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I have taken some excerpts from the article as seen below, my comments in blue.
Steve Tarpin can bake a graham cracker crust in his sleep, but explaining why the price for his Key lime pies went from $20 to $25 required mastering a thornier topic: global economics.
A key lime pie for $20 is ridiculous let alone $25!
U.S. food prices rose 4 percent in 2007, compared with an average 2.5 percent annual rise for the last 15 years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And the agency says 2008 could be worse, with a rise of as much as 4.5 percent.
Wow! An increase of almost double...in 15 years...and hold on, it's only getting worse.
For the U.S. poor, any increase in food costs sets up an either-or equation: Give something up to pay for food.
How much more can Americans expect to give up?
“I was talking to people who make $9 an hour.....
You can't live on $9 an hour folks! It's easier to survive on welfare, which is why many do.
For some, that means adding an extra cup of water to their soup, watering down their milk, or giving their children soda because it’s cheaper than milk, DiChiara said
This is the U.S.A., not Haiti.....and, soda is cheaper than milk?!
The other reasons are more complex. Rapid economic growth in China and India has increased demand for meat there, and exports of U.S. products, such as corn, have set records as the weak dollar has made them cheaper. That’s lowered the supply of corn available for sale in the U.S., raising prices here.
Yeah, watch out for China! So, as we supply them with corn, it lowers our supply, making it more expensive for us? Sounds to me like we're feeding China and India instead of ourselves.
Twin Cafe Caterers in lower Manhattan posted a letter on its deli cooler: “Due to the huge increase of the gas, the electricity, the water and all the other utilities, we had to raise the prices a little bit.” It went on to say that all its food prices have risen, too.
I wonder if we went to our employers with a similar sign, would they give us all raises? Right!
The letter called for an immediate halt to exports and a change in farm policy, “stop paying farmers NOT to grow crops.” A new farm bill, stalled in Congress, would expand farm subsidies if it passes, however.
I never got this one. Why are we paying our farmers to NOT farm?!
But for the poorest U.S. families, the higher costs may mean going hungry...
No doubt about it.
All I got out of this ridiculous article is that food prices are higher, which we all know.
Water your milk down, expect to go hungry, expect higher prices this year, and 30 million people in Haiti or somewhere are going hungry.
I have an idea. Why not STOP exporting meat and corn to China, India, etc.
Let our farmers do what they do best...FARM.
STOP the World Food program and take care of our own first...do they really think those countries would lend a hand to us?
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