Japan crisis: 'There’s no food, tell people there is no food'

Japan’s survivors scavenge for food in aftermath of tsunami

AFP image

Peter Foster
Telegraph

The unshaven man in a tracksuit stops his bicycle on the roadside and glances over his shoulder to check that he is unobserved. Satisfied, he reaches quickly into the sludge-filled gutter, picks up a discarded ready-meal and stuffs it into a plastic carrier bag.

In another time, another place, Kazuhiro Takahashi could be taken for a tramp, out scavenging for food after a long night on the bottle. In fact, he is just another hungry victim of Japan’s tsunami trying to find food for his family.

“I am so ashamed,” says the 43-year-old construction worker after he realises he has been spotted. “But for three days we haven’t had enough food. I have no money because my house was washed away by the tsunami and the cash machine is not working.”

If his haul wasn’t so pitiful — his bag had two packets of defrosted prawn dumplings and a handful of vacuum-packed seafood sticks inside — Mr Takahashi might be taken for a looter. But in the port town of Ichinomaki, 200 miles north of Tokyo, his story is disturbingly common.

Read Full Article

Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter:


Delivered by FeedBurner

How the U.S. Government Guaranteed the Coming Global Food Crisis

Steve Sjuggerud
Market Oracle

Porter Stansberry with Braden Copeland write: Over the last several years, I've written constantly on the growing likelihood of a global currency collapse.

The governments of Europe and the United States have accumulated debts so large they can't ever hope to repay them, except with currencies whose value will be inflated away by money-printing.

That's led me to recommend inflation hedges like railroads, gold, silver, and various forms of energy. Owning these "real assets" is the single best way to protect yourself from the inflationary crisis. But make sure you don't forget the most important inflation hedge of all: food.


If you've been reading the financial press for the past few months, you know the prices of vital food commodities are soaring. The price of corn is up 47% since this summer. Soybeans are up 30%. Wheat is up 43%.

I expect this trend of higher food prices to continue for years as the U.S government intentionally debases the dollar while lying to you the whole time about wanting a "strong currency." (Make sure to read our essay hereabout this great lie.) There's also a good supply/demand case to be made for owning agricultural assets. Let's start with the largest crop in the United States, corn...

In 2009, U.S. farmers grew 39% of the world's corn – 307.4 million metric tons. The crop was worth $48 billion. Our corn exports totaled $8.7 billion.

Most harvested corn in the U.S. is used to feed livestock – 43% of 2009 production. Almost as much (41%) was used for food, consumer, and industrial products (toothpaste, adhesives, cosmetics, starches, sweeteners, oils, beverages, industrial alcohol, fuel ethanol, etc.). The remainder was exported. The U.S. sent most of its corn to Japan, Mexico, and South Korea.

The second-largest corn grower, China, produced 165.9 million metric tons, or half the U.S. production. The European Union was a distant third, harvesting 62.7 million metric tons. Brazil checked in fourth, at 51 million metric tons.

In 2009, a severe drought in China killed millions of bushels of corn. Stockpiles dwindled to alarming levels as the government sold corn to keep the price from rocketing higher. Into 2010, the situation hasn't improved. The Chinese have become net importers of corn for the first time in 16 years. Experts predict China will require 6 million to 8 million metric tons of corn this year.

Read Full Article

RELATED ARTICLE:
Banksters Inflate Speculative Food Bubble

Fresh food that lasts from eFoods Direct (Ad)

Live Superfoods It is time to Wake Up! You too, can join the "Global Political Awakening"!

Print this page

Mass Extinction Events – Are We Next?

Dr. Mark Sircus
IMVA

Feeling secure with life these days? If you are secure like granite then you should possibly have your head examined and confess all your sins because insecurity is one of the facts of life. After all we might be knocking on the gates of heaven at any moment if we are good little boys and girls; life for any of us could end in the next day.

There are no guarantees in life but one. But to talk about the one solid framework of life one has to get religious, one has to talk about God or what I like to call the light of pure consciousness. No matter what, we can count on the backbone of the universe to shine 24/7 no matter what we are doing or where we are, and that is why it says to seek first the kingdom of heaven because if you do, you discover the eternal light that never fails.

The heart chakra is the security center and its color is green and even our skin turns pale greenish when flashes of insecurity and jealousy envelop us. Insecurity is such an uncomfortable feeling, so much so that people would rather just shut down this emotional/feelings center and not be bothered with all the pain. Often the more someone has the more insecure they actually become because the fear of loss grows as we gather power and wealth.


It is not easy to open up a discussion about humanity’s chances of coming through the next decade or two. There is a high probability event on the horizon that puts billions of souls on the path to the gates that lead from this earth to somewhere else, but global warming is not included in our future destiny, yet President Barack Obama saidhe will look for ways to control global warming pollution anyway.

This is no exaggeration and we need to realize that right at this moment, as we are still comfortable and secure, a cool billion people or more are already in dire straits. There are that many people who are very hungry and starving for the very elements of life, starving for water, food, and shelter. A significant percentage of humanity is already at death’s door. Even in the richest country on the planet, over 40 million are on food stamps.

The drop from July is significant, and very steep, losing more than half of the temperature anomaly since then. The southern hemisphere has dropped the most. Very threatening to global temperatures is the tremendous recent increase in volcanic activity around the world.

Read Full Article

Fresh food that lasts from eFoods Direct (Ad)

Live Superfoods It is time to Wake Up! You too, can join the "Global Political Awakening"!

Print this page