1960s ad for rice [BoingBoing]

Josh says:

Publix did a great job not making it obvious — they pulled all of each flavor off the shelf before replacing it. But I found that one Mango one in the back and was able to make this comparison.

Speaking of not making it too obvious— these two containers look the same. Why does one have 6 ounces and the other have 4?

if you look at the bottom, that's where they get you. In the old days, the bottoms were flat. Now, not so much.

If you spot evidence of the ray's malevolent beam in your grocery store — take a photo and send it to us at tips@consumerist.com — or upload it to Flickr and submit it to our Flickr pool.

(Photos: Listener42

Listener42

Listener42 )

Wal-Mart Rations Rice, Warns of "Supply and Demand" Concerns [Fox Business News]
PREVIOUSLY: Costco: One Bag Of Rice Per Customer, Please

The bustling store in the heart of Silicon Valley usually sells four or five varieties of rice to a clientele largely of Asian immigrants, but only about half a pallet of Indian-grown Basmati rice was left in stock. A 20-pound bag was selling for $15.99.

"You can't eat this every day. It's too heavy," a health care executive from Palo Alto, Sharad Patel, grumbled as his son loaded two sacks of the Basmati into a shopping cart. "We only need one bag but I'm getting two in case a neighbor or a friend needs it," the elder man said.

The Patels seemed headed for disappointment, as most Costco members were being allowed to buy only one bag. Moments earlier, a clerk dropped two sacks back on the stack after taking them from another customer who tried to exceed the one-bag cap.

"Due to the limited availability of rice, we are limiting rice purchases based on your prior purchasing history," a sign above the dwindling supply said.

Shoppers said the limits had been in place for a few days, and that rice supplies had been spotty for a few weeks. A store manager referred questions to officials at Costco headquarters near Seattle, who did not return calls or e-mail messages yesterday.

An employee at the Costco store in Queens said there were no restrictions on rice buying, but limits were being imposed on purchases of oil and flour. Internet postings attributed some of the shortage at the retail level to bakery owners who flocked to warehouse stores when the price of flour from commercial suppliers doubled.

International demand is greater than the supply of available rice. That's led several key rice-growing countries to impose export restrictions — resulting in even tighter supplies. Prices are also being driven by some of the same forces boosting all commodities — a weak dollar and high fuel prices.

Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World [NY Sun] (Thanks, Ryan!)
(Photo:greenwenvy08)

"There's going to be real food inflation in this country," C. Larry Pope, president and chief executive of U.S. beef processor Smithfield Foods Inc., said at the U.S. Agriculture Department's annual outlook conference.

Prices of grain futures have surged lately. For example, wheat futures have more than doubled on the Chicago Board of Trade over the last 12 months. Pope said meat shoppers eventually will pay for the rally because farmers who raise livestock cannot absorb the sharp escalation in feed costs.

Pope said the rip-roaring rallies in corn, soybeans and wheat would be good for farmers, but are "scary" for companies like Smithfield and the rest of the livestock industry.

"I think we need to tell the American consumer that things are going up," he said in a speech. "We're seeing cost increases that we've never seen in our business."

Miller and Budweiser aren't affected because they have futures contracts and use less hops. How much will the price of microbrew beer rise? No one is sure yet, but the brewer that NPR interviewed was very worried. He equated the skyrocketing price of gasoline to beer, and is worried that the hops shortage will price him out of the market.

"Some people are going to sell the truck and buy the Honda," he said.

Hops Shortage Likely to Boost Price of Beer [NPR]
(Photo:MegElizabeth_)

He agreed, cautioning to make sure we looked into funds with low expense ratios.

Then, he, a man who will proudly die never having been accused of being a smidge too politically correct, added,

Look into commodities. It's an old story, but true. Some of these growing countries, these communist countries that were kept under oppressive regimes for so long and not allowed to participate in the market economy.... in the 1920's, China had no middle class. And countries like India. Now everyone wants a dishwasher. That takes a lot of raw materials.

Interesting, we had never thought about it that way. Not that we've ever done much thinking about commodities. We do know at least international funds and commodities are hardly mutually exclusive. A nugget to save in the ol' noggin'.