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Load Up the Pantry

longwatch

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I only post this as a possible warning sign of future societal instability and violence that may result directly or indirectly. I shudder to think what kind of games the powers that be could play with this situation and our freedoms.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120881517227532621.html
By BRETT ARENDS
col_it_Arends_Brett.gif





Load Up the Pantry
April 21, 2008 6:47 p.m. I don't want to alarm anybody, but maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.
No, this is not a drill.

You've seen the TV footage of food riots in parts of the developing world. Yes, they're a long way away from the U.S. But most foodstuffs operate in a global market. When the cost of wheat soars in Asia, it will do the same here.

Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.

"Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. "I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know how the food companies can absorb higher costs." (Full disclosure: I am an investor in Quaker Strategic)

Stocking up on food may not replace your long-term investments, but it may make a sensible home for some of your shorter-term cash. Do the math. If you keep your standby cash in a money-market fund you'll be lucky to get a 2.5% interest rate. Even the best one-year certificate of deposit you can find is only going to pay you about 4.1%, according to Bankrate.com. And those yields are before tax.

Meanwhile the most recent government data shows food inflation for the average American household is now running at 4.5% a year.

And some prices are rising even more quickly. The latest data show cereal prices rising by more than 8% a year. Both flour and rice are up more than 13%. Milk, cheese, bananas and even peanut butter: They're all up by more than 10%. Eggs have rocketed up 30% in a year. Ground beef prices are up 4.8% and chicken by 5.4%.

These are trends that have been in place for some time.
And if you are hoping they will pass, here's the bad news: They may actually accelerate.

The reason? The prices of many underlying raw materials have risen much more quickly still. Wheat prices, for example, have roughly tripled in the past three years.
Sooner or later, the food companies are going to have to pass those costs on. Kraft saw its raw material costs soar by about $1.25 billion last year, squeezing profit margins. The company recently warned that higher prices are here to stay. Last month the chief executive of General Mills, Kendall Powell, made a similar point.
The main reason for rising prices, of course, is the surge in demand from China and India. Hundreds of millions of people are joining the middle class each year, and that means they want to eat more and better food.

A secondary reason has been the growing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive. That's soaking up some of the corn supply.

You can't easily stock up on perishables like eggs or milk. But other products will keep. Among them: Dried pasta, rice, cereals, and cans of everything from tuna fish to fruit and vegetables. The kicker: You should also save money by buying them in bulk.
If this seems a stretch, ponder this: The emerging bull market in agricultural products is following in the footsteps of oil. A few years ago, many Americans hoped $2 gas was a temporary spike. Now it's the rosy memory of a bygone age.

The good news is that it's easier to store Cap'n Crunch or cans of Starkist in your home than it is to store lots of gasoline. Safer, too.

Write to Brett Arends at brett.arends@wsj.com
 

Michigander

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There are some great topics about this sort of thing on SKSboards. Several forums are dedicated to it actually.

It's a great idea to start growing your own food if you don't already. Maybe not all of it, but growing a small farm in your yard is a great way to prepare for possible future
problems. And yes, canning is a great idea too. Goes hand in hand with farming.
 

imperialism2024

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cloudcroft wrote:
True,but you'll need a gun to defend your yard and its produce...

-- John D.
Oh yes. That's why it's priority number one for me.

And the unfortunate truth is that in a worst case scenario, having guns will enable one to relieve the unarmed sh**ple of some of their supplies. As a last resort, though, when it's for the survival of one and one's family. Or is that one of those things we're not supposed to talk about...? :uhoh:
 

longwatch

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Yup from the 2 and 4 legged varmints. You can add the 4 legged ones to the pot too.
 

longwatch

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imperialism2024 wrote:
cloudcroft wrote:
True,but you'll need a gun to defend your yard and its produce...

-- John D.
Oh yes. That's why it's priority number one for me.

And the unfortunate truth is that in a worst case scenario, having guns will enable one to relieve the unarmed sh**ple of some of their supplies. As a last resort, though, when it's for the survival of one and one's family. Or is that one of those things we're not supposed to talk about...? :uhoh:
My bet is the unarmed folks would be without food too. You will have to raid the armed ones.
 

cloudcroft

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I'll be armed, too, but Iwon't berelieving decent people of their stores, that's not a "cool" thing to do and my religious beliefs wouldn't allow it.

I will, however,relieve criminals of theirs if they try to come and take mine.

Otherwise, I get by on what I have or starve. It doesn't matter either way to me.

-- John D.
 

Flintlock

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Obviously, it is never bad to have some extra food stored in thecastle, butthat should be done anyway, regardless if there are some food shortages in the country. Due to natural disaster situtions and SHTF scenarios, it seems practical.But in my mind, the most important thing to have availableis water and the ability to filter it. Like LW said, one can always "acquire" food from the 4-legged variety if needs be...
 

imperialism2024

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Flintlock wrote:
Obviously, it is never bad to have some extra food stored in thecastle, butthat should be done anyway, regardless if there are some food shortages in the country. Due to natural disaster situtions and SHTF scenarios, it seems practical.But in my mind, the most important thing to have availableis water and the ability to filter it. Like LW said, one can always "acquire" food from the 4-legged variety if needs be...
Unless the zombies eat them all...


ETA: And this is my post #1911. Nice, eh?
 

longwatch

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Anyhow lets not get carried away, we aren't in a famine. I think it would take some sort of cataclysm to reach the predatory looter phase. However in this crazy economic time I'm thinking we could reach something like whats been happening in Argentina.
 

cloudcroft

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I think maybe the Y2K event woke up some people to storing up food, water and other supplies, then came FEMA with its 72-hour emergency suppllies suggestions...people can manage to have 3 days of supplies, can't they? And it's a good idea in general.But I've been doing it longer than that as some of you have also...like many people did from the Depression years and earlier. That self-reliancethinkinghas mostly been lost nowadays.

Today, most people don't store away anything...like most of the crap people of that cesspool New Orleans who couldn't even at least save/scavenge some empty milk jugs (I suppose they didn't sell ALL their welfare/food-stamp coupons yet) and fill them with water to store up BEFORE Katrina hit. But the lazy SOBs didn't, did they. Must have been too busy selling/buying crack and alcohol and standing around on street corners trashing them out, too. Then, after the event -- taking precious time out from their strenuous looting activities -- they got in line for water, food, etc...all the while whining/complaining about the government not helping them or not helping them fast enough.

What sorry POSs.

Now THOSE kind of people I'd shoot whether they had anything or not.

-- John D.
 

bohdi

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longwatch wrote:
Anyhow lets not get carried away, we aren't in a famine. I think it would take some sort of cataclysm to reach the predatory looter phase. However in this crazy economic time I'm thinking we could reach something like whats been happening in Argentina.
Or a hurricane....
 

Nelson_Muntz

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This is just sensationlism. But do not underestimate the panic the liberal media can induce in most of the sheeple.

Be sure to OC when grocery shopping. Lisa has had to scare off approaching illegals in the parking lot at the Giant before, and it will probably get worse.
 

hsmith

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People got freaked when Costco limited you - to buying like 80lbs of rice - so it isn't that big of a deal locally.

One of the problems of using food for fuel.
 

expvideo

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Nelson_Muntz wrote:
This is just sensationlism. But do not underestimate the panic the liberal media can induce in most of the sheeple.
...

A good example of this is the "limited supply" of 5.45x39 ammo or 7.62x39 ammo. The price keeps going up dramaticallybecause all you have to do is tell people that you are running out of something they need (lowered supply), and the demand for that thing increases exponencially. All you have to do is convince people that there is a food shortage, and people will go out and buy LOTS of food,effectively creating that food shortage.
 

hsmith

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I mean, what ever happened to the bird flu that was supposed to kill 1/2 the people on earth :uhoh:

Oh wait, more sensationalism from the gov't and media!
 

cloudcroft

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expvideo,

No, it's not. I suffer from depression andam rated at 70% disabled for it by the VA. So severe it impacts my employability. Any of my doctors would confirm what I say. Death is not an issue with me. In fact, all I am doing now is waiting to die. So I'lllet your statement go because you're just ignorant of the facts.

If, however,you evercome here to El Paso contact me and we can have some coffee (well, after June 1st I will have moved to Galveston, TX) and you'll see I mean just what I say...I NEVER BS here. I might joke, but I never BS. And I've had a very "colorful" life to prove it: Good guy/bad guy/soldier in combat/sailor in peacetime/academic...you name it.

Regards,

-- John D.
 
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