The End of Beef … Maybe Food! By James Reed
I saw this article at Zero Hedge.com, while searching for Covid material, but this is just as alarming. Food prices are rising at a sky-rocketing rate; out of control the article frankly says. The pension just doesn’t seem to make it any more, however much one cuts back. A neighbour with more wealth than me said to me over the back fence I should stop complaining about the decline in purchasing power, and just tighten the belt even more, until I fall in half! Think of the starving in Africa she said, while cleaning her husband’s BMW.
But, most Australian and American folks do not have any money spare to save at the end of the week, and that is working people. Those on Centrelink and low-paying jobs just struggle to survive, even to get enough food, let alone with inflation.
https://www.savings.com.au/savings-accounts/most-australians-couldnt-cover-1000-in-an-emergency
As for beef … forget it, it is too expensive. In the end, out of economic necessity we will end up having to eat insects, or simply starve to death!
“After decades of low inflation and relatively cheap food prices, those days appear over as food inflation soars worldwide. The latest observation that food prices are out of control is in Australia.
Australian cattle futures are at record-highs as farm operators hold back livestock from slaughterhouses to rebuild herds after years of drought forced many cattle operators to cull herds. Supply disruptions have resulted in the benchmark Eastern Young Cattle Index soaring to A$10.082 ($7.26) a kilogram. From the 2020 low, prices have more than doubled in a year.
A$10.082 ($7.26) per kilogram is the highest price paid back to 1997 when the contracts began trading. Bloomberg notes the high prices "has raised the risks that the nation's steaks will slip off global menus -- while worldwide demand for beef is robust in many markets."
The surge in prices could mean the nation's beef producers, number two in the world behind Brazil, might lose that spot as exports slump. This means Australian global importers will go elsewhere for cheaper meat. In the first six months, beef exports slumped 24% versus the same period last year.
The fact that food prices continue to rise undercuts the transitory inflation narrative that the Federal Reserve and mainstream media have been brainwashing everyone with for nearly a year.
In the States, major meat producer Tyson Foods Inc. warned in their latest conference call to investors that higher costs are hitting the firm faster than the company can lift prices, and retail prices are set to rise on Sept. 5.
The inflation shock is underway as food inflation is at record highs, and supermarket prices are expected to rise 10-14% later this fall.
Food inflation has become such a problem for the working poor and unemployed that the Biden administration has raised food stamp allocations.
Get used to elevated food prices. It appears they will be sticking around through at least 2022.”
That is probably optimistic, since what goes up economically, seldom comes down.
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