Food Rationing in America

As the cost of fuel has went up, so has many other items. Because of the need and exploration of alternative fuels, more corn is being produced than wheat. The same can be said about rice and Hop's used in the brewing industry. Grain prices are rising because of supply and demand as well as transportation.

The New York Sun had an article about rationing in the breadbasket of America. Shoppers at Costco in Mountain View, California were upset when they couldn't find bags of rice. Only a few 20 lb bags of rice were left at a cost of $15.99. Usually Costco carries about five different brands. One gentleman was buying two bags. One for himself and one for a neighbor. At the checkout counter, he was denied the second bag.

At the Costco store in Queens, there was no limit on rice. However, there was limit on purchases of oil and flour. When the price of flour doubled, many retail bakery owners were going to the warehouse stores to buy the flour first.

According to the article, spiking food prices have been sporadic but, are becoming more and more at different stores across the nation. Recently there has even been food price riots in Haiti, Indonesia, and several African nations.

It is not understood if the spiking and rationing is caused by a shortage of lagging supplies or consumers hedging against future spiking of prices. Or, if there truly is a lack of the products.

Large chain retailers have less direction on increasing prices. So as a result, they are seeing certain products bought in large quantities creating a problem of supply and demand. They are having more problems than say a mom or pop place. The smaller stores have already increased the price on certain items. Another problem is that Asian countries are here buying up wheat and wheat products thus creating a shortage for Americans.

Sam's Club Warehouses have already placed some limits on how much can be bought in certain parts of the US on certain items. Sam's is owned by Walmart.

There have been other increases also in certain products. Eggs, Milk, Pork, and Poultry products are on the rise. The rise in their price is do to transportation expenses.