Tag: Food Shortages

Finally An Answer To Rising Egg Prices!

Most everyone has been hit by the high cost of eggs in the past year and the question has been…..when will something be done about the high prices?

This is the Trump Administration’s answer to solving the ever rising egg prices here in the US….

President Trump’s agriculture secretary announced Wednesday that her department is working with the Department of Government Efficiency “to cut hundreds of millions of dollars of wasteful spending” that will be used to help bring down the retail price of eggs. “We will repurpose some of those dollars by investing in long-term solutions to avian flu,” a major driver of the egg shortage, Brooke Rollins wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. In January, the average price for large, Grade A eggs in American cities hit a record $4.95 per dozen.

Agriculture Department will spend as much as $1 billion on the campaign, Rollins said in laying out the plan’s five steps. The first $500 million is allocated to help with biosecurity measures at poultry farms—steps to stop the flu’s spread. In addition, $400 million is set aside for relief to farmers whose flocks have been hit the flu, the Washington Post reports. Another $100 million will go toward developing vaccines and therapeutics for laying chickens. “This should help reduce the need to ‘depopulate’ flocks, which means killing chickens on a farm where there’s an outbreak,” Rollins wrote.

The fourth step, she said, is reducing the regulation of producers, including facilitating the raising of backyard chickens. The last move Rollins listed is temporarily increasing the number of imported eggs, possibly raising purchases from Turkey from the current 70 million a year to as many as 420 million this year, per the Post. A farmers group, United Egg Producers, welcomed Rollins’ plan. The secretary wrote that while the shortage won’t disappear overnight, “we’re confident that it will restore stability to the egg market.”

Just how will this bring down prices?

Trump is considering a 25% tariff on products from the EU so where will we import eggs from that is not effected by these tariffs?

To remind everyone tariffs are paid by the importer and passed onto the consumer in price increases….so again how will this idea bring down prices?

So just how will this lower the price for we will be dealing with the same middlemen that are raping huge profits on the backs of consumers

How can we as consumers be guaranteed that the eggs we import will be safe for they may come from countries with little to no oversight?

And another question why has bird flu hit the US the hardest?….I have not seen a report that it is crisis level elsewhere in the world.

Let me say here that while I do not like this proposal to end high egg prices it is a damn sight better than what the Dems have offered…..an investigation into egg producers….the investigation is needed but it will take a year or better to complete and what will happen to prices in that lag time?

Please share your thoughts on this hair brain idea.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

This Explains So Much!

Remember in recent years the US has had many rolling shortages….bleach, toiler paper……now we have yet another shortage…..laxatives.

Say what?

You read it right….the US is experiencing a shortage in laxatives….

Overuse of laxatives by Americans is making it harder to find them at the store. The shortage, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes from a variety of factors. Along with an aging population and Americans’ tendency to eat less fiber, poor eating habits developed during the pandemic and an uptick in travel and hybrid work schedules are making it harder for Americans to go number two. This increased demand for laxatives has made products like Miralax and Glycolax fly off the shelves, and fiber supplements are seeing double-digit growth. “It’s crazy to think that our collective bowel dysfunction problems have gotten so bad that we’re literally running out of stool softeners,” Dr. George Pavlou of Gastroenterology Associates of New Jersey tells the Journal

A new consumer group has also emerged. Younger buyers increasingly rely on laxatives, and companies are adapting to this shift, offering gummies products marketed to them. Discussions about bowel health have also become less taboo with younger generations, sparked by the viral #GutTok movement. But healthcare providers who observe the overuse of laxatives and supplements when addressing bowel issues are concerned. Misinformation about gut health on social media is rampant, along with the misconception that laxatives aid in weight loss. Eating disorder specialist Dr. Jenna DiLossi tells the Journal she’s seen a recent spike in teens abusing laxatives. “When people have an excessive bowel movement and they feel completely empty inside, that gets wrapped up in thinness and health,” she says.

Doctors stress the importance of balanced diets that are rich in fruit, vegetables, and whole grains as the first step in maintaining a healthy gut. Taking laxatives often highlights a preference for quick fixes—the New York Post rounds up examples of this on social media—over sustainable lifestyle changes, though doctors warn that starting to eat fiber also won’t change things overnight. “A lot of people take it for constipation and then expect that it will work the same day,” Dr. Wendi LeBrett, a gastroenterologist, tells Insider. She also notes that when working from home, people don’t move around as much “so that definitely can cause or increase constipation.

Surely I could say something clever about the shortage but why bother?  But could not let this go without one observation…..this could explain MAGA supporters and their needs.

I shall just smile and let my readers comment.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

For All The Foodies

It is Sunday and I was at a loss for a FYI subject to post…..and I thought…hey….food.

I enjoy food a lot….I love to cook and really like eating….if you are of a like mind my friends this post is for you.

I am old and like most old farts I struggle with weight issues….I have gone on this diet and that….how about you?

Some say counting calories is the best way to lose weight…..maybe not….

If it’s easier for you to keep track of when you’re eating than what you’re eating, a new study may bring good news for the long haul. For research published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal, scientists wanted to see who lost more weight and were able to keep it off: those who consciously counted and cut back on calories, and those who took part in time-restricted eating (TRE), a form of intermittent fasting. Researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago took 90 obese adults (ages 18 to 65) from a racially diverse population and put them in one of three groups: a control group that didn’t change their eating habits; a group that had to watch their diets and cut calories by 25%; and a group who only ate between the hours of noon and 8pm.

Both noncontrol groups lost about 5% of their body weight in the first six months. All subjects were then taken out of “weight loss” mode and placed in “maintenance” mode, with the calorie-cutting group adding a few more calories into their daily intake, and the TRE group widening their eating window from 10am to 8pm. The results? After a year, participants in the calorie-counting group lost 12 pounds, on average, while those in the intermittent fasting group shed 10 pounds—not a statistically significant difference. “The key takeaway is that you can basically achieve the same amount of energy restriction by counting time instead of counting calories,” Krista Varady, the study’s lead author, tells NPR.

That could prove a godsend for people who can’t be bothered learning how to weigh foods and track the calories they consume daily, “a big pain for a lot of folks,” says University of Alabama at Birmingham nutrition professor Courtney Peterson, who wasn’t involved in the study. By eliminating six hours of eating time per day, Varady says, that targets prime snack time—at night, when many mindlessly chow down. There was another factor that seemed key: dietician consultations that focused on healthy eating and cognitive behavioral therapy, which likely helped those in the TRE group fend off urges to eat once their window had closed, notes ScienceAlert.

There is your dieting update.

For those that like some heat with their food (I am one of those) the brand name ‘Sriracha’ is a favorite.  But there is a bit of bad news on the horizon….

A hot summer lies ahead, though that heat won’t be carrying over to meals usually doused in Sriracha sauce. A shortage of the chile-pepper-based condiment means it’s been harder to find on store shelves, though fans can likely stumble upon the hot sauce made by Huy Fong, its main manufacturer, online. Just be prepared to pay big for a bottle or two: CBS News scoured multiple e-commerce sites and found a 17-ounce bottle on eBay going for nearly $40, while a 28-ounce bottle was selling for almost $70. Or you could buy a four-pack of the latter size for $200 on Amazon—a savings of $20 per bottle.

Meanwhile, a 17-ounce bottle of the Huy Fong version typically sells for around $4 in grocery stores and other markets. Both CBS and CNN Business note that it’s not clear if anyone is actually forking over those prices for the sauce, but as the summer goes on and the cravings kick in, desperation may take over and those wallets may open wider. “Unfortunately, we are still experiencing a shortage of raw material,” a Huy Fong spokesperson tells CBS of its ongoing lack of chile peppers to make the sauce, adding that they’re not sure when supplies will ramp back up.

So what’s been leading to this dearth? Per the Los Angeles Times, heat waves and severe droughts in Mexico, where Huy Fong sources its chile peppers, are leading to water shortages, which in turn are hampering crops. And it’s a “phenomenon that experts warn will become much more common on a warming planet,” thanks to climate change, the Times notes. This isn’t the first time Sriracha devotees were left scrambling for their beloved condiment: Huy Fong issued a similar warning due to a chile pepper shortage last year, as well as two summers earlier.

This is for all those people that have fallen under the spurious spell of kale….

Kale is heralded for its ample supplies of calcium, magnesium, potassium, Vitamin K, and various healthful phytochemicals and anti-oxidants. But the superfood is hiding a nasty secret: dangerous levels of heavy metals.

In a recent study, molecular biologist Ernie Hubbard found that kale—along with cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and collard greens—is a hyper-accumulator of heavy metals like thallium and cesium. What’s more, traces of nickel, lead, cadmium, aluminum, and arsenic are also common in greens, and this contamination affected both organic and standard produce samples.

The source? Its soil. “If it’s left in the ground, the leafy greens are going to take it up,” Hubbard told Craftmanship magazine.

This news gives us pause because kale has taken the culinary world by storm over the last few years: Back in 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recorded 954 farms harvesting the green, but by 2012 the number of growers soared to 2,500. It’s become the “it” vegetable, getting juiced, sautéed, steamed, folded into smoothie bowls, baked into chips, and so much more.

https://www.delish.com/food/a43162/kale-poison-thallium/

This does not effect me for I have not fallen into the fad of eating kale….I find it disgusting and best used as a plate garnish not to be eaten.

That is my offering for this Sunday….

Enjoy your day and be well and be safe.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Eggs-actly What We Need

Awhile back we were hit in the pocket book by the rapid rise of egg prices….the excuse for the price increases was that because of avian flu many egg layers had to be killed.

Of course I felt I needed to inject my humble opinion on the price of eggs….read it here…

Is It Price Gouging?

Now there is a wave of dissent against big ag…..

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders this weekend renewed his call to break up agricultural monopolies after the nation’s largest egg producer reported that its quarterly profits soared more than 700%.

Cal-Maine Foods, which controls about 20% of the U.S. egg market, announced last week that its revenue for the quarter ending February 25 rose 109% to $997.5 million, while profit for the same period skyrocketed 718% to $323.2 million.

In a statement, Cal-Maine president and CEO Sherman Miller attributed the company’s soaring profits to “the ongoing epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza which has significantly reduced the nation’s egg-laying capacity.”

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, “U.S. egg inventories were 29% lower in the final week of December 2022 than at the beginning of the year,” while “more than 43 million egg-laying hens were lost to the disease itself or to depopulation since the outbreak began in February 2022.”

Sanders (I-Vt.)—who took on agricultural monopolies while campaigning for president in 2016 and 2020—questioned Cal-Maine’s narrative in a tweet arguing that “we must break up Big Ag and enact a windfall profits tax.”

Sanders wasn’t the only congressional critic of Cal-Maine’s latest profits.

“While working families paid record prices for eggs, Cal-Maine raked over 700% more in profits—without reporting a single case of avian flu,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted on Thursday. “We need to crack down on corporate price gouging to provide Americans with relief at the grocery store.”

Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), who is running for U.S. Senate, wrote on Twitter last week that “corporate greed is driving inflation.”

“We need more competition to drive down prices,” she added. “In the meantime, I’m demanding answers from Cal-Maine directly.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/why-are-egg-prices-so-high

Granted the prices have come down a bit but they are still high and I will back Bernie on his crusade.

This is an all too familiar situation…price gouging that few ever pay a price for screwing the public.

I will watch to see how quick this investigation is thrown into the dust bin.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Egg Prices

Okay I will jump onto the bandwagon and tackle egg prices.

Yesterday I went shopping and bought a dozen brown eggs…..it cost me $7.52 plus tax. That is more than a pound of lean hamburger.

I asked the same question I suppose everyone asks when they get hit with the reality of wanting an egg for breakfast.

I guess an explanation is in order.

So what is causing it….is it because of the avian flu or what?

The price of eggs is taking its toll on American families, and in some states, it’s even getting harder to find eggs on the shelves. 

Since December 2021, the average price of eggs in U.S. households has soared nearly 60 percent, according to the latest economic release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

The current state of inflated egg prices is primarily due to the worst breakout of Avian bird flu that the United States has seen. Since early 2022, more than 50 million laying hens have died.  And, although those hens account for only about 5 percent of the laying population, the feed cost has also taken a toll on producers and consumers alike.

Skyrocketing soybean prices coupled with an increased holiday demand for eggs and lagging production rates have also contributed to the pricing conundrum. Fortunately, according to Curt Covington, senior director of partner relations at AgAmerica, egg prices will see some corrections even if Avian flu continues to threaten poultry producers.

“Inflated prices are expected to decline in the first half of 2023 due to the decrease in demand for eggs after the holidays. But if input costs continue to increase and the bird flu continues to kill large quantities of hens, the costs will most likely be passed on to consumers,” said Covington.

Even though consumers probably won’t find a bargain at the supermarkets, they can buy lower grade eggs, buy eggs in bulk, and price shop to navigate current egg prices. Consumers may also find lower priced products at farmers’ markets. 

Unfortunately, most supermarkets won’t be able hedge the price of eggs by purchasing for local growers, as their products are contracted on a national scale by corporate offices. 

“As holiday demand subsides, we will likely see a 25 to 30 percent correction in inflated egg prices by the second quarter of 2023, if not sooner,” Covington said. “However, bird flu will continue to be a challenge for poultry farmers who have been playing catch up to meet demand even prior to COVID.”

(agdaily.com)

No consolation at all….but it does answer what happen….

How about egg smuggling?

Eggs are much cheaper in Mexico but anybody caught trying to bring them across the border could have to shell out a lot of money, officials say. American egg prices were up 60% year-on-year in December due to factors including avian flu, making Mexican eggs an appealing prospect for residents of states including California, where a dozen eggs can cost around $8, compared to less than $3 in Tijuana, the BBC reports. “The San Diego Field Office has recently noticed an increase in the number of eggs intercepted at our ports of entry,” tweeted Jennifer De La O, the office’s director of field operations. “As a reminder, uncooked eggs are prohibited entry from Mexico into the US. Failure to declare agriculture items can result in penalties of up to $10,000.”

“My advice is, don’t bring them over,” CBP Supervisory Agriculture Specialist Charles Payne tells Border Report. “If you fail to declare them or try to smuggle them, you face civil penalties.” He says the fines up of to $10,000 are for commercial operations caught smuggling eggs. For ordinary consumers, the penalty is around $300. According to Department of Agriculture statistics, egg and poultry seizures at the border rose 108% between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 last year. Payne says that if people declare eggs when they’re crossing into the US, the eggs will be seized but no fine will be issued. “If you fail to declare it or if you attempt to smuggle it, there’s going to be a penalty,” he says.

Good idea we would not want to cut into Walmart’s profits now would we?

Finally I check three different stores on egg prices…..for a dozen it ranged from $3.27…to $7.00….the higher price was from a national ‘low cost’ chain….

I bet egg prices will stray high even after the crisis subsides….

You happy now?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Somethings Are Inevitable

These days there is nothing to actually to look forward to….but the new color ‘discovered’ by Apple, the big innovation by the company for its iPhone….the color green….how’s that for innovation?

But that is just my rant…..the president has given us something to look forward to in the near future…..

President Biden warned that the US-led Western sanctions campaign against Russia will lead to “real” food shortages across the world.

“With regard to food shortage, yes, we did talk about food shortages. And — and it’s going to be real,” Biden said at a press conference in Brussels. “The price of these sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia, it’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well.”

Biden’s sanctions on Russia come as the US is facing a 40-year high inflation rate and record-high gas prices. Although he tried to blame the inflation on what he called “Putin’s price hike,” Biden has admitted before that Americans will feel economic pain because of the sanctions he imposed, which include a ban on Russian oil imports.

So far, the Western sanctions have done nothing to slow Russia’s attack on Ukraine and have not deterred Russian President Vladimir Putin. When confronted with this fact, Biden snapped at a reporter and said deterrence isn’t the point, and signaled that he expects the war to go on for a long time.

“Sanctions never deter. The maintenance of sanctions — the maintenance of sanctions, the increasing the pain, and the demonstration — why I asked for this NATO meeting today — is to be sure that after a month, we will sustain what we’re doing not just next month, the following month, but for the remainder of this entire year. That’s what will stop him,” he said.

Oh goody….higher food prices and shortages…..now that is something to thank this war for….

This situation does not bode well for Biden and the Dems going forward…..

One more thing to look forward to….the 2024 presidential election is a mere 2 years away….and the polls, I know it is early but it is something to consider,  have ex-president ahead of the sitting president…..47 to 41 percent….time to pay attention is NOW!

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Remember That Meat Shortage?

About a month ago we were seeing the news that meat packing plants were shutting down and that our meat supply was dwindling and would soon be possibly gone….

We saw news after news report about the coming shortage and bloggers like myself also jumped on that bandwagon echoing the news that we could soon be out of meat….

Remember any of that?

Well it was a FAKE!

Say What!

As workers in meat processing plants around the country earlier this year fell ill with the coronavirus, threatening production, industry leaders appealed to the government to allow the facilities to remain open, citing the threat of a catastrophic domestic food shortage. 

It worked—President Donald Trump issued an executive order allowing the plants to stay open as essential businesses even as workers were getting sick and dying. However, according to new reporting from the New York Times and USA Today published Tuesday, the industry was lying about the threat of a shortage in order to maintain large exports to overseas markets.

“It was a fake meat shortage,” tweeted labor journalist Steven Greenhouse.

“The meat companies were saying the sky was falling, and it really wasn’t,” Food & Water Watch senior lobbyist Tony Corbo told the Times. “It wasn’t that there was not enough supply. It was that the supply was being sent abroad.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/17/it-was-fake-meat-shortage-reporting-suggests-industry-sacrificed-workers-during

The reporting was dire and even the MSM did not research the reports deep enough….and most of us as consumers of the MSM reporting bit into the false narrative of a meat shortage on the horizon….

I am attempting to rectify my part in this hoax….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Covid-19 And Meat

There have been announcements of a coming meat shortage because of the pandemic and that prompted Donald the Orange to issue an EO keeping meat packers open and functioning…..https://lobotero.com/2020/05/01/meat-of-the-subject/

Well because of the virus beef production is down…..

American beef output is down a lot more than plant closures would have you believe — a sign that slowdowns at facilities will continue to keep meat supplies tight even when some production lines reopen.

Cattle slaughter dropped 37% this week from a year ago, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. That far outstrips the 10% to 15% in capacity that’s been halted with meat plants closed after coronavirus outbreaks among employees. Hog slaughter was down 35%, also topping the shutdown figure of 25% to 30%.

While many plants have stayed open, they’ve still been forced to slow output as producers combat a loss of labor. Social-distancing measures will also likely keep output trailing normal levels even as facilities reopen under President Donald Trump’s executive order.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-01/u-s-beef-output-is-down-way-more-than-shutdowns-suggest

There is my answer to the question I posed in my previous post…..about the lack of product to pack.

Another effect of keeping the plants open and operating….the spread of the sickness…..

President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week declaring meat processing plants “critical infrastructure” that should stay open wherever possible. Invoking the Defense Production Act, Trump said that plant closures “threaten the continued functioning of the national meat and poultry supply chain.”

Yet keeping the plants open threatens workers’ lives. Facilities across the US have become hot spots for Covid-19 outbreaks: More than 3,000 workers have tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least 17 have died.

Some plants have been forced to close due to high rates of infection. At a Tyson plant in Waterloo, Iowa, more than 180 employees got sick. At a Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, it was more than 640 workers.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/5/1/21243300/meat-supply-coronavirus-plant-shortage-food-chain

All this to try and rehabilitate Trump’s numbers for re-election……once again as always it is about him and not the safety of the nation.

While he does this there are 373 cases within a meat package facility…..

A pork processing plant in Missouri has confirmed 373 new coronavirus cases among its employees, underscoring the threat meat processing plants pose to their staff during the coronavirus pandemic.

Toward the end of April, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) partnered with the City of St. Joseph Health Department, Northwest Health Services and Mosaic Life Care to offer COVID-19 testing to employees at the Triumph Foods plant in St. Joseph.

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/495946-pork-processing-plant-in-missouri-confirms-373

Burger joints are starting to feel the meat pinch……

Despite President Trump’s executive order dictating that meat processing plants stay open, the specter of meat shortages is being felt across the US—and customers of at least one fast-food chain are taking notice. Bloomberg notes that Wendy’s has long advertised itself as offering hamburgers made from fresh beef, not frozen, a practice that’s now made the chain vulnerable to a shortfall as the fresh stuff has become harder to come by. Some Wendy’s restaurants have even taken their signature offering, hamburgers, off the menu. “Is this the part where I say…’Where’s the beef?'” one drive-thru customer lamented. Coverage:

  • Store shelves. Customers may soon find it even harder to track down meat in supermarkets and warehouse stores—and even when they do, they could be limited in what they’re able to bring home. Fox Business reports Costco, Kroger, Walmart, Sam’s Club, and other chains are rationing their meat products, with an undesirable side effect: It means people will have to go out shopping more often.
  • Bad news on the pork front. Even with Trump’s executive order aimed at reducing shortages, pork production is down 50%, industry giant Tyson Foods said Monday. Three of its six main processing sites remain closed, and the other three are working at reduced capacity. An agricultural economist tells the Washington Post he thinks the numbers may be even worse than Tyson’s estimates.
  • Bad news on the pork front, continued. Modern Farmer reports that hog farmers across the nation are faced with a pig glut that may force them to euthanize their livestock. “Producers have never faced such a gut-wrenching decision,” one farmer says. One factor: Pigs must be sent to slaughter before they get too heavy for the processing equipment, and they pack on weight quickly.
  • Feeding the hungry. Food banks are already seeing the effects of the shortage, but in Wisconsin, they’re coming up with creative ways to work around it, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Distributing alternative forms of protein is one tactic.
  • Taking matters into their own hands. Some people aren’t waiting for the supply chain to be back in full force—they’re taking up hunting instead. Fox News reports on an increase in hunting licenses and permit applications in multiple states, including for first-timers. “People are starting to consider self-reliance and where their food comes from,” a Quality Deer Management Association spokesman says.
  • How worried should we be? USA Today tackles that big question. “Experts believe meat won’t likely follow the path of toilet paper, with totally empty shelves and consumers clamoring to find it,” explains the story. “Shoppers might find local shortages instead.”
    A shopping guide. From what to expect on pricing to timing your market trip just right (i.e., when the shelves are newly stocked with fresh meat), Time has the scoop.

Now the scary thought of the meat shortage……gun idiots wandering around the country side hunting meat for the table…..

David Elliot first thought of shooting an elk to help feed family and friends back in January when the United States reported its first novel coronavirus case.

Elliot, emergency manager at Holy Cross Hospital in Taos, New Mexico, had always wanted to go big-game hunting and, with the pandemic spreading, there seemed no better time to try to fill his freezer with free-range, super-lean meat.

So for the first time in his life, despite not owning a rifle or ever having hunted large animals, he put his name in for New Mexico’s annual elk permit draw.

With some U.S. meat processors halting operations as workers fall ill, companies warning of shortages, and people having more time on their hands and possibly less money due to shutdowns and layoffs, he is among a growing number of Americans turning to hunting for food, according to state data and hunting groups.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-hunting/americans-turn-to-hunting-for-food-renewal-during-pandemic-idUSKBN22F0G4

Think about those unwashed slugs appearing at the state capitals wandering the woods with their assault weapons looking for Bambi to kill……Just think about that.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Sunday Thoughts

Food is quickly becoming a main issue around this pandemic.

From Farmers having to let their crops go….to food banks being stretched to their limits…..to the hunger that is approaching.

I wrote about the food bank crisis in an earlier post…..and here it is…..https://lobotero.com/2020/04/16/closing-thought-16apr20/

I had bitched about those people that are allowing the produce and dairy and eggs go to waste…..and now there is some good news on the food thing…..

Farmers around the country have been forced to dump milk and waste fresh produce as schools, restaurants and other institutions remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. In response, Supermarket chain Publix launched a new initiative Wednesday to help struggling farmers — and get the food to Americans who need it most.

The company’s press release said it will purchase fresh produce and milk from farmers impacted by the COVID-19 crisis and donate the goods directly to Feeding America food banks that are in its “operating area.” During the first week of the initiative alone, some 150,000 pounds of produce and 43,500 gallons of milk is expected to be donated, the company said.

“As a food retailer, we have the unique opportunity to bridge the gap between the needs of families and farmers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic,” said Todd Jones, Publix CEO. “In addition to providing much needed produce and milk to food banks, this initiative provides financial support to farmers during this challenging time.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/publix-buying-excess-milk-produce-from-farmers-donations-feeding-america-food-banks-2020-04-22/

Publix should be commended for their foresight.

And please stop blaming the farmers…..look instead to the USDA of the Trump admin…….

Tens of millions of pounds of American-grown produce is rotting in fields as food banks across the country scramble to meet a massive surge in demand, a two-pronged disaster that has deprived farmers of billions of dollars in revenue while millions of newly jobless Americans struggle to feed their families.

While other federal agencies quickly adapted their programs to the coronavirus crisis, the Agriculture Department took more than a month to make its first significant move to buy up surplus fruits and vegetables — despite repeated entreaties.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/26/food-banks-coronavirus-agriculture-usda-207215

Yet another incident where the Trump group did not do what was needed when  it was needed….

It is NO secret that I am not a fan of the state of Israel….I think they have pushed the guilt trip on the West as far as it can go….it is time for them to start acting like a civilized nation…..

All that aside there are things that give me pause…like when the IDF destroys crops that people depend on for the life…..and now after bombing Gaza unmercifully they have decided to stop virus testing in the Strip…..

Israeli soldiers conducting coronavirus tests in the Gaza Strip have been ordered to stop by Defence Minister Naftali Bennett due to coordination issues, an Israeli newspaper has reported. According to Maariv, the Israeli government cancelled the initiative and claimed that Bennett himself was not aware of the army initiative due to a “lack of communication”.

The initiative lasted for two days and only 100 samples were tested at one of the army’s bases on the fringe of the besieged Gaza Strip. Soldiers had announced last week that they would carry out 50 coronavirus tests per day on samples from the Gaza Strip at the army laboratory in Tzrifin. The lab is also conducting tests for soldiers suspected of having the deadly virus. As of 15 April, the total number of infections in Gaza stood at 13.

The UN should take this up…it is a crime against humanity in my book….they are acting like the brutes that decimated them in the 40s.

Bet you will not hear this on the MSM in the US….those d/bags protect Israel like they were its child…..well may it is.

Have a good day…..be well….be safe

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Closing Thought–16Apr20

Covid-19 and Food Pantries

We all have seen first hand the lack of food on shelves these days……but there are still some food to buy….but what it there is no money to actually buy these food stuffs?

The natural answer would be the local food pantries and food banks….

The death toll in the United States surpassed that of Spain on Friday, with more than 18,400 fatalities recorded. For the first time, the daily death toll exceeded 2,000. Over the past three weeks, 16.8 million Americans have filed for jobless claims in the largest and fastest wave of job cuts on record.

Workers who have been laid off or furloughed are facing the very real prospect of hunger. With supermarket shelves emptied of staples and cupboards increasingly bare, people are lining up in record numbers at food pantries across the country.

In San Antonio, Texas on Thursday, traffic stretched for over five miles as cars lined up for a food distribution organized by the San Antonio Food Bank at Traders Village. Six thousand converged for the giveaway, with some arriving over 12 hours early to make sure they received food.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/11/food-a11.html

And if things do not get better soon then these life savers will start to run out of food…..and then where will this lead?

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