http://cryptogon.com/?p=3D2434
[b]Emergency food rationing re****ted in US; East & West coast[/b]
Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World
By JOSH GERSTEIN, Staff Re****ter of the Sun | April 21, 2008
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. =97 MANY PARTS OF AMERICA, LONG CONSIDERED THE
BREADBASKET OF THE world, are now confronting a once unthinkable
phenomenon: food rationing.
Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West
Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand
outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal re****ts that some consumers
are hoarding grain stocks.
At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers
grew frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched
in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.
=93Where=92s the rice?=94 an engineer from Palo Alto, Calif., Yajun Liu,
said. =93You should be able to buy something like rice. This is
ridiculous.=94
The bustling store in the heart of Silicon Valley usually sells four
or five varieties of rice to a clientele largely of Asian immigrants,
but only about half a pallet of Indian-grown Basmati rice was left in
stock. A 20-pound bag was selling for $15.99.
=93You can=92t eat this every day. It=92s too heavy,=94 a health care
executive from Palo Alto, Sharad Patel, grumbled as his son loaded two
sacks of the Basmati into a shopping cart. =93We only need one bag but
I=92m getting two in case a neighbor or a friend needs it,=94 the elder
man said.
The Patels seemed headed for disappointment, as most Costco members
were being allowed to buy only one bag. Moments earlier, a clerk
dropped two sacks back on the stack after taking them from another
customer who tried to exceed the one-bag cap.
=93Due to the limited availability of rice, we are limiting rice
purchases based on your prior purchasing history,=94 a sign above the
dwindling supply said.
Shoppers said the limits had been in place for a few days, and that
rice supplies had been spotty for a few weeks. A store manager
referred questions to officials at Costco headquarters near Seattle,
who did not return calls or e-mail messages yesterday.
An employee at the Costco store in Queens said there were no
restrictions on rice buying, but limits were being imposed on
purchases of oil and flour. Internet postings attributed some of the
shortage at the retail level to bakery owners who flocked to warehouse
stores when the price of flour from commercial suppliers doubled.
The curbs and shortages are being tracked with concern by survivalists
who view the phenomenon as a harbinger of more serious trouble to
come.
=93It=92s s****adic. It=92s not every store, but it=92s becoming more
commonplace,=94 the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, James Rawles, said. =93The
number of re****ts I=92ve been getting from readers who have seen signs
posted with limits has increased almost exponentially, I=92d say in the
last three to five weeks.=94
Spiking food prices have led to riots in recent weeks in Haiti,
Indonesia, and several African nations. India recently banned ex****t
of all but the highest quality rice, and Vietnam blocked the signing
of new contract for foreign rice sales.
=93I=92m surprised the Bush administration hasn=92t slapped ex****t
controls
on wheat,=94 Mr. Rawles said. =93The Asian countries are here buying every
kind of wheat.=94
Mr. Rawles said it is hard to know how much of the shortages are due
to lagging supply and how much is caused by consumers hedging against
future price hikes or a total lack of product.
=93There have been so many stories about worldwide shortages that it
encourages people to stock up. What most people don=92t realize is that
supply chains have changed, so inventories are very short,=94 Mr.
Rawles, a former Army intelligence officer, said. =93Even if people
increased their purchasing by 20%, all the store shelves would be
wiped out.=94
At the moment, large chain retailers seem more prone to shortages and
limits than do smaller chains and mom-and-pop stores, perhaps because
store managers at the larger companies have less discretion to
increase prices locally.
Mr. Rawles said the spot shortages seemed to be most frequent in the
Northeast and all the way along the West Coast. He said he had heard
re****ts of buying limits at Sam=92s Club warehouses, which are owned by
Wal-Mart Stores, but a spokesman for the company, Kory Lundberg, said
he was not aware of any shortages or limits.
An anonymous high-tech professional writing on an investment Web site,
Seeking Alpha, said he recently bought 10 50-pound bags of rice at
Costco. =93I am concerned that when the news of rice shortage spreads,
there will be panic buying and the shelves will be empty in no time. I
do not intend to cause a panic, and I am not speculating on rice to
make profit. I am just hoarding some for my own consumption,=94 he
wrote.
For now, rice is available at Asian markets in California, though
consumers have fewer choices when buying the largest bags. =93At our
neighborhood store, it=92s very expensive, more than $30=94 for a 25-pound
bag, a housewife from Mountain View, Theresa Esquerra, said. =93I=92m not
going to pay $30. Maybe we=92ll just eat bread.=94
|
