Farmers are warning of a food crisis sparked by shortages

Murrmurr said:
Yeah, I looked it up. I was a working single father at the time (mid to late 1980s) so was far too busy to keep up with it.

First was Farm Aid for starving Ethiopians, and at one of their first concerts, Bob Dylan asked the world-wide audience of over a billion if they would think about giving maybe a million or two to American farmers in foreclosure. Dylan was criticised, but Willie Nelson was totally for it and organized an advocacy group called American Farm Aid. The AFA took some farmers to a congressional hearing and congress created sort of a bail-out program for American farmers. But problems arose because the gov't program has strings attached that can really screw the farmers over. So the American Farm Aid still exists to help farmers navigate the legal pitfalls and stuff. I think Willie Nelson is still a member.
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John Mellencamp has also been a very big part of American Farm Aid.
 

This morning I went to our local grocery store. I looked at some cans of Tim Horton Coffee on some BIG sale ($18.99 CND). Curious me, I looked at the can and noticed that the weight was 875 grams. Last week it was 930 grams. A few years ago it was 1000 grams. You probably heard about grocery chains making some things smaller rather than raising the prices. You heard it right.

I see real hard times coming for folks who are using their credit cards too often and not paying off the balance. Recent studies show:

"Canadians’ confidence in their personal finances and ability to repay their debt has hit a record low, a new report suggests, with roughly half the country worried about how they will pay their next round of bills."
 

Packerjohn said:
This morning I went to our local grocery store. I looked at some cans of Tim Horton Coffee on some BIG sale ($18.99 CND). Curious me, I looked at the can and noticed that the weight was 875 grams. Last week it was 930 grams. A few years ago it was 1000 grams. You probably heard about grocery chains making some things smaller rather than raising the prices. You heard it right.

I see real hard times coming for folks who are using their credit cards too often and not paying off the balance. Recent studies show:

"Canadians’ confidence in their personal finances and ability to repay their debt has hit a record low, a new report suggests, with roughly half the country worried about how they will pay their next round of bills."
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In the US, grocery chains don't decide weights and measures, manufacturers do. Then the grocery chains set the price according to how much they pay for the items.

A LOT of our grocery items have shrunk over the years.

But like you Canadians, people here are also going into debt to buy groceries and household products.
 
Packerjohn said:
This morning I went to our local grocery store. I looked at some cans of Tim Horton Coffee on some BIG sale ($18.99 CND). Curious me, I looked at the can and noticed that the weight was 875 grams. Last week it was 930 grams. A few years ago it was 1000 grams. You probably heard about grocery chains making some things smaller rather than raising the prices. You heard it right.

I see real hard times coming for folks who are using their credit cards too often and not paying off the balance. Recent studies show:
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I've seen the same "trend" at our grocery stores, over the past year....smaller quantities selling for higher prices. Many items are at least 25% higher in price than they were a year or two ago. Egg prices seem to be the worst...up almost 300%, due to the Avian Flu forcing poultry farmers to kill millions of their birds. The "official" inflation rate of about 8% doesn't seem to consider food and fuel prices.

Anyone who is failing to pay off their credit cards, in full, routinely, is headed for an even bigger hit. Paying the minimum balance easily results in paying double, or more, for their purchases.
 
Packerjohn said:
This morning I went to our local grocery store. I looked at some cans of Tim Horton Coffee on some BIG sale ($18.99 CND). Curious me, I looked at the can and noticed that the weight was 875 grams. Last week it was 930 grams. A few years ago it was 1000 grams. You probably heard about grocery chains making some things smaller rather than raising the prices. You heard it right.
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Very recently I learned that the term "shrinkflation" is the official label for what you described above.

I've been seeing it, too. Remember years ago when a half gallon (64 oz) of ice cream was the standard size? Then it dropped to 1.75 quarts (56 oz) and is now 48 oz.
 
There is a minor glitch in the supply chain- the Russian/Ukraine War. And that's coming at the end of a Covid pandemic lockdown. There's no way that I understand the global trade/supply chain, but from what I can gleam; you just can't kick it in the rump to get it moving again. It is probably the most complex system man has devised, and getting it going again will be in starts and stops for a while.
 
Don M. said:
I've seen the same "trend" at our grocery stores, over the past year....smaller quantities selling for higher prices. Many items are at least 25% higher in price than they were a year or two ago. Egg prices seem to be the worst...up almost 300%, due to the Avian Flu forcing poultry farmers to kill millions of their birds. The "official" inflation rate of about 8% doesn't seem to consider food and fuel prices.

Anyone who is failing to pay off their credit cards, in full, routinely, is headed for an even bigger hit. Paying the minimum balance easily results in paying double, or more, for their purchases.
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thankfully I pay my CC's off in full every month.. but a lot ...a huge portion of CC holders, cannot...
 
So where the hell is this food that's at 7-8% inflation?? I'd love to find some of that. Every 2 weeks now Walmart has raised their prices an average of 34%. (some actually changed as I was ordering it). :mad:
4.78 for 18 cheap Walmart eggs. wth? Strange that there doesn't appear to be any shortage at this new price. Store shelf was so full, they had a second area with more eggs. Bird flu ehhh? my butt, greed is more like it. :mad::mad:
 
squatting dog said:
So where the hell is this food that's at 7-8% inflation?? I'd love to find some of that. Every 2 weeks now Walmart has raised their prices an average of 34%. (some actually changed as I was ordering it). :mad:
4.78 for 18 cheap Walmart eggs. wth? Strange that there doesn't appear to be any shortage at this new price. Store shelf was so full, they had a second area with more eggs. Bird flu ehhh? my butt, greed is more like it. :mad::mad:
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I agree.. we've had to have what is now being called 'barn eggs' instead of free range due to the Bird flu... or whatever the problem really is... but unlike the USA our eggs have barely risen in price at all... 15 eggs for £1.69 is what I paid 2 days ago... I often buy Organic, but that's moot at the moment.. but they're only another 50 pence more.. so it's clear that it is indeed.. Greed.. in the US
 
Cost and spending may only be troubling for some.

"Many customers aren’t only spending, but are finding themselves increasingly willing to splurge, whether on a higher-end pair of Levi’s jeans or a first-class seat on a Delta Air Lines flight.

Apple on Thursday reported a “record level of upgraders” during the first three months of the year as users opted for its more premium iPhones, but warned about the impact of lockdowns in China. And as automakers raise prices to reflect tight inventory from global supply chain issues, car-seekers aren’t getting scared off.

Meanwhile, companies from Ford to McDonald’s to Kraft Heinz to United Airlines have reported resilient demand as consumers keep spending in spite of higher prices.

The changes in consumer behavior have some executives on edge.

“We do believe that the consumer is going to be spending,” Macy’s CFO Adrian Mitchell said at JP Morgan’s Retail Round-Up last month. “But are they going to be spending on discretionary items that we sell, or are they going to be spending on an airline ticket to Florida, or travel, or going out to restaurants more?”

“We’re not really seeing many signs of slowdown, despite the worries that are happening in the market,” said Anna Zhou, a U.S. economist for Bank of America."

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/01/inflation-forces-consumers-to-rethink-spending-habits.html

As a sports enthusiast, I noticed stadiums and arenas were packed this past weekend. Fans gobbling down overpriced food and alcohol. Maybe inflation is only worrying to a fraction of seniors plus a limited percentage of other income groups.
 

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