Day: March 27, 2024

Prepare For Sticker Shock

We all have gone to the grocery store and found that our food keeps costing us more and more of our hard earned cash.

We bitch about the cost of gas…but at least it comes down….maybe not to as low as it was a month ago but it does fluctuate…food on the other hand does not.

Will we ever get a break?

The prediction is….not on your life.  (Keep in mind that this will be a global problem just not a solely Main Street problem)

The new analysis shows that global warming could cause food price inflation to increase by between 0.9 and 3.2 percentage points per year by 2035. The same warming will cause a smaller rise in overall inflation (between 0.3 and 1.2 percentage points), so a greater proportion of household income would need to be spent on buying food.

This effect will be felt worldwide, by high and low-income countries alike, but nowhere more so than in the global south. As with various other consequences of climate change, Africa will be worst affected despite contributing little to its causes.

…

The first is that the same climate change effects that are causing the inflation are already making food harder to get hold of. For instance, higher temperatures can cause long-established and predictable farming seasons to shift and so may hinder crop production.

Other consequences can include more pest and disease outbreaks that deplete livestock and food reserves, and heat stress to already-poor roads which makes it harder to access rural communities.

All of these factors push prices higher and reduce the purchasing power of affected households. The drivers of food inflation are already worsening food insecurity.

https://theconversation.com/food-prices-will-climb-everywhere-as-temperatures-rise-due-to-climate-change-new-research-226345

Then there is the food that you go to the grocery for….like fruits and veggies….they could be poisoning you.

The latest edition of an annual consumer’s guide published Wednesday reveals that almost three-fourths of non-organic fruits and vegetables sampled contained traces of toxic pesticides while the “dirty dozen”—including strawberries and spinach—tested at levels closer to 95%.

Scientists with the Environmental Working Group (EWG) document in their new report, “2024 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides In Produce,” that four out of five of the most frequently detected pesticides found on the twelve most-contaminated produce items were fungicides that could have serious health impacts.

“There’s data to suggest that these fungicides can disrupt the hormone function in our body,” EWG senior scientist Alexa Friedman told Common Dreams, adding that the chemicals had “been linked to things like worse health outcomes” and “impacts on the male reproductive system.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/ewg-2024-dirty-dozen-pesticides

Another reason I try to grow as much of my fruit and veggies as possible…..although I am getting older and gardening is getting harder.

Just thought I would let you know what is on the food horizon.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“Literally Anybody Else”

I am not a fan of the two party system…..I think it stifles any progress in this country…..and yes I usual look for some to vote for that at least on the surface sounds a bit progressive.

In the recent past there has been a movement to protest by voting ‘uncommitted’….but this Texas dude has done the extra mile.

A Texas man has changed his name to what some voters facing a President Biden-Donald Trump rematch in November say they would prefer: Literally Anybody Else. The 35-year-old candidate, formerly known as Dustin Ebey, is an Army veteran who teaches math to seventh-graders in suburban Dallas, the Guardian reports. A Tarrant County approved the name change, and Else is trying to get on the ballot as an independent presidential candidate. “This isn’t about me … more so as it is an idea,” he says. “We can do better out of 300 million people for president.”

Else says he changed his name because he’s not satisfied with the choices on offer this year. “There really should be some outlet for people like me who are just so fed up with this constant power grab between the two parties that just has no benefit to the common person,” says Else, who describes his views as centrist. “Literally Anybody Else isn’t a person, it’s a rally cry,” his website states. He is trying to get on the ballot in Texas, but it won’t be easy. He will need to submit a petition before May 13 with 113,151 signatures from registered voters who didn’t vote in either party’s primary, WFAA reports.

“I’m not delusional. This will be very hard to do, but it’s not impossible. My hope is to have Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and then Literally Anybody Else right underneath,” Else tells WFAA. He says that the campaign is more about sending a message than winning and that if he doesn’t make it onto the ballot, he hopes voters in Texas and other states will write in Literally Anybody Else to express their dissatisfaction.

Clever.

I know, I know….if you vote for this guy then you help elect the other guy….that is a tired old excuse….

Yes it is a gimmick….but sad that one has to resort to gimmicks.

Vote for who you want and screw all the naysayers.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”