http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7917176.stm
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered the army to take control of all rice processing plants in the country.
Mr Chavez accused some firms of overcharging by refusing to produce rice at prices set by the government.
He warned that some companies could be nationalised if they tried to interfere with supplies of the grain.
Mr Chavez - who has nationalised large swathes of Venezuela's economy - did not say how long the government intervention would last.
Major rice processors in the country include the US-owned giant Cargill and Venezuela's main food company, Polar.
Last year, Venezuela seized control of plants and offices belonging to Mexican cement giant Cemex.
In 2007, the government said it had taken control of the massive Orinoco Belt oil projects as part of President Chavez's nationalisation drive.
Many rice, wheat, meat and dairy producers complain that the price regulations leave them without a profit and that many are facing bankruptcy, our correspondent says.
The country's inflation levels are the highest in Latin America and, as a result, there are often shortages of items such as rice and coffee, leading to hoarding and sale on the black market.
Originally posted by generalissimoPeople have got to eat - although, US-owned giant Cargill and Venezuela's main food company, Polar, might not necessarily agree. At least they don't face bankrupcy now. In the U.S. Wall Street tycoons have got to eat - and the Republicans and Democrats nationalize almost without batting an eyelid. Similarly, they have not said how long the government intervention would last.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7917176.stm
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered the army to take control of all rice processing plants in the country.
Mr Chavez accused some firms of overcharging by refusing to produce rice at prices set by the government.
He warned that some companies could be nationalised if they tried t ...[text shortened]... hortages of items such as rice and coffee, leading to hoarding and sale on the black market.
Looks like something similar might be necessary in the USA and elsewhere soon.
Nation's Food System Nearly Broke
Published on Friday, February 27, 2009 by The Capital Times (Wisconsin)
by John Kinsman
As our government enacts a stimulus package and President Barack Obama announces bold initiatives to stem home mortgage foreclosures, disaster threatens family farmers and their communities.
The government's response to plummeting commodity prices and tightening credit markets leads to the basic question: Who will produce our food? This is a worldwide crisis. U.S. policy and the demand for deregulation at all levels -- from food production to financial markets -- contribute greatly to the global collapse. The solution must be grounded in food sovereignty so that all farmers and their communities can regain control over their food supply. This response makes sense here in Wisconsin and was the global message from the 500+ farmer leaders at the Via Campesina conference in Mozambique in October.
Many U.S. farmers are going out of business because they receive prices equal to about one half their cost to produce our food. How long could any enterprise receiving half the amount of its input costs stay in business? As an example, dairy farmers in the Northeast and Midwest must be paid between 30 and 35 cents per pound for their milk to pay production costs and provide basic living expenses. Until 1980, farmers received a price equal to 80 percent of parity, meaning that farmers' purchasing power kept up with the rest of the economy. Unfortunately, a 1981 political decision discontinued parity, and today the dairy farmers' share is below 40 percent.
"Free trade" and other regressive agricultural policies have decimated farms. We are now a food deficit nation dependent on food imports, often of questionable quality.
Our food system is nearly broke, which is almost as serious as our country's financial meltdown. With fair farm policies, farmers would get fair prices that would not require higher consumers prices. The Canadian dairy pricing system is the best example that proves fair farmer prices can and often do bring lower consumer prices and a healthier rural economy. In addition, excessive middleman profits are taking advantage of both consumers and producers.
As more farmers face bankruptcy, we all face a food emergency. European farmers speak from thousands of years of experience on the importance of family farms when they warn us, "Any time a country neglects its family farm base and allows it to become financially bankrupt, the entire economy of that country will soon collapse. It may take generations to rebuild the farm economy and that of the country."
Despite the magnitude of this food emergency, the "farm crisis" does not appear in headlines, so politicians are not compelled to provide political or financial assistance to something that would likely fail to bring votes. As farmers, we are now only about 1 percent of the U.S. population, and have little power to expose and prevent our demise. However, our urban and rural friends could be vital voices and advocates.
Bailing out the financial giants will not solve the financial crisis in the country, but the right policies and stimulus dollars could prevent a severe food crisis by saving farmers and workers. Furthermore, farm income dollars remain in and multiply at least two to four times in the local economy.
Family farmers have proposed fair food and farm policies that can be implemented at a fraction of the present multibillion-dollar policies destroying us. As the Treasury Department develops plans to distribute the bailout funds, the National Family Farm Coalition and others urge it to require banks receiving funds to treat their borrowers fairly by providing debt restructuring as an alternate to home or farm foreclosure or bankruptcy.
Concerned citizens can call the White House, 202-456-1111, or your members of Congress, 202-224-3121, to urge them to support policies that enable farmers to earn a fair market price; request an emergency milk price at $17.50 per hundred weight; provide price stability through government grain reserves and effective supply management; support the TRADE Act to be reintroduced in Congress; increase direct and guaranteed loans to family farmers; and ensure that the food we raise can be marketed to local schools and institutions, providing a better food supply at a fair price. We need these immediate changes in our food and farm policy.
Whole article here:
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/440669
Originally posted by FMFYes, you're right, those big bad food companies aren't interested in selling as much food as possible, they're more in the business of stopping people from eating, guffaw.
People have got to eat - although, US-owned giant Cargill and Venezuela's main food company, Polar, might not necessarily agree.
Originally posted by WajomaThey were overcharging, apparently. So that, according to basic economics, sugggests that they were trying to make as much money as possible which, as you well know, is not the same as trying to sell as much food as possible.
Yes, you're right, those big bad food companies aren't interested in selling as much food as possible, they're more in the business of stopping people from eating, guffaw.
Both Cargill and Polar were implicated in the coup attempt against the elected government a few years back.
Originally posted by FMFBasic economics would suggest that if they were "overcharging" they wouldn't be selling any food.
They were overcharging, apparently. So that, according to basic economics, sugggests that they were trying to make as much money as possible which, as you well know, is not the same as trying to sell as much food as possible.
Both Cargill and Polar were implicated in the coup attempt against the elected government a few years back.
Originally posted by FMF"....cute"?
How cute for the people without enough money to buy even the minimum food they need.
Being blase' or sarrrrrcarrrstic?
Not sure about all the details but from what has been posted in this thread the companies are justified in making a stand against what turns out to be a very real threat against their property.
Just because the most sheep are baaaaing about wanting cheap burgers or beans does not mean they have a right to just vote themselves other peoples property.
Originally posted by WajomaYour interest in Man's inhumanity to Man, and the mathematical justification for it, is well known. And it's a welcome variant on these threads.
Just because the most sheep are baaaaing about wanting cheap burgers or beans does not mean they have a right to just vote themselves other peoples property.
Originally posted by FMFIt is I that celebrates and defends humanity and what it means to be human, it is I that knows what it means to say "Man, your life belongs to you, no other human should sacrifice themself to you nor you to them."
Your interest in Man's inhumanity to Man, and the mathematical justification for it, is well known. And it's a welcome variant on these threads.
Are you not, by your own standards, being "inhuman" wasting money on a DVD player when you might have provided a weeks worth of meals to some needy family there in Indonesia.
Originally posted by WajomaVery droll. Your mockery shows you up for the shallow thinker you are, after a pretty good 1st paragraph. Water off a duck's back, mind you. Your trite contempt for others, laid out on these threads from time to time, doesn't quite match your lofty claims.
Are you not, by your own standards, being "inhuman" wasting money on a DVD player when you might have provided a weeks worth of meals to some needy family there in Indonesia.