Arab Spring: A Response to Record High Food Prices.

[georgephillip]

Is the link between ever-widening economic inequality, climate change, fossil fuel dependency and the global food crisis undeniable?

That's the opinion of Nafeez Ahmed writing in the Guardian last March who claims the "fundamental triggers for the Arab Spring were unprecedented rises in food prices."

"Since 2008, global food prices have been consistently higher than in preceding decades, despite wild fluctuations. This year, even with prices stabilising, the food price index remains at 210 – which some experts believe is the threshold beyond which civil unrest becomes probable.

"The FAO warns that 2013 could see prices increase later owing to tight grain stocks from last year's adverse crop weather.

"Whether or not those prices materialise this year, food price volatility is only a symptom of deeper systemic problems – namely, that the global industrial food system is increasingly unsustainable.

"Last year, the world produced 2,241m tonnes of grain, down 75m tonnes or 3% from the 2011 record harvest.

"The key issue, of course, is climate change..." (???)

Why food riots are likely to become the new normal | Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed | Environment | theguardian.com

 

[Mr. H.]

39 million productive acres of U.S. farm land wasted.

On ethanol.

 

[georgephillip]

39 million productive acres of U.S. farm land wasted.

On ethanol.

That's a contributing factor in US corn production but there seem to be even bigger factors in play world-wide:

"In the context of economies wracked by debt, this creates a perfect storm of problems which will guarantee high prices – eventually triggering civil unrest – for the foreseeable future.

"It's only a matter of time before this fatal cocktail of climate, energy and economic challenges hits the Gulf kingdoms – where Saudi Arabia is struggling with an average total oil depletion rate of about 29%.

"If oil revenues reduce in coming years, this would lower subsidies for food and fuel.

"We've already seen how this can play out, for instance, in Egypt, whose domestic oil production peaked back in 1996, reducing government spending on services amid mounting debt."

Why food riots are likely to become the new normal | Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed | Environment | theguardian.com

I've read that US consumers are relatively insulated from rising food prices.
Doubling the cost of wheat, for example, adds about a dime to the cost of a loaf of bread.
In Egypt, the same increase means a family with two children has to decide which one eats and which one doesn't.
Meanwhile, Egyptian generals (and Goldman Sachs) buy up more and more acreage in Africa.

 

[Snookie]

39 million productive acres of U.S. farm land wasted.

On ethanol.

That's a contributing factor in US corn production but there seem to be even bigger factors in play world-wide:

"In the context of economies wracked by debt, this creates a perfect storm of problems which will guarantee high prices – eventually triggering civil unrest – for the foreseeable future.

"It's only a matter of time before this fatal cocktail of climate, energy and economic challenges hits the Gulf kingdoms – where Saudi Arabia is struggling with an average total oil depletion rate of about 29%.

"If oil revenues reduce in coming years, this would lower subsidies for food and fuel.

"We've already seen how this can play out, for instance, in Egypt, whose domestic oil production peaked back in 1996, reducing government spending on services amid mounting debt."

Why food riots are likely to become the new normal | Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed | Environment | theguardian.com

I've read that US consumers are relatively insulated from rising food prices.
Doubling the cost of wheat, for example, adds about a dime to the cost of a loaf of bread.
In Egypt, the same increase means a family with two children has to decide which one eats and which one doesn't.
Meanwhile, Egyptian generals (and Goldman Sachs) buy up more and more acreage in Africa.

Most fertilizers are made from oil. Duh. Bring back the cow shit.

 

[georgephillip]

39 million productive acres of U.S. farm land wasted.

On ethanol.

That's a contributing factor in US corn production but there seem to be even bigger factors in play world-wide:

"In the context of economies wracked by debt, this creates a perfect storm of problems which will guarantee high prices – eventually triggering civil unrest – for the foreseeable future.

"It's only a matter of time before this fatal cocktail of climate, energy and economic challenges hits the Gulf kingdoms – where Saudi Arabia is struggling with an average total oil depletion rate of about 29%.

"If oil revenues reduce in coming years, this would lower subsidies for food and fuel.

"We've already seen how this can play out, for instance, in Egypt, whose domestic oil production peaked back in 1996, reducing government spending on services amid mounting debt."

Why food riots are likely to become the new normal | Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed | Environment | theguardian.com

I've read that US consumers are relatively insulated from rising food prices.
Doubling the cost of wheat, for example, adds about a dime to the cost of a loaf of bread.
In Egypt, the same increase means a family with two children has to decide which one eats and which one doesn't.
Meanwhile, Egyptian generals (and Goldman Sachs) buy up more and more acreage in Africa.

Most fertilizers are made from oil. Duh. Bring back the cow shit.

"2008 also saw a shift to a new era of volatile, but consistently higher, oil prices. Regardless of where one stands on the prospects for unconventional oil and gas for ameliorating 'peak oil', the truth is that we will never return to the heyday of cheap petroleum."

Why food riots are likely to become the new normal | Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed | Environment | theguardian.com

Cow shit is a big problem in the era of corporate feed lots when tons of excrement foul local water tables. If there's a way to get the shit from the cow to the corn while using less oil than it requires to manufacture synthetic fertilizers...?

 

[Mr. H.]

Oil was over $120/barrel in July, 2008.
By December of that year, it was just over $30.

Now tell me that won't happen again.

 

[percysunshine]

Food riots indeed. Predictable. 1) Egypt is the largest wheat importer by quantity, 2) About 50 % of the average Egyptian's income goes to food, 3) The government subsidizes half the bread production in the country so that it can be sold at about 1 US cent per loaf, 4) the government is broke, 5)

Wheat - Daily Price - Commodity Prices - Price Charts, Data, and News - IndexMundi

.

 

[Mr. H.]

Venezuela used to be a huge exporter, after Chavez took over it became a big shit hole.

 

[percysunshine]

Venezuela used to be a huge exporter, after Chavez took over it became a big shit hole.

Keeping prices artificially low never ends well.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

39 million productive acres of U.S. farm land wasted.

On ethanol.

I'll be a lot more goes to feeding cattle than to ethanol.

Unless you have a link ... ?

Cow shit is a big problem in the era of corporate feed lots when tons of excrement foul local water tables. If there's a way to get the shit from the cow to the corn while using less oil than it requires to manufacture synthetic fertilizers...?

Livestock waste is an enormous problem and we make to effort to deal with it.

This thread is just another example of the 1% making decisions that put more money in their pockets at the expense of the planet and of the people.

 

[Vox]

send "thank you" to all greedy wanna-be algores for their global warming bullshit and solyndrization of the country ( and the world)

 

[Mr. H.]

39 million productive acres of U.S. farm land wasted.

On ethanol.

I'll be a lot more goes to feeding cattle than to ethanol.

Unless you have a link ... ?

How about two links?

 

[georgephillip]

39 million productive acres of U.S. farm land wasted.

On ethanol.

I'll be a lot more goes to feeding cattle than to ethanol.

Unless you have a link ... ?

Cow shit is a big problem in the era of corporate feed lots when tons of excrement foul local water tables. If there's a way to get the shit from the cow to the corn while using less oil than it requires to manufacture synthetic fertilizers...?

Livestock waste is an enormous problem and we make to effort to deal with it.

This thread is just another example of the 1% making decisions that put more money in their pockets at the expense of the planet and of the people.

Chris Hedges puts it this way:
"Our enemy is not radical Islam. It is global capitalism. It is a world where the wretched of the earth are forced to bow before the dictates of the marketplace, where children go hungry as global corporate elites siphon away the world’s wealth and natural resources and where our troops and U.S.-backed militaries carry out massacres on city streets.

"Egypt offers a window into the coming dystopia. The wars of survival will mark the final stage of human habitation of the planet. And if you want to know what they will look like, visit any city morgue in Cairo."
Chris Hedges: Murdering the Wretched of the Earth - Chris Hedges' Columns - Truthdig

 

[percysunshine]

39 million productive acres of U.S. farm land wasted.

On ethanol.

I'll be a lot more goes to feeding cattle than to ethanol.

Unless you have a link ... ?

....

That is kind of the rub. Wheat is a substitution grain for corn, including in cattle feed/breads/etc. The price goes up with corn, but to a lesser degree. There is a price parity point and switching back and forth happens all the time.

That is why the price of tortillas (wheat or corn) in Mexico has exploded; 75,000 protest tortilla prices in Mexico - World news - Americas | NBC News

It still boils down to burning food. Stupid....and as it turns out in Egypt, deadly.


"From a nutrition standpoint, wheat can be an excellent feed grain for beef feedlot cattle as it has a feeding value of 100 to 105% of corn"
Impacts of wheat/corn price parity on cattle feeding

 

[Snookie]

That's a contributing factor in US corn production but there seem to be even bigger factors in play world-wide:

"In the context of economies wracked by debt, this creates a perfect storm of problems which will guarantee high prices – eventually triggering civil unrest – for the foreseeable future.

"It's only a matter of time before this fatal cocktail of climate, energy and economic challenges hits the Gulf kingdoms – where Saudi Arabia is struggling with an average total oil depletion rate of about 29%.

"If oil revenues reduce in coming years, this would lower subsidies for food and fuel.

"We've already seen how this can play out, for instance, in Egypt, whose domestic oil production peaked back in 1996, reducing government spending on services amid mounting debt."

Why food riots are likely to become the new normal | Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed | Environment | theguardian.com

I've read that US consumers are relatively insulated from rising food prices.
Doubling the cost of wheat, for example, adds about a dime to the cost of a loaf of bread.
In Egypt, the same increase means a family with two children has to decide which one eats and which one doesn't.
Meanwhile, Egyptian generals (and Goldman Sachs) buy up more and more acreage in Africa.

Most fertilizers are made from oil. Duh. Bring back the cow shit.

"2008 also saw a shift to a new era of volatile, but consistently higher, oil prices. Regardless of where one stands on the prospects for unconventional oil and gas for ameliorating 'peak oil', the truth is that we will never return to the heyday of cheap petroleum."

Why food riots are likely to become the new normal | Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed | Environment | theguardian.com

Cow shit is a big problem in the era of corporate feed lots when tons of excrement foul local water tables. If there's a way to get the shit from the cow to the corn while using less oil than it requires to manufacture synthetic fertilizers...?

Hell, I was raised on cow shit. I think that the problem can be solved if there is one.

 

[skookerasbil]

 

[Snookie]

Most of the world's scientists disagree with you. I guess science is a liberal conspiracy to you people.

 

[georgephillip]

Most of the world's scientists disagree with you. I guess science is a liberal conspiracy to you people.

"The key issue, of course, is climate change.

"Droughts exacerbated by global warming in key food-basket regions have already led to a 10-20% drop in rice yields over the past decade. Last year, four-fifths of the US experienced a heatwave, there were prolonged droughts in Russia and Africa, a lighter monsoon in India and floods in Pakistan – extreme weather events that were likely linked to climate change afflicting the world's major food basket regions.

The US Department of Agriculture predicts a 3-4% food price rise this year – a warning that is seconded in the UK. Make no mistake: on a business-as-usual scenario, this is the new normal. Overall, global grain consumption has exceeded production in eight of the past 13 years. By mid-century, world crop yields could fall as much as 20-40% because of climate change alone.

Why food riots are likely to become the new normal | Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed | Environment | theguardian.com

Perhaps the Key to the Key Issue was the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine?

"The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission's view, honest, equitable and balanced. The FCC decided to eliminate the Doctrine in 1987, and in August 2011 the FCC formally removed the language that implemented the Doctrine.[1]"

Some conservatives have always felt threatened by science and free debate.

 

[percysunshine]

It is simple economics. When we burn massive amounts of our food, the price goes up. When the price goes up, people starve and start killing each other. It isn't rocket science.

 

[skookerasbil]

Most of the world's scientists disagree with you. I guess science is a liberal conspiracy to you people.

Show me where the science is mattering s0n.


nobody gives a fuck....... Global surveys show environmental concerns rank low among public concerns



And green energy is a scam......only the bubble dwelling internet OCD's think its going to be significant!!!!






Global warming is a figment of the imagination compliments of the Reality Manufacturing Company!!