This was going to be a post about Memorial day, flags and history, but somehow deep thoughts with Jack Handey intruded and I spent part of my day to day thinking about the globe. That is, I read 5 issues of Businessweek, which had been stacked unread because of other things rising to a priority level. And so, now I’ve pieced together the latest global warning story and the picture isn’t too pretty.
Apparently there’s a global food shortage because, as we here in the US have noticed, food costs have jumped. The experts say its due to rising energy costs. No matter what part of the world, technology and its reliance on energy has shifted the equation of producing food from a labor/land intensive product to one that requires processing of some sort. In parts of the world where people earn the equivalent of a dollar a day, the impact of rising food prices hits hard. Wonky experts are adding that it is a perfect storm of bad weather (typhoons in Micronesia and drought in Austrialia) and bad economics, sinking dollar rising oil costs.
Which doesn’t quite explain why the Costcos in Calfifornia made the news with a run on jasmine yellow and basmati rice. The linked article explains that is governments that are causing the problem:
India and Vietnam, two of the world’s biggest rice exporters, reduced their rice shipments. Since then, Cambodia, Egypt, and Brazil have all halted rice exports. And many observers worry that Thailand, the world’s largest rice exporter, might jump on the bandwagon.
This is despite the bumper crops in Vietnam and India. Food riots gripped Haitia and Egypt in April, prompting news reports of dire predictions of food shortages in the US. Which wouldn’t be surprising considering how difficult it was for non profits to gather food donations in the area this past year.
Yet following the robust high tech industry, no sign of inflation, technology has never been cheaper. There’s even a cover story in Businessweek about how Apple is gaining sales in the corporate world where even PC stalwart IBM is considering whether to let employees choose Mac or Windows, again from Businessweek:
In the March quarter, Mac sales blew away all forecasts, soaring 51% over the previous year, or more than three times the rate for the personal-computer industry. Throw in the iPod and iPhone, and Apple’s total sales have surged from $5.2 billion in fiscal 2002 to $24 billion last year. Its share price has risen 2,300% over the past five years, giving the company a market capitalization, at $154 billion, that tops those of tech giants Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Dell (DELL), and Intel (INTC).
Which leads me to point you all in the direction of a website, freerice.com, where you can improve your vocabulary, and fund UN food programs that deliver rice to countries where they need it. Enjoy.
