Middle Class May Be Subject To Food Rations, Warns UN

The troubles are not only to rationing but to stability as well. For the fifth time a congressional hearing is being held.

"Although it was purely coincidental that this hearing was set before the largest beef recall in American history, it is not a coincidence that recalls of this magnitude are escalating."

Source

Bart Stupak of Michigan says the food safety system is broken.

The incredibly SIMPLISTIC so-called "conservative" view of economics is extremely dangerous. Don't you people see what is happening? Just because YOU are OK at the moment is no justification to continue to allow this runaway looting of America to continue. We are all in this together. Nobody wants to support a welfare state, but to have full-time WORKING POOR who can't eat or pay rent is not tolerable in a first-world nation.

Believe me, it will land on your doorstep one day. There was a time that I thought "I'm working hard and earning well, why can't everyone else pull their weight?" Of course that was the 80s and I was young, fresh out of college and had a pocket full of cash. I paid off all of my student loans and in a few years, bought a small house, and I was only 23.

Through the next decade, things remained pretty steady in the publishing company where I interned through college and then worked full time. Occasional promotions, little raises.

Then the company got bought out by a company known for trimming and selling companies. I survived the cuts. Then the yearly bonuses started to shrink, then more, then they were gone. Then there was an "accounting irregularity." Scandal ensued, (look up CUC International for details, a few of the crooks went to white-collar prison). Some 30-year plus employees who had made tidy nest eggs (enough to retire on) in the company sale and stock split were now holding useless paper and facing retirement in poverty. Most are still working now (like walmart greeters, etc.).

Then we got bought out again (by the Carlyle Group, BTW). Then yearly pay increases dropped from 8% to 5%. Then 3%. Then none. I heard that they have been sold again since.

Shortly after Carlyle, I gave up my 12 years of seniority for a nice pay boost and went to play in a bigger pond. I did really well for another couple of years and then -- bam. The local economy tanked. It was only months before 1 in 5 of everyone I knew was out of work. Then I got laid off due to low seniority. To this day, 1 in 4 of the co-workers I still know are still seeking full time work. This is 3 years later. They are no longer COUNTED as unemployed because their benefits ran out after 6 mos. You are not allowed to see those numbers.

How did I survive? It wasn't easy. I looked for work for an entire year and ate up all of the equity I had in my home. Eventually I had to sell my house to break even.

I had to move cross-country to find work. I literally packed my truck with everything that I couldn't sell or give away and drove to the west coast. It took 6 more mos. of living off of my wife's part-time paychecks and loans from family before I finally got a crappy job. Another year before I finally landed a great job. So, now we are doing OK, making more than ever before, but still living paycheck-to-paycheck because our rent for 1BR out here is 3 times what my 3BR house payment was in the midwest.

Sorry about the long-winded post, but it just chaps my ass to hear these dittohead, neocon apologists talking about how we should just let corporations run wild with no consequences and monopolize the fourth estate etc. They sound like the Vichy to me. Maybe they're just young brownshirts and will grow up and join the real world when it finally comes knocking. Maybe the hatespeech by the screaming heads in the media have convinced them that not caring about you fellow American is acceptable now. Because trying to act like a civilized nation is now "socialism." I guess when we give our leftovers to the homeless in the alley behind our apartment we are evil stalinists.

Yeah, I'm happy to be working. That doesn't mean that I support a fascist state. It is far beyond time to rein in the corporate crooks. I, for one would not like to return to the age of the robber-barons. Oops, too late.

reply to post by flashback


Excellent story and unfortunately it is a common thing. It makes no difference college educated or not we are all in this together. The problem is some people are so brainwashed that everything is OK and that it is some left wing conspiracy to get people elected but then you hear stories like yours and others. Ill bet the CEOs of the companies you worked for come out fine except for the ones who did anything criminal (what they did is morally criminal) I own my own company and things are slow also. I have a small investment company but my main business is a decorative plumbing company so needless to say people in my industry are slow. I cut back so I can keep my employees. I cut back on my cars and even everyday stuff.

My point is in this glob is that until people quit being sheep and wake up nothing will change like nothing has changed in the past oh 30 years. The sad thing is I dont think our government can change anything the way it is set up democrat or republican.

reply to post by Obliv_au



Are those the prices in MegaCity One? Cause they sure aren't the prices I've been seeing here in the states. I do agree about the cat food thing though. Kind of ridiculous.

i heard the idea of planting out own gardens. it is a must. yet there is also a push to forget that plants are important at all.

its ingrained.

bums ask for money, and its not to plant fruit trees and watermelons.

the major issue concerning growing ur own food, is called multi-farming.

this is were many different crops are grown together. this controls the local ecosystem. pests, and predators.

when we plant just one thing... u will get a mass amount of 1 type of bug who loves u. at the same time, u cant localize a specialized predator.

multi farm! and buy windmills, and a tesla coil.

For all those that claim there has been no increase in food prices....check out this video from the AP. Pretty interesting and not a long watch. I hope people come back here and check it out.

Food Prices Rising in tandem with Oil Prices

New to ATS.
Plumber too UA things are good in seattle but projected for only 3 to 5 years then sharp decline similiar to the early 80's or early 30's. Fiat systems can only last so long.

Regardless, Why is there a shortage? The US alone has enough resources to feed the world. Farms are just contracted (forced) to grow certain crops or nothing at all. Big one in Wash I guess is corn for the E85 plant going in. I have been told that farms use to be forced to grow thousands of tons of onions only to have them be thrown away. I really do not have any facts off hand, only what i have been told by local growers. I have read though that Various countries in Africa and South America were allowed to take loans from the world bank or IMF only for co-op farms. The thought of millions of dollars made militants and governments in general to force local farmers to goin co-ops so that they could recive these monies. no monies went to the land and the fertile land died. That is what i had read in The Creature From Jeckly Island.


My point is that a shortage in food is BULL and just a way for Elected Officials to control the livelyhood of those that elected them. Which i guess is their job.

This could become a big problem now or in the future. If they do the gun controll thing and take all of our guns away what will happen when people cant hunt for thier own food. You can grow gardens and raise some farm animals but I assume hunting helped greatly during the great depresion didnt it. What if we didnt have guns in the biggest food shortage in our history would we have made it.

I bought a pack of every possible kind of seed I could find. Tomatoes, watermelons, lettuce, carrots, everything. Im going to grow my own veggies this year. Im also considering taking my tax return money and buying a solar power system. For less than $700 I could be generating my own power to run some of my less power hungry appliences.

If we all do it we can make a difference. Sustainable living. try it out.

For anyone considering gardening, you better get to it right away. Most seeds now are sterilized single-use seeds. This means that you will have to buy new seeds for every crop. The food supply is even being controlled at the seed level now, and that maneuver is nearly complete. That's why certain people and countries are setting up seed-banks.

BTW, if you end up having to resort to cannibalism, you better be the first one to decide to do it. If you eat people who are already starving, you will still starve to death. Just figured I'd throw that out there.

[edit on 2/29/0808 by jackinthebox]

while I have yet to see a 60% cost hike on every food item, I have seen a very noticable increase on most products, and it is already affecting the amount of groceries we buy, and what we buy. Meat is almost out of the question right now, we have been eating only hamburger and chicken if we do eat meat (how healthy is that!) but for christ sake even a bag of beans has gone up! Rice, milk, flour, eggs (3.00 dozen now) sugar, almost every kitchen staple is much more than a year ago. But the pinch of it is starting to kick in. I have not bought milk in a couple of months, I buy instant potatoes instead of bagged ( and this is nuts, a 5 lb bag of potatoes was only 99 cents last year!) I freeze any unused bread now to be used later, with only 2 in the household we don't eat much bread, a lot usually goes to waste or to the ducks! I think every time I go to the grocery lately I get scared, if we can't afford to eat then I suppose rationing is the next step!

This trend in increased food prices hasn't seemed to have hit Canada yet. But it certainly has me worried. To think that my country is safe from this because a simple border divides me from it would be insanity.

My family may have been well off growing up, but my parents always made sure I never saw any benefit from it. Since I became of working age, I have had to make my own way financially. This was done to teach me the true meaning of how hard the little people work for their money.

Now, I'm an engineer, but I most definitely have not forgotten the struggles the lower class go through every day. Having to face the question of whether they can afford Mac and Cheese, or will they have to settle with bread and peanut butter for another week.

With the climate shift accelerating, much of the farm land we know will quickly become baron. If you understand how land becomes fertile, you will know it takes decades before any new potential regions can be used.
This of course means one thing, another increase in food costs, and very little food to go around anyways.

Of course this will heavily damage the economy even further... I know theres a debate on whether the US is entering a depression, but believe me, it will if there's a resource scare.

With a crippled economy and dwindling resources, we will face one inevitable outcome... a resource war.

Sure, being Canadian, I'm sitting on the worlds most abundant source of natural resources... but the world has mouths to feed, and if supply and demand has taught me anything, it's that these resources are about to be tapped... big time.

My weekly grocery bill has gone up 2-3 times then I am used to, but that is because I shop at organic grocery store now, I feel so much better, so the extra cost to me is worth it. I think it sucks that I have to pay more to not have chemicals and synthetics embedded in my food stuffs, but that is proof to me that our government is not really her to look after me and it more concerned with corporate benefits.

I can find milk for 2.50 on sale where I live with gas prices at 2.90-3.05. Seems exactly the same as it was last year, but maybe I am missing something *shrug*.

reply to post by sizzle

I go to the grocery lately I get scared, if we can't afford to eat then I suppose rationing is the next step!

I am a homeowner and I live on a fixed income (Disability) and I had to adjust my shopping. I have a budget and I do menu planning. So I have the things that I enjoy, but, just not as often. Where I can, I buy in bulk (Food Warehouse, Internet shopping). Each month I purchase some survival supplies and or gear and some months it has to be a small purchase item. It adds up over time. It is a discipline that grows into a habit. Some emergency items I put together for myself. For example, I purchased bulk wax (Ebay) and made my own candles (old food jars). The savings was tremendous.

I had two dogs, but, now I only have the one and she eats like a horse and the food warehouse prices are great for dog food and treats.

Sale and discount do not mean you have to give up quality.

How many of you are aware that when a person on a fixed income, such as social security or disability income and food stamps;

These are separate programs. Disability is Social Security, but, you do not get food stamps. What goes up is the Medicare cost which is deducted first. Again, retirees receive Social Security, but, they do not get food stamps. Food stamps is given to those who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. There are a few who get benefits from both programs.

reply to post by sizzle


Are you sure she was receiving Medicare and not Medicaid? The laws are different. My understanding is that Medicare will not seek reimbursement, but, Medicaid will. Medicaid is a program for those with little or no income and selling a home is considered income.

I'm from Ireland and im a student so i pay very close attention to food prices and if anything they have gone down or stayed more or less the same, i dont think the prices are even keping pace with inflation!

After all this talk of "hard times" I have yet to meet anyone who has experienced any decline in quality of life due to the economy. Some prices have gone up but it is FAR from hardship. I doubt any of us modern people have any clue as to what a real economic hardship is like. Ask someone from the Great Depression about soup lines and saving bits of string. And look at us all here, fat and happy, complaining about "hard times" because we could only afford a 48" flatscreen TV instead of 50."

This is not to say we couldn't potentially have a real downturn in quality of life, but for the moment: get real. We aren't even in a technical recession, much less a depression.

[edit on 1-3-2008 by spaznational]

reply to post by spaznational


These things don't happen over night. If you paid attention to all of the economic downfall you would realize what is happening. This story is something to pay attention to. Do you think the Great Depression just happened? There are events that lead up to these things. These events are what we are going through at this time. The worst has yet to happen. People buying all of tis technology with money they do not have is what is leading to the problem. Same with mortgages. People just do not have the money any more. Yes people seem to be fat but not very happy. i just saw a story that debt in America has reached an astounding one trillion dollars. So why you may think everyone is happy.....just wait. Happiness will be turning to sadness in a hurry. and if people, as you claim, are very happy, it is just a front. Ask them how much debt they have and how much those TV's will cost them by the time they are done paying for them.