Wal-Mart's Sam's Club Warehouses Limiting Rice Purchases

Submitted by: GreyHawk on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 19:29

If you listen to George W. Bush, we're not in any kind of economic recession. We're in a slowdown. Rising oil prices, rising energy costs, the arrival of peak oil, the reality of global warming, the GOP denial of economic and social reality -- it's all in your head.

And, apparently, it's also on the minds of those silly folks who are in charge over at WalMart Stores' Sam's Club warehouses:

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UPDATE 3-Wal-Mart's Sam's Club limits rice purchases, By Nicole Maestri
NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Sam's Club warehouse division said on Wednesday it is limiting sales of several types of rice, the latest sign that fears of a rice shortage are rippling around the world.
[...snip...]
Food costs have soared worldwide, spurred by increased demand in emerging markets like China and India; competition with biofuels; high oil prices and market speculation.

The situation has sparked food riots in several African countries, Indonesia, and Haiti. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that higher food prices could hurt global growth and security.
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People are beginning to get worried. Nobody wants a loved one or an entire family to go hungry; add to the rising costs of gasoline the increased cost of transporting food to market, and people are finding that their relatively stagnant incomes are no longer stretching as far or buying as much at the local store.

It might be a good idea to invest in a small greenhouse or community-run garden project, folks. Not only would that provide a unique and interesting hobby, it could help offset potential shortages in staples as both the costs to purchase and the cost to bring them to market rise.

More on the rising costs of food and ways to address it tomorrow.

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Here's a later article....

Submitted by avahome on Sun, 04/27/2008 - 03:37.

I am afraid the market speculators are at it again....with a little help from business trying to escape rising prices.
What's going on with rice and flour?
excerpt:

The headlines read as if they come from far-off, struggling lands, but, no, concerns about hoarding rice and a shortage of flour have hit businesses in America at a time of skyrocketing agricultural prices.

Commercial bakers say they are stocking up on specialty rye and gluten flour because of fear that supplies are dwindling. And Costco's chief executive said the big-box retailer is thinking twice about letting customers buy multiple pallets of flour to preserve supplies.

Restaurants and other large-scale customers appear to be buying so much rice that Costco, Sam's Club and other wholesalers have put limits on the amounts they sell, leading some consumers to stock up. This has resulted in some individual stores in places like California reportedly running out of rice............