One of my favorite food combinations is rice and butter. In fact, when I was pregnant with my son, that was my go-to craving for two solid months.
Twenty years later, we are facing the possibility of shortages of both staples.
To begin with, this country might have a butter shortage right before the holiday season.
According to data from the United States Department of Agriculture, the amount of butter sitting in US storage facilities in August fell 10% month-over-month. However, it was down 22% compared to the same time a year ago.For example, there was over 282 million pounds of butter in warehouses last month, down from over 362 million pounds in August 2021, according to data compiled by the USDA.The Agriculture Marketing Service’s recent Dairy Market News report shows supplies are tight around the nation. In the report, officials say demand is outpacing supplies in the West, where producers are running reduced production schedules.
The reason is a shortage of both supplies and workers.
Tanner Ehmke, lead economist for dairy and specialty crops at CoBank, projected earlier this summer that “historically high butter prices are all but certain to continue for the remainder of 2022″ as shortages continue.In a recent June report, Ehmke said supply problem are the result of U.S. dairy farmers and butter processors struggling to increase production due to rising costs of feed, energy, heifers and even labor.”Some churns are slowing production due to tight U.S. milk supplies and short staffing at plants,” Ehmke said.According to the data from the USDA, monthly milk production has dropped in several of the past few months, including as recently as June. From January through June, U.S. milk production was down by almost 1% for the year, according to the USDA.
And while the lack of sugar cookies during Christmas may be sad, the looming global rice shortage could be tragic. A United Nations official projects global rice shortages next year…due to the rise in fertilizer costs and the continuing war between Russia and Ukraine.
Rising fertilizer costs in the global market will negatively affect the availability of rice and other staple foods in 2023 if the crisis between Russia and Ukraine continues next year, said Maximo, a chief economist at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Torero Cullen predicted.In an interview with the Finance and Development Journal – Quarterly Bulletin by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr Cullen says the lack of wheat and fertilizer supplies has already pushed up prices and more of the food import bills for the most vulnerable countries. has increased. US$25 billion this year; 1.7 billion people are at risk of starvation in the future.“If the war continues in 2022 and 2023, we could potentially have a food availability problem as well as a food availability problem, as Ukraine and Russia will further reduce their exports, including fertilizer. which we have to avoid,” he cautioned.
And while rice is not a major staple in this country, it is an essential food item in others.
With more than half of the people in the world relying primarily on rice for their diets, according to the USDA, it’s obvious that a lot of the grain needs to be grown to feed the world’s population. In 2021-22, the world’s people consumed 509.87 million metric tons of rice, which was an increase of about 72.69 million tons compared to the 2008-09 crop, reports Statista.While images of plateaued rice paddies in Asia may first come to mind when thinking about how the grain is grown, in fact, the United States produces about 20 billon pounds of the grain every year, according to Think Rice. Of the rice grown in the United States, about half of it remains here, while the rest is exported to around 120 countries.
Could this warning be why “experts” now say white rice is as bad for you as candy?
Eating lots of white rice is just as bad for your heart in the long run as consuming lots of candy, a study suggests.Researchers in Iran looked at the risk of heart disease among people whose diets were high in refined grains compared to whole grains.They found those who ate refined grains – processed to give them a finer texture and longer shelf life – were more likely to develop coronary artery disease in middle-age.Lead study author Dr Mohammad Amin Khajavi Gaskarei said the damage done by a diet high in these grains was similar to eating lots of junk food.
A scientific hypothesis that I have, which I fear is about to be tested: Starving people are generally not worried about the condition of their coronary arteries.
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