Comments on: Wheat Rationing? Seed Shortages?

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:06:22 +0000

I live on a small farm in Kansas. Last fall we had trouble finding enough hard red winter wheat to plant for 10 acres. It was double in price.

The shortages of wheat are like a house of cards…many of the smaller farmers ( including myself) are wanting to store their wheat crop after harvest this summer. Part of this is to see where the market price will go…also to store for see to plant in fall because seed is scarce and very expensive. Storing the wheat grain for food is top priority with me. Midwestern mentality in the “good old days” was to have a good 6 month-1 year supply of food on hand. My grandparents generation did this without fail…canning, putting by, saving resources and wasting nothing. I am heartsick, frightened to see so many of the population unprepared for hard times and possible food shortages. I am a wife/mother and the natural ‘hoarding instinct’ is kicking in…thus storing the grain to grind for flour for bread for my family. I hope that those of us that are prepared, and have adequate resources will be willing to help our fellow citizens that don’t. We can’t depend on the gov. to do so. It will come down to the ‘kindness of strangers” I suppose…like in the world wars. Door to door…house to house…

By: kjnm

kjnm — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:54:17 +0000

News story today about Sam’s Club, etc limiting rice purchases:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-rice24apr24,0,3320375.story

By: jr

jr — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:39:37 +0000

I read with interest and some surprise the responses to “hoarding”. I am not sure whether any of the respondents had firsthand experience of times as they might be ahead of us. I do. I grew up in Germany at the end of WW2 and only can hope that the times might not get as bad as that. (I am probably and regretfully wrong on that.) As I recollect it was not food shortages per se but the progressive atomization of society that was worse. Only in places where this development toward social chaos was prevented by individuals or communities, times were much better despite the lack of food.
Although I fully agree with the notion of a stored food supply as you urge it on your site I am a little bit dismayed that the “civic” requirements - not based on constitutions , legal or philosophical constructs but on basic human principles and necessities are not being recognized and given sufficient voice. The slide towards each for him- or herself in hard times is inevitable and natural and has to be avoided with counteractions all the time and this has to start now. Germany was able to move out of its dark post war period mainly because of outside resources and forces. We should not count on such a lucky circumstance. We will have to depend on our own abilities and the most important one seems to me is the capability for selfless compassionate sacrifice for the ” greater common good”.
This however is not a byproduct of some “invisible hand” but the result of a constantly practiced and reinforced frame of mind.

By: Deacon Elurby

Deacon Elurby — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:40:33 +0000

Re: “HOARDING”

In any serious economic downturn, it is the SLACKERS who throw the “hoarder” bomb at those who had wisely thought to make preparations for coming hard times.

So, if you’ve made preparations and someone calls you, “hoarder,” fire back with “slacker.”

By: Justin Credible

Justin Credible — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:40:26 +0000

“Besides all the usual culprits: biofuels, global warming which seems to be proceeding apace,…”

Maybe you haven’t heard, but the jig is up.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23411799-7583,00.html

By: lydia

lydia — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:14:52 +0000

These are great comments. I live in the city in Tacoma, Washington. I have always kept 75lb of pintos and 100 lb. of rice on hand al the time. I grew up poor, and that will do it to you, like growing up in the great depression did to my parents. Anyway, food prices here are going up almost daily, and have been for several months. Gasoline is 3.51 a gallon. One good thing is for other people is I stopped eating wheat-found out i am allergic-so one person can eat my bread instead of me. With the cost of seeds, oil and shortages, I have been saving open pollinated seeds and such for a couple years now. I still buy some, but beans, squash and othe4r large seed are very easy to save. As far as hoarding, I say charity begins at home, and if everyone who “hoards” does a good job, then people too stupid not to will be knocking on our doors and then maybe they will learn. And wwe can share. No one wants other people in the neighborhood to starve or go without. I have been stocking up on thrift store clothes, sleeping bags, candles, and lots of survival type stuff for a few years now. No power? Candles and oil lamps will come in might handy.

By: John

John — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:26:34 +0000

It’s amazing how brain washed people are about “hoarding”. How do you define hoarding? Storing “X” amount of supplies that will last an “X” amount of time when in need? Simply Ridiculous. The word “hoarding” is used more freely by the goverment that needs to control the people and the lazy people who never took the time to store items and food before a problem arises. It seems to me that being called a hoarder should be worn as a badge of pride for those who choose to work hard to prepare before any situation became a reality. This is the Hypocrisy of goverment, which stores or “hoards” more food and supplies than anyone else. You are truly naive if you think those supplies are for the general public. Some are, most are kept in emergency bunkers to grossly overfeed the wealthy and the corporate elites. I would define hoarders as this: During massive food shortages or disasters, any people who CAN eat 5 course meals, 3 times a day, as they dump half eaten food in the trash, while people starve just out side their goverment bunkers or guarded houses, that is hoarding. Do not let the goverment or lazy skeptics use of a word like “hoarding”, be the reason you allowed your family to go hungry, stock up now before you wish you had. To hell with the political correct fools and thier word control over a free people. Wake up America, before you wake with a soldier standing over your wife’s bed.

By: Leila Abu-Saba

Leila Abu-Saba — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 22:38:48 +0000

I heard a bit on NPR about commodities trading and began to wonder…. what if a clever rich guy with media outlets who also trades commodities on a massive scale decided to seed the press with wheat shortage stories, generating a run on flour in the US?

Not saying that the shortages are not real. BUT the timing of articles and similarity of some makes me think. Sharon is offline and hasn’t approved my post with links to three articles. I dunno. I just felt like I indulged in a bit of “panic buying” last week. But then again, I only have 25 pounds of flour so it’s not like I am overprepared or anything.

Whenever stories appear in the press in clusters like that, I wonder what’s going on. That’s all. Somebody is indeed making money on wheat trading. Who? How? It’s not worth it to me to spend my life figuring it out. But everybody - be aware of panic.

By: Amelia

Amelia — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:53:30 +0000

RedStateGreen, might it have been that many people have headed out of town for the Easter weekend?

I’m off to my local Costco: we’re having a party to celebrate surviving yet another computer trade show, and making chili for 30. I’ll report back after . . . .

By: RedStateGreen

RedStateGreen — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 02:32:38 +0000

I went to Sam’s Club today, and there wasn’t any shortage of staples at all: flour, rice, beans, cornmeal. But the store was almost empty, it was easy to find a parking place, and there weren’t any lines at the cash registers (they only had four cashiers working! at a Sam’s Club!).

There’s something going on, not sure what.