Potential Food and Energy Shortage Across the World

[Redrock12]

I just paid $35 for two decent ribeye steaks. Steaks, not roasts. And I thought a four pack for $19 last year was getting pricey! Carry on…

About three weeks ago, I paid $30 for a package of two fairly large rib-eyes at Safeway. Each steak did me for two meals, and they were AAA beef, top grade. So, it works out to $7.50 per meal. Most burger outlets charge about the same, maybe even more, for a decent sized burger (eg Quarter Pounder or Papa Burger).
So comparatively speaking, not a bad deal for a top grade piece of beef. It's been a loong time since I paid $19 fir a four pack of rib-eyes. In fact, I can't ever remember paying that little. But this is Canada, and everything tends to be more expensive here than stateside.
FWIW

 

[Evan]

About three weeks ago, I paid $30 for a package of two fairly large rib-eyes at Safeway. Each steak did me for two meals, and they were AAA beef, top grade. So, it works out to $7.50 per meal. Most burger outlets charge about the same, maybe even more, for a decent sized burger (eg Quarter Pounder or Papa Burger).
So comparatively speaking, not a bad deal for a top grade piece of beef. It's been a loong time since I paid $19 fir a four pack of rib-eyes. In fact, I can't ever remember paying that little. But this is Canada, and everything tends to be more expensive here than stateside.
FWIW

That is true. I did get four meals out of them, though this was Select grade beef (from Vons, which I believe is owned by Safeway now) which is the lowest tier (AAA is considered Choice). Prime here is $35 per lb. Those days are behind me!

Note to add: “Papa Burger”! I used to manage an A&W.

 

[Expedition26]

Here in the upper Midwest/third coast, USA there have not been any noticeable food shortages except for right before Christmas. All of the shelves have remained stocked but meat prices have gone up substantially which seems to be on par with the global trend. Gas has held steady at right below $3 a gallon, which it has been for months.

As a side, I spoke with a dairy farmer earlier this week (trying to get some raw milk- you have to jump through hoops here to obtain it) and he said if I wanted to be part of the collective to call back in May when the cows go back out to pasture. The drought from this past year has made feeding them very difficult and milk production has been significantly impacted.

I suspect that this year will bring more of the same poor weather and meat and dairy prices will skyrocket, if we even make it to next fall without major shortages.

 

[Evan]

Here in the upper Midwest/third coast, USA there have not been any noticeable food shortages except for right before Christmas. All of the shelves have remained stocked but meat prices have gone up substantially which seems to be on par with the global trend. Gas has held steady at right below $3 a gallon, which it has been for months.

As a side, I spoke with a dairy farmer earlier this week (trying to get some raw milk- you have to jump through hoops here to obtain it) and he said if I wanted to be part of the collective to call back in May when the cows go back out to pasture. The drought from this past year has made feeding them very difficult and milk production has been significantly impacted.

I suspect that this year will bring more of the same poor weather and meat and dairy prices will skyrocket, if we even make it to next fall without major shortages.

I lived in Beloit for a few years. If Woodman’s dairy isles were bare there wouldn’t be much of a store left!

 

[BHelmet]

I am not a Safeway fan BUT, on Mondays they will often whack 30% off meat prices on things that don't sell. this can bring lamb back down into the stratosphere. Rib Steaks are my fave but shifting to a slow cook shoulder chuck pot roast type of approach can be a good alternative to make a yummy meaty meal with a lower cost cut. Heck, throw it in the oven on top of onions, carrots, assorted veggies with herbs, olive oil, garlic, sea salt, wine etc ... mmmmm.

 

[Redrock12]

BH

Gotta remember that. Slow cooked pot roasts can be incredibly tasty. What oven temperature do you cook at @BHelmet and for how long?

 

[cinnamon]

More from Florida - intermittent missing items in the grocery stores - but no problems getting what I need. What's more disturbing is the impact on alternative suppliers... My preferred rancher can't find dry ice to ship her beef! Publix has also jacked up meat prices to where I'm actually saving money by ordering from local grass fed operations.

 

[Jones]

I work in a foodbank and we seem to be experiencing the opposite at the moment. We don't ordinarily have the range of a supermarket but we have had plentiful supplies apart from some of the more economical staples like bread, rice and pasta.

Our rate of new memberships have exploded off the back of supermarket shortages and so we've been running out of stock on hand faster and doing pick ups twice a day instead of once - the fact that we've been giving out a 10kg box of bacon with each food parcel might have a wee bit of influence!

Odd thing is that much of our stock is stock that supermarket's don't want any more for various reasons - close to best before dates, damaged packaging, end of line, over order that they don't want to/can't store or keep fresh etc. One reason could be that supermarket's over calculated consumer Christmas spending though there is one strange thing that seems to contradict that idea. We got loads of OTC painkillers just as supermarket shortages were being reported on MSM.

The current level of supply is probably temporary - we'll see what happens.

 

[Zzartemis]

We got loads of OTC painkillers just as supermarket shortages were being reported on MSM.

Insurance companies have stopped paying for painkillers....or at least opioids.
My mum has chronic pain, she is 93 years old and insurance has informed her of no more payment, although her doctor can still prescribe.

 

[unkl brws]

Some weird "flip-flop" policy from the government in Canada today. First, it was this announcement (from SOTT.net)-
Canada drops vaccine mandate for its truckers after pressure from industry -- Sott.net

Now today, I see this -

CTA Update: Feds Clarify that Border Vax Mandate Remains in Effect for Canadian Truck Drivers as of Jan. 15, 2022 - Canadian Trucking Alliance

cantruck.ca

From the C.T.A. article -

Recent media reports over the last 24 hours indicated the federal government had repealed the mandate for Canadian drivers; but officials have now clarified through notice that the “information shared yesterday was provided in error.”

 

[psychegram]

Some weird "flip-flop" policy from the government in Canada today. First, it was this announcement (from SOTT.net)-
Canada drops vaccine mandate for its truckers after pressure from industry -- Sott.net

Now today, I see this -

CTA Update: Feds Clarify that Border Vax Mandate Remains in Effect for Canadian Truck Drivers as of Jan. 15, 2022 - Canadian Trucking Alliance

cantruck.ca

From the C.T.A. article -

Sounds to me like confusion in the bureaucracy. Probably one official retained enough sanity to repeal the regulation, which then got overruled by someone higher up the food chain.

 

[Tuulikki]

I did my first shift this morning as a "personal shopper" - catchy title!! Basically shopping for the online orders in a very large supermarket. Totally out of my comfort zone as I have spent most of my life caring for people, but there you go. There were some items in short supply but on the whole we managed to find most of the things ordered with only a very small proportion having to be clicked as unavailable. I will monitor the situation in the coming weeks. Cat food still seems to have bare shelves but it is a very large supermarket so they always have many different varieties. My mogs may have to get used to something different from their usual.

Interestingly the job I actually applied for still has a week to run before applications close but I was hired very quickly. I think the staff shortages are biting. Night duty seems to be a problem all the time. I wanted to get "my feet under the table" so to speak before the unvaccinated carers and medical staff are "terminated" in April. There may be a bit of rush to obtain alternative employment then. We'll see.

 

[BHelmet]

Gotta remember that. Slow cooked pot roasts can be incredibly tasty. What oven temperature do you cook at @BHelmet and for how long?

Wow, I am honored you’d ask. But I wing it. I look up 3 different methods and then split the difference! I don’t have a science. I tend to cook low and slow and then put the broiler on for the last 5-10 minutes to crisp things up. The cool thing is that you can make it Mediterranean or French or Germanic or Middle Eastern just by changing the spices and a few ingredients. And I love the one-size-fits-all meal in a bucket that contains all your nutrients. Like at the very end I might throw in some Arugula to add a “salad“ component. Arugula is tough anyway and a few minutes in the warm juices adds a nice dimension.

 

[Joe]

We here know that being prepared for this is an existentially serious issue. 2022 - and possibly early 2022 - looks as if this matter will become our number one day-to-day concern as the Pandemic morphs into the Supplydemic.

Seems fairly likely. The "pandemic" has created some problems, but only enough to weaken the global economy in different areas, not enough to provoke a full scale crisis. For that to happen, I think it's gonna need some good old fashioned imperial overreach combined with a helping hidden hand.

One possible candidate is the current Ukraine/US vs Russia situation that continues to simmer away. Some kind of provocation from one side or another (likely the US) might justify the US 'huuuuuge' sanctions on Russia and definitive canceling of Nord Stream 2.

That (and a response from the Bear) would send already high energy prices skyrocketing and have multiple knock-on effects across the board. Of course, all of it would be seen as a 'managed' crisis by the PTB - with the CIA thinking they can take Russia down a peg or two for a long time and others using it for more draconian population control - but other events waaaay beyond their control might intervene and make their little drill go a little too 'live' for even their liking.

So I'd say keep a close eye on Ukraine and Russia-US relations over the next few weeks, and also the 'emerging' threat of a major 'cyber attack on the supply chain', which the EU are planning to run a 6 week exercise on later this month.

EU to Stage Large-Scale Cyberattack Exercise on Supply Chains

 

[Michael B-C]

but other events waaaay beyond their control might intervene and make their little drill go a little too 'live' for even their liking.

Those waaaaay beyond their control might include a small, nothing-burger state in the middle-east with an over eager trigger finger and a penchant for hijacking (sic) and dancing all over others false flag operations?



(faces whited out to ensure no nation-state identification - and anyway I see no dancing!)

Unless Joe you mean Don't Look Up!? Sorry, I mean 'Dont Look in Any Direction Unless We've Told you Where First...'