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POPSPlease quit listening to "expert"! Wow, wish I lived in these people's world. Unemployment is skyrocketing every day, people are being moved from full time to part time (could you pay your mortgage on 50% of your pay?), and this guys thinks that a "moratorium" on foreclosures will help? Banks are barely issuing mortgages NOW, you allow this to happen and they will stop altogether. And finally, the reason December sales "grew" was because of nationwide AUCTIONS. This is not a positive. We are not 3/4s of the way through, we aren't even 1/2 way there. Hope you all are stashing cash (at home, not banks) and stocking up on food, when all these foolhardy plans are finally stopped-as they will have to be-we will see the real trouble.
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POPSOrganic Waste Ethanol Cellulosic ethanol is an exciting technology which promises to convert the abundant sources of organic waste worldwide (kitchen waste, yard waste, paper industry waste, etc.) into green alternative fuel. Unlike traditional ethanol, it won't use food crops or raise food prices. In addition, environmental impact studies have indicated that while traditional ethanol releases more greenhouse gases than burning fossil fuels, cellulosic ethanol could reduce emissions
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POPSMilking the Consumer Hettinga, who ran a big business and was no political innocent, fought back with his own lobbyists and alliances with lawmakers. But he found he was no match for the dairy lobby. "I had an awakening," the 64-year-old Dutch-born dairyman said. "It's not totally free enterprise in the United States." Most U.S. dairy farmers work within a government system set up in the 1930s to give thousands of small dairies a guaranteed market for their milk and to even out prices for consumers. Farmers who participate in regional pools operated by the federal government or the states deliver raw milk to cooperatives or food processors. They get a guaranteed price, whether the milk ends up in a gallon jug, cheese, butter or ice cream. In Arizona and other federally regulated regions, the Agriculture Department uses a formula to set the price processors pay for raw milk, issuing "milk marketing orders."
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POPSUnderstanding Government Subsidies There are many people who will rally behind "socialized" oil, but read on: Hidden Oil Subsidies The real price of gasoline is what people actually pay for it, not just what they pay for it at the pump. That might seem subtle, but there's a big difference. The Cato Institute, a libertarian think-thank, did a study on the subject. What they found is simply mind-boggling. They calculated that the US spent between $30 to $60 billion (with a 'b') a year safeguarding oil supplies in the Middle East during the 1990s, even though its imports from that region totaled only about $10 billion a year during that period. A more comprehensive study that includes the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and other oil protection services (the coast guard is clearing shipping lanes and doing navigational support to oil tankers, etc) shows that actual subsidies to Big Oil are between $78 to $158 billion (again, with a 'b') per year.
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POPSFood Is Power and the Powerful Are Poisoning Us
I don’t think anyone disagrees that a single corporation can be more efficient than several smaller companies. However, when it comes to food production, bigger is not better. I am not a big fan of mega-corporations, I think they lose touch with consumers and this leads to them doing whatever they think is most financially beneficial to themselves without regard to their customers desires. It’s the old ‘too big to fail’ mentality. This loss of connection, along with us losing (giving up) our knowledge of how to grow our own food, is contributing to our poor diets and as a result our poor health. ‘Big Food’ produces more convenience foods, typically cheap and fatty, because it is cheaper for them to produce and because we buy it. In order for us to loosen the grip that ‘Big Food’ has on us and to regain our sense of self-sustainability, we are going to need a major shift in our commitment to our health and re-learning how to grow our own food is how this is going to happen.
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POPSLet them eat spuds: the world's new staple Anybody can grow them in their garden. They are much prettier than grass and the loosen up the soil for the next crop. And with 5,000 varieties, they should be out of reach of the biotech industry. Indeed, they are the perfect recession / depression crop. Also, once you start growing potatoes, you start growing other food, too.
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POPSFigures don't lie but liars do figure. Nov 2006 comment on an economics blog show inflation figures in the U.S. are unrelated to everyday realities.
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POPSFood Is Power coupled with the rising cost of fossil fuels, have already blighted the environments of millions. The poor can often no longer afford a balanced diet. Global food prices increased an average of 43 percent since 2007, according to the International Monetary Fund.
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POPSMcDonalds has a website for African Americans "Deeply Rooted in the Community®!" And the corporation registered that trademark catch-phrase. "Hey black folk, we gave you high-sugar, high-salt imitation food that even microbes won't eat (at affordable prices), obesity, diabetes, and low-wage, dead-end jobs . Have a website."
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POPS A storm brews over food, water & power PERFECT STORM 2030 THE PROBLEM Woman in field A grim forecast for 2030 There will be two billion more people, and not enough food Yurts and wind farm China's energy hunger China is investing in wind - but coal remains king File photo of wheatfield in California California's 'dust bowl' Farms in California's Central Valley are steadily drying out Horse and cart in Ukraine Leasing Ukraine Foreigners are taking over tracts of the ex-breadbasket
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POPSWhy Doesn't Waxman Intervene To Limit Baseball--NAY ALL SPORT'S SALARIES!? Obama - who knows about as much about baseball as I do about the mating habits of pterodactyls - would sign it. DONE DEAL! Then they could do all the other sports. AND THEN FASHION: AFTER ALL, CLOTHING IS A NECESSITY: SO WHY SHOULD DESIGNERS AND RETAILING EXECUTIVES MAKE A LOT OF MONEY!?! AND WHATTABOUT RESTAURANTS!? FOOD IS A NECESSITY, SO LET'S PUT A PRICE CAP ON EVERY DISH!!!!! This is the natural progress of leftist logic, so called. And it's dangerous. It's a grave and clear and present danger to our country. It must be stopped. - Posted by Reliapundit
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POPSFood Riots Erupt Worldwide The real culprits are the economic ideologies of free trade and interest driven growth which, masquerading as science, drive disastrous policy decisions.
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POPSPolitics of the Plate Prices paid to farmers per hundredweight (about 12 gallons) have fallen from nearly $20 a year ago to less than $11 in June. It costs a farmer about $18 to produce a hundredweight of milk. In Vermont that translates to a loss of $100 per cow per month. So far this year, 33 farms have ceased operation in this one tiny state. Meanwhile, the price you and I pay for milk in the grocery store has stayed about the same. Someone is clearly pocketing the difference. Perhaps that explains why profits at Dean Foods—the nation’s largest processor and shipper of dairy products, with more than 50 regional brands—have skyrocketed to more than double the same time last year. We are losing our heritage farms and in the process we are losing a large part of the character of what it means to be a self-sufficient and independent American. Corporate farming and govt subsidies are the biggest causes in this loss and NAFTA and the spread of GMO food products are the driving forces.
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POPSFood Firm Sound Alarm on Sugar Shortage Sugar prices are in the all time high. We are also consuming in an all time high loads of sugar, therefore, the demand of the sugar are high too. The drought in India drive the price of sugar even higher. No wonder my significant other quit eating chocolate expect for an occasional hot coco. I still would eat a nice ethical chocolate bars, but it would not be without sugar. The truth is that people would start cutting down on real sugar if the prices continue to go up or the name brand would substitute real sugar with glucose-fructose! Ewww! I can taste the difference and in no way I would buy chocolate with those in it. Drinks may be okay, but food, you can tell a great deal of difference. Even my pop prices are already in an increase, yikes!
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POPSThe 20 Healthiest Foods for Under $1 Food prices are climbing, and some might be looking to fast foods and packaged foods for their cheap bites. But low cost doesn’t have to mean low quality. In fact, some of the most inexpensive things you can buy are the best things for you. At the grocery store, getting the most nutrition for the least amount of money means hanging out on the peripheries—near the fruits and veggies, the meat and dairy, and the bulk grains—while avoiding the expensive packaged interior. By doing so, not only will your kitchen be stocked with excellent foods, your wallet won’t be empty..
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POPSLow Spending Is Taking Toll on Economy "Growth" is now clearly a meaningless concept. On the necessities side -- food, fuel etc. -- inflation is counted as "growth". (No more food or fuel is being produced or used.) This is balanced against deflation and recession in the discretionary economy, and is interpreted as positive growth. These are two different phenomena and cannot be added together in a meaningful way. Yet achieving this growth is what economics is supposed to be all about. Just another reason why the so-called science of economics is literally nonsense and innumerate to boot.
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POPSThe Food Crisis Will Be Back More than 1 billion people, or every one in six, are starving, according to a report issued by the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) on June 19. The number of the hungry increased worldwide by about 100 million in 2008 alone, a hike of 11 percent. "The silent hunger crisis...poses a serious risk for world peace and security," said FAO Director General Jacques Diouf. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-07/07/content_11668272.htm Global warming, top soil degradation, and water mis-appropriation can all be linked to the decreases in production that in turn lead to food inflation. One Stanford study stated that rice and corn harvest has decreased 20-40% as global temperatures continue to rise. Lester Brown states that for every degree C the earth warms above normal, production yields decrease by 10%. http://www.examiner.com/x-9508-Honolulu-Environmental-News-Examiner~y2009m7d7-Environmental-factors-to-blame-for-rising-food-crisis
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POPSFor Farmers, Cap and Trade is a Permanent Drought Season . . . . farming is very energy-intensive, with fuel, chemical, electricity and fertilizer costs. They have to purchase a lot of equipment and have to construct a lot of buildings. The Heritage Foundation’s CDA estimates that the price of constructing farm buildings will go up by 4.5 percent in 2024 and by over 10 percent in 2034 (from the baseline) solely because of the upward pressure cap and trade puts on energy prices. Worst of all is what happens to farmers’ net income. Farmers live off their gross income; what they earn in addition to that is their net income or marginal income. Waxman-Markey significantly shrinks farmers’ net income pie. Farm income is expected to drop $8 billion in 2012, $25 billion in 2024, and over $50 billion in 2035. These are decreases of 28%, 60% and 94% from the baseline, respectively.
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POPSCap and Trade must die must die in the Senate; thanks to House Republicans
We may now safely conclude that whomever leads in green technology will certainly trail the world in economic development. Especially when leading the way means we discard energy sources that are reliable and affordable. By doing so, we ensure less money in the pockets of individuals. Cap and trade will be an embedded tax in everything from the car we drive, to the A/C that keeps us cool, to the gas we use to operate vehicles, to the food we eat, to the very air we breathe. All industries that make things or produce things (including food) emit carbon. Therefore, everything is subject to this program, and the “little guy” pays for it all in the end. What do these politicians in the House of Representatives hope to achieve through this bill? Reduce emissions and save the planet we assume. Why then, are we emulating the European Union’s famed ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme), which actually saw emissions RISE by 1.9% from 2005 to 2008? Could it be that our politicians are not REALLY
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POPSWorld hunger 'hits one billion' When faced with starvation, laws don't matter. Look at New Orleans, Maccas ran out of food and the trouble began. Maybe if they get their economies free of mining companies and set up dictators, there might not be invasions. I wonder who will comment that the US will blow away starving refugees/invaders, conveniently forgetting the fact that it is already happening there.
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