haiti_protests&f=dctms','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));)

By David R. Sands - Anger over spiraling world food prices is becoming increasingly violent.

Deadly clashes over higher costs for staple foods have broken out in Egypt, Haiti and several African states, and an international food expert yesterday warned of more clashes with no short-term relief in sight.

"World food prices have risen 45 percent in the last nine months and there are serious shortages of rice, wheat and [corn]," Jacques Diouf, head of the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said at a major conference in New Delhi yesterday.

"There is a risk that this unrest will spread in countries where 50 to 60 percent of income goes to food," he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a personal appeal for calm in Haiti yesterday. U.N. peacekeepers were called to protect the residence of President Rene Preval from rioters protesting sharp increases in the prices of food and fuel. At least five people have been reported killed in disturbances since last week after the cost of rice doubled and gas prices rose a third time since February.

A supermarket, several gas station marts and a government rice warehouse were looted, the Associated Press reported.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif this week promised concessions to workers in the industrial city of Mahalla al-Kobra after two days of rioting over rising food prices left one protester dead.

The clashes were described as the most serious anti-government demonstrations since 1977 riots erupted over soaring bread prices.

The FAO has reported popular unrest over rising food prices in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique, Bolivia and Uzbekistan, among other countries.

The Philippines, the world's biggest rice importer, moved to head off protests after global prices doubled in a year. Financial giant Credit Suisse yesterday reported that higher rice prices would cut the country's gross domestic product this year by at least 1 percent.

The government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo tightened controls of domestic rice sales and strengthened security at government storehouses to prevent hoarding. Anyone convicted of "stealing rice from the people" will be thrown in jail, she warned.

U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney yesterday said the Bush administration would offset any rice shortfall with cuts from other exporters.

World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick said earlier this month that nearly three dozen countries face social unrest because of surging food and fuel prices. For the countries most at risk, "there is no margin for survival," he said.

Josette Sheeran, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, was in Washington last month making an urgent appeal for funds to compensate for rising prices.

"We're asking for the world to really think through how we meet the emergency needs of the hungry," Ms. Sheeran told The Washington Times.

Even the most repressive regimes are not immune to popular unrest. The spark for rioting against the military junta in Burma last year was a rise in food and fuel prices after the government abruptly removed subsidies.

International agricultural analysts have seen the crisis building for months, spurred by an unusual combination of forces that John Holmes, the chief U.N. humanitarian official, this week called a "perfect storm" of trends fueling demand, cutting supply and producing higher global grocery bills.

Among them: higher fuel prices that make transporting food more expensive and encourage farmers to shift from crop production to biofuels; rising food demand as China, India and other Asian countries grow wealthier; drought in major producers such as Australia; and speculation on major commodities markets that staple prices will stay high.

Mr. Holmes predicted at a conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that the situation will spill into the political arena.

"The security implications [of the food crisis] should not be underestimated, as food riots are already being reported across the globe," he said. "Current food prices are likely to increase sharply both the incidence and depth of food insecurity."

Ms. Sheeran told The Times that her agency was $500 million short for the current fiscal year in meeting needs to relieve the global food and fuel crises.

"We don't have the buffering space" to cover such sharp increases in the cost of basic staples, she said.

Analysts say the price increases are across the board, not focused on one crop or market as in past commodity patterns.

A survey released by the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute found that the price of staple food has risen by 80 percent since 2005, including a 40 percent surge last year alone. The real price of rice is at a 19-year high and the price of wheat on world markets is at a 28-year high.

"The realities of demography, changing diets, energy prices and biofuels, and climate change suggest that high — and volatile — food prices will be with us for years to come," said study author Joachim von Braun.

It is not just the poor who have taken to the streets over rising food prices.

Workers at the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Jordan staged a one-day strike Monday to demand higher pay to cover rising food and gas prices. The action closed 177 schools for Palestinian refugees.

The U.N. staffers say they are prepared to walk off the job again next week if they do not get a pay raise.

Surging prices have led to food riots and protests around the globe.

EGYPT — Violent protests this week over soaring food prices left one dead and 15 injured.

HAITI — Five people were killed and about 20 injured in a week of protests, including an attack on U.N. peacekeepers.

CAMEROON — Violent food riots in February claimed 40 lives, and protests continue this month.

BURKINA FASO — A general strike is called this week over rising food prices, after protests earlier this year led to hundreds of arrests.

PHILIPPINES — The government beefs up security at rice warehouses to prevent theft and hoarding.

JORDAN — U.N. aid workers stage a one-day strike for more pay to cover food and fuel price increases.

BURMA — Cuts in fuel and food subsidies sparked massive anti-government protests last summer.

Global food riots turn deadly (http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080410/FOREIGN/401836215/1001&template=printart)

More;

Haiti Food Protests (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080409/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/haiti_food_protests_9)

Haitians Riot, Loot Over Food Prices (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080409/haiti_food_protests.html?.v=1)

Haitians riot over food prices (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-08-haiti-food_N.htm?csp=34)

Senators demand Haiti PM resign over food riots  (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080410/wl_nm/haiti_dc_6)

Demand for rice threatens global food supplies

Last Updated: 1:31am BST 08/04/2008

The run on rice is threatening to disrupt world food supplies as much as banks' lack of confidence in each other has seen global credit markets dry up.

China, Egypt, Vietnam and India, representing more than a third of global rice exports, curbed sales this year, and Indonesia says it may do the same.

The price of rice, the staple food for half the world, rose 2pc to a record $20.910 per 100lbs in Chicago, double the price a year ago and a fivefold increase from 2001.

"Rice will gain substantially over the next two years," said Roland Jansen, chief executive of Switzerland-based Mother Earth Investments, which holds 4pc of its $100m funds in the grain.

He believes governments will maintain curbs on exports as they "want to be able to continue to feed their own populations".

The World Bank in Washington says 33 nations from Mexico to Yemen may face "social unrest" as food and energy costs have risen for six straight years.

"High and volatile food prices will be with us for years to come," according to World Bank president Robert Zoellick, who urged wealthy nations to cut agricultural subsidies and open markets for food imports.

Rice-growing nations are driving up prices for producers that want to sell abroad. The Vietnam Food Association last week asked members to stop signing export contracts in June, following China, which has imposed a 5pc tax on exports. Egypt banned rice shipments until October.

Record grain prices are stoking inflation. Wholesale costs in India rose 7pc in the week ending March 22, the fastest pace in more than three years, underscoring the threat from rising food costs, the ministry of commerce and industry in New Delhi said.

The increase may boost profits for suppliers. Shares in Padiberas Nasional, Malaysia's only licensed rice supplier, rose the most in seven years on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange last week.

Goldman Sachs forecasts that all agricultural commodities it covers, except sugar, will rise during the next six months.

Global cereal demand will expand 2.6pc this year, 1.6 percentage points above the 10-year average, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome.

The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index of 26 raw materials has gained for six consecutive years and advanced 15pc this year.

"We have some very serious problems developing globally for food and energy," said Greg Smith, executive director of Global Commodities in Adelaide, Australia.

World rice stockpiles are at their lowest levels since the 1980s, and the UN forecasts that exports will drop 3.5pc this year.

"A constant price rise of rice can't be viewed as sustainable," said Abah Ofon, a commodities analyst with Standard Chartered in Dubai. "As with any staple commodity, there's a risk of social tension when prices begin to rise."

Demand for rice threatens global food supplies (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/04/08/cnrice108.xml)

More:

Farmers in Thailand grapple with theft of rice crops (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/340671/1/.html)

THAILAND: Fear of shortages as rice prices keep rising  (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/d7c6fd395957f15c556f514e7d1ee97d.htm)

Phillipines: ‘Bad timing’, Nograles says on NFA rice price hike  (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080410-129553/Bad-timing-Nograles-says-on-NFA-rice-price-hike)

SINGAPORE: Rice output set to rise this year (http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080410.wrice0410/GIStory/)

ASIA: Fear of shortages as rice prices keep rising  (http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=77692)

Riots in Egypt:
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2008/04/09/egypt_rushes_to_calm_workers_amid_riots/

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Riots_shake_Egypts_rulers/articleshow/2939031.cms

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=211886&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17

Riots in Africa:

http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=336367

http://euobserver.com/9/25947?rss_rk=1

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080406/wl_africa_afp/inflationpovertyafrica_080406153007

It is easy to see why famine will be one of the horses of Revelations.

Revelation 6:5-6 When He broke open the third seal, I heard the third living creature call out, Come and look ! And I saw, and behold, a black horse, and in his hand the rider had a pair of scales (a balance).  6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice from the midst of the four living creatures, saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius [a whole day's wages], and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not harm the oil and the wine!

That was my thought exactly!

23 People in 14 States Sickened From Recalled Breakfast Cereal

Saturday , April 12, 2008

MINNEAPOLIS —
At least 23 people in 14 states have been sickened by the same strain of salmonella found in two breakfast cereals recalled by Malt-O-Meal, the federal Food and Drug Administration said Saturday.

Officials in Minnesota are investigating whether a case in that state might be linked to the cereals produced by the Minneapolis-based company, the state health department said.

Malt-O-Meal voluntarily recalled its unsweetened Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat cereals April 5 after finding salmonella contamination during routine testing. The affected bags were produced in the past 12 months in Northfield.

"The Malt-O-Meal company has been extremely cooperative in this investigation and has done the right thing to protect the public's health," Heidi Kassenborg, director of the dairy and food inspection division at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, said in a statement.

Three people have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Symptoms of salmonella infection include nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. It can be life-threatening for people with poor health or weakened immune systems, including young children and the elderly.

The FDA said people who experience such symptoms after eating a puffed wheat or puffed rice cereal made by Malt-O-Meal should contact their doctors and report the illness to state or local health authorities.

The FDA said the recalled products were distributed nationally under the Malt-O-Meal brand name, as well as private labels including Acme, America's Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannaford, Jewel, Laura Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw's, ShopRite, Tops and Weis Quality. The cereal bags have "best if used by" dates from April 8, 2008 (coded as APR0808), through March 18, 2009 (coded as MAR1809).

Consumers with products from the recalled lots are advised to throw them out, and retailers have been told to remove the cereals from their shelves.

The CDC said that as of Friday it had received reports of 21 people ill with the same salmonella strain in 13 states. California reported 1; Colorado, 1; Delaware, 1; Maine, 3; Massachusetts, 2; Minnesota, 1; North Dakota, 1; New Hampshire, 2; New Jersey, 3; New York, 3; Pennsylvania, 1; Rhode Island, 1; and Vermont, 1.

It wasn't clear Saturday what the 14th state was or whether the two additional cases were from there.

23 People in 14 States Sickened From Recalled Breakfast Cereal (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,351017,00.html)

World Bank leader urges action on food

BY HARRY DUNPHY, Associated Press Writer Sun Apr 13, 6:45 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The president of the World Bank on Sunday urged immediate action to deal with mounting food prices that have caused hunger and deadly violence in several countries.

Robert Zoellick said the international community has "to put our money where our mouth is" and act now to help hungry people. "It is as stark as that."

He called on governments to rapidly carry out commitments to provide the U.N. World Food Program with $500 million in emergency aid it needs by May 1.

He said the bank is granting an additional $10 million to Haiti for feeding programs, "and I understand others are looking to help."

"It is critical that governments confirm their commitments as soon as possible and others begin to commit," Zoellick said. Prices have only risen further since the WFP issued that appeal, so it is urgent that governments step up, he said.

After a meeting of the bank's policy-setting committee, Zoellick said that the fall of the government in Haiti over the weekend after a wave of deadly rioting and looting over food prices underscores the importance of quick international action. A U.N. police officer was killed Saturday in Haiti's capital.

Zoellick said that international finance meetings are "often about talk," but he noted a "greater sense of intensity and focus" among ministers; now, he said, they have to "translate it into greater action."

Zoellick said the bank was responding to needs in a number of other countries with conditional cash transfer programs, providing food in workplaces and seeds for planting in the new season.

He said a rough analysis the bank estimates that a doubling of food prices over the last three years could potentially push people in low income countries deeper into poverty.

"This is not just a question of short term needs, as important as they are," Zoellick said." This is about ensuring that future generations don't pay a price too."

Zoellick spoke as the bank and its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund, wound up two days of meetings that dealt with the financial crises roiling global markets and rising food and energy prices.

The head of the IMF also sounded the alarm on food prices, warning that if they remain high there will be dire consequences for people in many developing countries, especially in Africa.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn said progress in recent years on development can be destroyed by rising food prices, which can lead to starvation and shake the stability of governments, even if they have nothing to do with the increase in food cost. "We are facing a huge problem," he said.

Strauss-Kahn had said Saturday that the problem could also create trade imbalances that would impact major advanced economies, "so it is not only a humanitarian question."

He said if the price spike continues, "Thousands, hundreds of thousands of people will be starving. Children will be suffering from malnutrition, with consequences for all their lives."

Mexican Finance Secretary Agustin Carstens, who heads the bank's policy-setting Development Committee, said officials "need to redouble our efforts" to help the poorest people. He said there had been "a very welcome increase in money" from governments, but all donors need to "reach into their pockets" to help.

An open world economy is crucial to global prosperity, he said, urging a successful conclusion to world trade talks.

Zoellick said the Development Committee endorsed his call for a "New Deal for Global Food Policy" that would aim to boost agricultural productivity in poor nations , improve access to food through schools or work places and help small farmers.

He said earlier this month the bank would nearly double the money it lends for agriculture in Africa from $450 million to $800 million.

Zoellick said he had received positive feedback from his proposal to have sovereign wealth funds — huge pools of capital controlled by governments — invest one percent of their resources in Africa. He said this could draw $30 billion to African growth.

He said the bank was following up the proposal in discussions with countries that have sovereign wealth funds, mainly in Asia and the Middle East, through the International Finance Corporation, the bank's private sector arm.

"Hunger, malnutrition and food policy have formed a recurrent theme at this weekend's meetings, and I believe that we have made progress," Zoellick said. "But it will be important to continue to retain the focus on this as we leave Washington."

World Bank leader urges action on food (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080413/ap_on_bi_ge/finance_meetings;_ylt=Ah55XQx7NS7qUSX8l_nVJ8ms0NUE)

Food crisis looms in Bangladesh

By JULHAS ALAM, Associated Press Writer Sat Apr 12, 7:02 AM ET

DHAKA, Bangladesh - For a 13-year-old boy in this impoverished, teeming city, some things are more important than classes — rice, for one.

"I need to eat first, then school," said Mohammad Hasan, standing at the back of a line of hundreds of people waiting to pick up government-subsidized rice.

With the price of food skyrocketing around the world, desperately poor and overpopulated Bangladesh is considered one of the world's most vulnerable nations.

An adviser to the country's Ministry of Food, A.M.M. Shawkat Ali, warned of a "hidden hunger" in Bangladesh and economists estimate 30 million of the country's 150 million people could go hungry — a crisis that could become a serious political problem for the military-backed government.

"We fear some 30 million of the ultra poor will not be able to afford three meals a day" said Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, a leading economist in Dhaka, the capital.

Bangladesh already faces a decrease in arable land due to industrialization and the ever-growing population. Its low-lying land also is reeling from major floods and a devastating cyclone last year that destroyed some 3 million tons of food crops and left millions homeless and hungry.

The price of rice, the core of the Bangladeshi diet, has jumped by more than 30 percent since then — a major problem in a country where nearly half the population survives on less than $1 a day.

Approximately 10,000 textile workers demanding better wages to meet the higher food prices clashed with police near the capital on Saturday, said police station official Angur Akter.

Dozens of people, including at least 20 police officials, were injured in the violence, Akter said. Their exact number and conditions were not immediately known.

The government, which has ruled Bangladesh since January 2007, has responded to the shortages with varying degrees of success. It has opened more than 6,000 outlets distributing rice at roughly half the market price and announced plans to open more.

But "the government failed to build enough stock of food immediately after last year's disasters, and because of that the situation has become volatile," said Ahmad, who heads an independent think tank, the Bangladesh Development Council.

"The government needs to build a buffer stock immediately. If the government fails, the situation will worsen," he said.

Major opposition parties have recently threatened street protests if the government fails to rein in rising prices and growing discontent could threaten the political balance.

India has agreed to ship 400,000 tons of heavily discounted rice to Bangladesh, but it could take weeks to arrive and officials are uncertain it will be enough. Because of high food prices, the Asian Development Bank warned that inflation could reach 9 percent by June.

Bangladesh is far from the only country with food problems. There have been riots in the African nations of Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal. Rising prices have hit poor countries like Haiti and Peru and even developed countries like Italy and the United States.

A confluence of problems are driving up prices. They include soaring petroleum prices, which increase the cost of fertilizers, transport and food processing; rising demand for meat and dairy in China and India, resulting in increased costs for grain, used for cattle feed; and the ever-rising demand for raw materials to make biofuels.

As of December, 37 countries faced food crises, and 20 had imposed some sort of food-price controls. The U.N.'s World Food Program says it's facing a $500 million shortfall in funding this year to feed 89 million needy people.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick warned that prices could continue to rise for several years.

"This is not a this-year phenomenon," Zoellick said.

In Bangladesh, leaders are scrambling for solutions. Last week a senior official suggested people eat potatoes instead of rice.

Abdus Sobhan, a construction worker, who had spent hours waiting in the heat for discounted rice, dismissed the notion.

"It's better his family starts first, then we can think if we will change our habit of eating rice," he said. "We can't bear it anymore."

Food crisis looms in Bangladesh (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080412/ap_on_re_as/bangladesh_food_trouble;_ylt=Avy2E.b3prwAB4UV8.LL0z4Bxg8F)

Haiti's government falls after food riots
Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:36pm EDT

By Joseph Guyler Delva and Jim Loney

PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 12 (Reuters) - Haiti's government fell on Saturday when senators fired the prime minister after more than a week of riots over food prices, ignoring a plan presented by the president to slash the cost of rice.

Sixteen of 17 senators at a special session voted against Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis, an ally President Rene Preval placed at the head of a coalition cabinet in June 2006 that was meant to unite the fractious Caribbean nation.

The move by opposition senators was seen as a serious but not crushing blow to Preval, whose 2006 election brought a measure of calm to the poorest country in the Americas as it searched for political stability after decades of dictatorship, military rule and economic mayhem.

The clash with senators came after the president of the country of 9 million people -- most of whom earn less than $2 a day -- managed to persuade rioters to end a week of violence in which at least five people were killed.

Stone-throwing crowds began battling U.N. peacekeepers and Haitian police in the south on April 2, enraged at the soaring cost of rice, beans, cooking oil and other staples.

The unrest spread this week to the capital, Port-au-Prince, bringing the sprawling and chaotic city to a halt as mobs took over the streets, smashing windows, looting shops, setting fire to cars and hurling rocks at motorists.

U.N. troops, stationed in Haiti since Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted as president in a revolt in 2004, fired tear gas and rubber bullets on several occasions to disperse protesters.

On Saturday a Nigerian U.N. peacekeeper was shot to death near the main Catholic cathedral in downtown Port-au-Prince, close to the large and often violent slum of Bel-Air, a Haitian police officer and U.N. commander said.

The circumstances of the shooting were unclear and the city appeared largely tranquil. Three Sri Lankan peacekeepers were struck by bullets on Thursday but were not seriously injured.

MANY HAITIANS WELCOME OUSTER

"Now it's my turn to play," Preval said when he was told by journalists of the Senate vote shortly after he and private sector leaders unveiled a plan to cut the cost of a sack of rice to $43 from $51.

Three dollars of the price cut would be paid for by businesses and the rest by international donors, he said.

Preval said he would ask parliament to pick a new prime minister. Alexis was seen as a pragmatist and dealmaker, and also served as prime minister during Preval's first term as president from 1996 to 2001.

Many Haitians seemed to welcome the ouster of Alexis.

"When he was prime minister, he did nothing to lower the high cost of living. I hope things will change with a new prime minister," said Jean Pierre Jean-Baptiste, 29, an electrician.

Sen. Youri Latortue, a nephew of a former prime minister and leader of Saturday's vote, said Alexis had failed to ramp up food production, protect people against crime, heed calls to establish a new national security force and set a deadline for the U.N. troops to leave.

'EVERYONE HAS TO MAKE A SACRIFICE'

Disturbances over high food prices have broken out in several poor countries, primarily in Africa. Record oil prices, rising demand for food in Asia, the use of farmland and crops for biofuels and other factors such as market speculation have pushed up food prices worldwide.

"The situation is difficult everywhere around the world, everyone has to make a sacrifice," Preval said on Saturday as he announced the plan to cut rice prices in a room adorned with crystal chandeliers and thick drapes at the National Palace.

Preval reiterated that Haiti could not afford to cut taxes on food because it needed the revenue to pay for longer-term projects that create jobs and boost agriculture.

It was unclear whether the price cut would satisfy protesters.

"It has not been lowered enough," said a young man who identified himself only as Givens. "If they don't further lower the price I think people are going to protest more. There will be problems, more unrest. Even the National Palace could be set on fire because we are in trouble." (Additional reporting by Jean Valme; Writing by Michael Christie; Editing by Xavier Briand) (For more stories on global food price rises, please see here)

Haiti's government falls after food riots (http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USN12217781._CH_.2400)

UN Chief: Food Crisis Is Now Emergency
Monday April 14, 2:10 pm ET
By EDITH M. LEDERER
UN Chief: Food Crisis Has Reached Emergency Proportions, Threatens Fight Against Poverty

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- A rapidly escalating global food crisis has reached emergency proportions and threatens to wipe out seven years of progress in the fight against poverty, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Monday.

He called for short-term emergency measures in many regions to meet urgent food needs and avoid starvation and longer-term efforts to significantly increase production of food grains.

The "international community will also need to take urgent and concerted action in order to avoid the larger political and security implications of this growing crisis," Ban told international finance and trade officials who came to a U.N. meeting following weekend talks in Washington.

The secretary-general echoed World Bank President Robert Zoellick's appeal to governments on Sunday to quickly provide the U.N. World Food Program with $500 million in emergency aid that it needs by May 1.

Zoellick said the international community has "to put our money where our mouth is" to deal with rapidly rising food prices that have caused hunger and deadly violence in several countries.

Ban said the recent steep rise in food prices "has already raised the cost of WFP's needs to maintain its current operations from $500 million to $755 million."

WFP, the world's largest humanitarian agency, issued an "extraordinary emergency appeal" to donor countries for $500 million last month, saying the money was needed by May 1 to avoid cutting rations to some of the world's most impoverished regions. The Rome-based agency said its funding gap was growing weekly.

"The rapidly escalating crisis of food availability around the world has reached emergency proportions," Ban said.

"The World Bank has estimated that the doubling of food prices over the last three years could push 100 million people in low income countries deeper into poverty," he said.

Ban echoed Zoellick in warning that that the food crisis "could mean seven lost years in the fight against worldwide poverty."

The United Nations is at a midpoint in its campaign to reduce global poverty and improve living standards of the world's bottom billion. The Millennium Development Goals, adopted at a U.N. summit in 2000, include cutting extreme poverty by half by 2015.

UN Chief: Food Crisis Is Now Emergency (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080414/un_food_and_poverty.html)

Asia's rice bowl empties and world price soars

By Raju Gopalakrishnan in Manila
THE crisis over rice showed no signs of easing yesterday as the price of the world's benchmark jumped 10 per cent in just one week, fanning fears that millions across Asia will struggle to afford their staple food.
In a clear sign of the strain on output after major exporters began to curb exports earlier this year, a tender from the Philippines, the world's top importer, attracted offers to sell only about two-thirds of the half a million tonnes it sought.

In Bangkok, Thai 100 per cent B grade white rice, considered the world's benchmark, hit $950 (£482) per tonne, three times its price at the start of 2007.

"There's been a popular misconception that the world can produce as much food as it likes. Well, it obviously can't. And Asia can't feed itself at the moment," Gerry Lawson, the chairman of Sunrice, a major Australian rice producer, said.

Increased food demand from rapidly developing countries, such as China and India, the use of biofuels, high oil prices, global stocks at 25-year lows and market speculation are all blamed for pushing prices of staples such as rice to record highs around the globe.

The unprecedented surge, which some analysts said is going to continue, posed a growing threat to regional governments worried about the prospect of hoarding and social unrest.

Governments in top producer countries, such as Thailand and the No2 exporter, Vietnam, are urging farmers to grow extra crops, although it will be several months before the additional supply hits the market.

Meanwhile, demand from other big importers, such as Iran, which is expected to try to buy up to one million tonnes of Thai rice this year, will keep the upward pressure on prices.

The Philippines is the hardest hit of the Asian nations in the current crisis – although secretive North Korea is likely to be in a worse position.

As a measure of the seriousness of the problem, Manila has temporarily halted conversion of agricultural land for property development, hoping to ring-fence paddy fields to meet the food needs of the country's 88 million people.

Soldiers guard sales of subsidised rice by the state National Food Authority, and the government has filed charges against 13 people suspected of hoarding.

The global turmoil is such that the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, yesterday said the United States hopes to announce fresh steps to alleviate food shortages around the globe. "The rapid rise in global food prices is an urgent concern," she said.

Soaring rice prices have come as fears about tight world supplies led governments to hoard and ignited protests in places like Haiti, where five died in food riots last week.

"You've been drawing down the world stocks since 2000. You're down to the bottom of the barrel," said Ed Taylor, an analyst with Firstgrain.com.

The US government projects world stocks of rice to be 77 million tonnes by 1 August, the start of the new marketing year. That is up slightly on a year ago, based on projections for a five million tonne rise in world production. But world stocks will still be 48 per cent below 2000.

This season's world production could also still be hurt by the weather, leaving countries in need of imports at a time when many countries are already holding back on exports. India and Vietnam have banned exports.

India shut off the supply valve in October, when it banned exports of non-basmati rice to its Asian neighbours. Thailand stepped in to fill the gap, but soon found that it, too, was running short of rice.

In times of grain shortages, the world typically turns to the US, but US rice stocks have been cut in half the past two years. Rice acreage is being diverted to soaring corn, wheat and soybeans.

In 2007, the US produced only about six million tonnes of rice, out of total world production of 425 million tonnes.

"It's just a drop in the bucket," Mr Taylor said. "We don't have anywhere near enough quantity to bale anybody out."

Bob Papanos, the head of The Rice Trader, a weekly rice marketing publication, underscored the point. "We've had declining stocks, declining stocks-to-use ratios for the last 15 years," he said. "It all came together and slapped the world in the face."

The United Nations' World Food Programme said on Tuesday that the price it pays for rice to supply food donations jumped to $780 a tonne from about $460 a tonne at the beginning of March – just after it made an emergency appeal for an extra $500 million.

Rice could be even more volatile, since governments in many nations – including across Asia's "rice bowl" – consider rice a national security priority.

What makes rice supply/demand special is that almost all of the crop is consumed where it is grown.

Only 6 per cent of world rice is exported, compared with 17 per cent for wheat, the other main food grain.

VIETNAM

VIETNAM is among the better placed Asian countries – it is at least able to supply its own domestic needs.

But the world's third-largest exporter of rice has already imposed a 22 per cent cut in the amount of the crop it is willing to put on world markets – thus making life more difficult for its traditional customers, such as the Philippines.

Farmers in Vietnam say they have planted a special variety of rice for their summer crop, hoping that 7.8 million tons will hit the international market in mid-June, a month earlier than normal.

This rush to feed the market is not particularly a humanitarian one – with prices as high as they are, a Vietnamese farmer can make a good profit, enough to send a child to university or improve their agricultural equipment.

PHILIPPINES

THE Philippines is the world's biggest importer of rice and has been most exposed to a leap in international prices.

"I do not see any food riots in the Philippines," the defence secretary, Gilberto Teodoro, told reporters this week. "We don't see any immediate threats to national security, whether caused by this rice crisis or otherwise."

The president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, said an action plan to prevent rice shortages includes securing rice imports, proper distribution and cracking down on hoarders and price manipulators. The government has temporarily halted the conversion of agricultural lands for development, amid concerns it needs to ring-fence its paddy fields to meet a growing demand for rice.

Unmilled rice production in the Philippines is expected to reach 17 million tonnes this year, from 16.24 million tonnes in 2007, but the increase in output is not enough to keep pace with rapid popul
ation growth, one of the highest in the region.

INDONESIA

INDONESIA, the world's most populous Muslim country, has said it expects to be able to feed its more than 230 million people this year. Yet it is not unaffected by the rise in rice prices – inflation, related to the global price surge is hitting all manner of consumer products.

This week Indonesia became the latest country to impose controls on rice exports.

BANGLADESH

BANGLADESH is one of Asia's most overpopulated countries and one of the the poorest. It is particularly vulnerable to rises in the price of its staple, rice.

Hundreds of poor families are now surviving on one meal a day, and spending 70-80 per cent of their budget on food.

More than half a million Bangladeshi troops were yesterday ordered to eat potatoes in an attempt to ease the impact of surging prices.

Asia's rice bowl empties and world price soars (http://news.scotsman.com/world/Global-food-crisis-looms-as.3996034.jp)

Loaf of Bread costs $16 Million Zimbabwe Dollars

digitaljournal.com

With rising inflation and election turmoil, the prices of basic food items have sky rocketed in Zimbabwe. A loaf of bread now costs $16 million Zimbabwe dollars.

Zimbabwe has had major financial problems for a long time, and isn't getting better with the recent elections. The opposition claimed it won the elections, but Mugabe is reluctant to give up power.

The rate of inflation is rising at a staggering rate and has reached 100,000 percent.

In January the Zimbabwe government issued a $10 million dollar currency note, this week they introduced a new $50 million dollar bill which is equivalent to 1.25 USD on the black market (officially it is worth 1.666 USD).

The new 50 million dollar note will enable Zimbabwean people to buy 3 loaves of bread.

Other recent news reported peanuts now cost 700 million a bucket in the region.

According to AP, this is the third time the nation's central bank has issued a higher denomination note in response to record inflation. Furthermore, some of these currencies have an expiration date.

Most people will probably agree this is a sad state of affairs for Zimbabwe. Mugabe should leave before he does any more lasting damage to his country.

 

American retailers ration rice in response to global food crisis

The global food crisis is hitting consumers in the USA, with the nation's top retailer announcing that it's rationing rice because of "supply and demand trends," according to Reuters.

“We are limiting the sale of Jasmine, Basmati and Long Grain White Rices to four bags per member visit,” Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart, says in a statement cited by Fox Business News. “This is effective immediately in all of our U.S. clubs, where quantity restrictions are allowed by law.”

This follows reports of rationing at Costco.

The New York Sun says a sign above the rice at one of that wholesale club's stores said: "Due to the limited availability of rice, we are limiting rice purchases based on your prior purchasing history."

The U.N.'s World Food Program blames a "silent tsunami" of global hunger on the rising price of food.

Rice, a key staple, costs 68% more than it did at the beginning of the year. BBC News says the prices of corn, soybeans and wheat are nearing all-time highs, too.

Last week, we told you that officials in Manila were threatening to jail anyone they catch hoarding rice in the Philippines.

That doesn't appear to have done much to resolve the shortage in that country. The Vancouver Sun says some Filipino expats have been sending boxes of rice to their friends and relatives back home.

"I talk to customers and they tell me that they are sending rice. They fill out declaration forms," shipper Cesar Lim tells the paper. "And I can feel it. I can sense that [the boxes are] heavy."

It is only rumors so far but there is now talk on the internet of ration cards in the U.S. following after the implementation of them in India.

Ration cards among solutions offered

Ration cards. Genetically modified crops. The end of pile-it-high, sell-it-cheap supermarkets.

These possible solutions to the first global food crisis since the Second World War -- which the World Food Program says already threatens 20 million of the poorest children -- are complex and controversial. And they may not even solve the problem as demand continues to soar.

A "silent tsunami" of hunger is sweeping the world's most desperate countries, said Josette Sheeran, the WFP's executive director, speaking yesterday at a London summit on the crisis.

The skyrocketing cost of food staples, stoked by rising fuel prices, unpredictable weather and demand from India and China, has already sparked sometimes violent protests across the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.

The price of rice has more than doubled in the last five weeks, she said. The World Bank estimates food prices have risen by 83 per cent in three years.

These things are not good news. Today we're going to buy alot of rice and beans. I feel we should stock up before there's more of a run on the supermarkets. I hope this is temporary but I don't want to take any chances. We were in NY on 9-11 and started back then to stock up on supplies. I'm not trying to be paranoid, just logically taking steps according to the signs of the times. Rationing is not typical in this country unless there's a war. Can there be another one on the horizon?

I think this news is our queue to take some extra precautions. I believe, like Joseph, we should take note of the information and act accordingly.

I do pray this dies down, though it doesn't seem to be for the people in the poorest countries, I know they need our prayers.

Food-buying panic hits Canada stores
'The world crisis is obviously going to have a ripple effect'

With food riots spreading from Haiti to Thailand and retail giants such as Wal-Mart implementing rice rationing in the United States because of shrinking supplies, analysts say Canadians will soon be paying a lot more at the grocery store.

Already, panic buying has hit some Canadian stores.

Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers Association of Canada said he was getting calls in British Columbia that store shelves were being emptied of rice by panicked buyers. "I was in one of the national chains and there was one packet of rice left on the shelf."

"It's a human trait to hoard, but there is only so much food to hoard," he said. "The world crisis is obviously going to have a ripple effect into Canada."

Eating habits will be forced to change, says Cran, and its likely in the near future consumers will no longer have the option of fresh pineapples and oranges in the winter.

"My advice is to go speak to your granny and get a canning recipe before she leaves this world."

Maple Leaf Foods Inc., one of Canada's largest food processors, reported a loss on Thursday due to soaring costs for grain used in its bakeries and hog barns.

"These are stunningly, stunningly challenging and unique times," Chief Executive Michael McCain told shareholders at the company's annual meeting on Thursday.

"The world is embroiled with absorbing the implications of the simple truth that food will be considerably more expensive, well into the future," he said.

Rice prices jumped 5% in Thailand as prices surged to $1,000 a tonne on Thursday. The country has been hit by an increased demand from developing countries and poor crop yields.

World rice stocks are the lowest in 20 years and riots have broken out in Africa and Haiti. Adding to the problem is that India, Vietnam and Thailand have restricted exports.

The shortage has already begun to have an impact on North America.

Sam's Club, the wholesale unit of Wal-Mart announced Wednesday it was capping sales of nine kilogram bags of rice at four bags per customer per visit to prevent hoarding. The curb affects "specialty rice" including jasmine, basmati and long grain rice.

A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Canada said there are no plans to cap sales in Canada.

"We do not have restrictions on rice at any of our Canadian stores," said Karin Campbell on Thursday. She would not comment on whether there had been a run on rice at any of their Canadian outlets.

Canada hasn't seen as large an increase in food prices as other areas in the world but changing patterns in food use are having an impact on prices.

For example, corn is being used for ethanol production and putting pressure on the food industry, said David Wilkes, a spokesperson for The Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors.

"Ten years ago we didn't have to compete with that," he said. "It's a perfect storm of a variety of factors. We're even seeing prices go up for fresh fruit and vegetables that have to be trucked in."

Although Wilkes couldn't say how much Canadians can expect to see prices jump on grain staples such as rice and flour, he said the prices will begin to steadily climb. "I do believe that these changes are with us to stay."

Wilkes said Canada's major grocery chains did not anticipate restrictions either. "We do not believe it is necessary to follow restrictions."

But across the country, Canadian suppliers of foreign foods were feeling the pinch Thursday.

The wholesale price of specialty rice has doubled or almost doubled in the last five months because of shortages overseas, said Kanti Shah, co-owner of Shah Trading Co. in Montreal.

"Right now, the scenario is "Where can I get my rice?'," said Shah, a Kenyan-born Indian immigrant whose firm supplies Loblaws, Wal-Mart, Costco and other chains.

"It's definitely a crisis. I don't think it will get so bad that rice won't be available here, but the price will be high. You know, the Asian crowd in North America are major consumers of rice -- breakfast, lunch and dinner -- so they've been stocking up."

And in Toronto, Pascal Ribreau, owner of Celestin Bakery said wholesale prices have forced him to raise prices by 15%.

A manager at Hua Sheng supermarket in Toronto's Chinatown said customers recently have been buying larger bags of rice while the store has seen an increase in rice sales.

Three weeks ago the supermarket raised the price of several brands of rice $1 to $5 depending on size of the bag.