The end of cheap food?

[One_more_turn]

Natural gas to be specific, which are plenty and mostly supplied by domestic producers.

Oil companies may hard time finding crude oil, but they are adding plenty of natural gas reserve each year.

Originally posted by DaShi


A lot of food in America is grown with the use of petroleum based chemicals.

[Dauphin]

Does this mean we can get rid of agricultural subsidies?

If not, then prices obviously can't possibly be too much (for more than the speciously obvious reasons).

[onodera]

Population control in third world countries
Homosexual propaganda in third world countries
UN-directed forced adoption of modern farming techniques in third world countries
GM crops that give higher yields
Farming quotas in first world countries

[snoopy369]

If food prices are so high, does that mean Afghan farmers can stop growing poppy

[b etor]

“I must eat bread and tea in the morning. Otherwise, I can’t be happy,”

[Blake]

“I must eat bread and tea in the morning. Otherwise, I can’t be happy,”

I could so turn that into Buddhism...

[Heraclitus]

Originally posted by Blake


I could so turn that into Buddhism...

You could so turn anything into Buddhism...

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Asher
Do you have proof? Because I can buy Cokes cheaper than ever right now. And milk. And cereal. And that's basically all I buy.

I thought you were out of college...

[Wezil]

Re: Re: Re: The end of cheap food?

Originally posted by Oerdin
We're paying huge subsidies to grow corn and then paying another subsidy to companies which turn corn into ethanol. This is causing increases not just in corn prices but also in meat prices since the corn is used to feed cows, pigs, and sheep. The problem is there just isn't much sugar in corn so it takes a lot of corn to make not a lot of ethanol. Switching to sugar cane would solve the price problem for corn and would be a more efficient to make ethanol out of.
.

A very important factor in the escalating world food prices and the posted article didn't even mention it.

[Heraclitus]

Re: Re: Re: Re: The end of cheap food?

Originally posted by Wezil


A very important factor in the escalating world food prices and the posted article didn't even mention it.

QFT

When will the biofuel stupidity end?

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by Heraclitus


You could so turn anything into Buddhism...

[Dinner]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: The end of cheap food?

Originally posted by Heraclitus


QFT

When will the biofuel stupidity end?

Bio fuels can be done smartly. Brazil is an excellent example since it went from a big importer of oil to a net exporter of oil based upon bio fuels. Brazil is very luck though because it has large tracks of land in the tropics ideal for growing sugar cane; which is one of the only bio fuels which produces more fuel then it consumes. Making ethanol out of grains or bio diesel out of vegetable oil almost always uses more oil (in the form of oil based fertilizers and pesticides) then it off sets. It consumes more oil then it saves. Sugar cane actually makes more fuel then it consumes ergo it is good and the others are a waste of time.

E85 works for Brazil and could work most other places though we'd have to give up the protectionism and allow imports of sugar or even *gasp* finished ethanol instead of trying to do everything domestically at a net lose.

[Heraclitus]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: The end of cheap food?

Originally posted by Oerdin


Bio fuels can be done smartly. Brazil is an excellent example since it went from a big importer of oil to a net exporter of oil based upon bio fuels. Brazil is very luck though because it has large tracks of land in the tropics ideal for growing sugar cane; which is one of the only bio fuels which produces more fuel then it consumes. Making ethanol out of grains or bio diesel out of vegetable oil almost always uses more oil (in the form of oil based fertilizers and pesticides) then it off sets. It consumes more oil then it saves. Sugar cane actually makes more fuel then it consumes ergo it is good and the others are a waste of time.

E85 works for Brazil and could work most other places though we'd have to give up the protectionism and allow imports of sugar or even *gasp* finished ethanol instead of trying to do everything domestically at a net lose.

I agree with this, but you know how Biofuel is used in the western world by politicians right?

[Dinner]

Of course. We have the same political problems here and not just on the right but also on the left. The right tends to do it because they want to subsidize domestic industry while the left has a loopy belief that they're saving the world if they use bio fuel in their car.

The major underlaying problem is that farm districts tend to be over represented politically in virtually every democracy. Rural areas usually get some form of equal representation in an upper house which means they can obstruct things until they get what they want. Farmers make up a tiny percentage of the population of most 1st world countries but can fenagol subsidies, tariffs, and other protections which harm the majority because they wield so much political influence. This is not just the US but also France, Italy, Spain, Japan, etc...

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Dauphin
Does this mean we can get rid of agricultural subsidies?

If not, then prices obviously can't possibly be too much (for more than the speciously obvious reasons).

Subsidies should make food cheaper. Removing them would increase prices.