General Store…Sugar and Honey
Originally I was planning to wait until the holiday to have you purchase sugar and honey but since there is now lots of talk about sugar shortages I decided to go ahead and get that now.
“Reports of poor harvests in two of the world’s largest producers of sugar have sent prices of the food staple soaring in recent days, with some of the nation’s largest food producers warning that a worldwide shortage of sugar may be a possibility.
However, commodity experts emphasized that U.S. consumers should not hoard the sweet stuff, saying that if a shortage comes; it would most likely affect only the largest bulk consumers of sugar.
Wholesale sugar prices are up more than 70% this year alone, closing at a near 30-year high of 22.21 cents a pound on Thursday. Some research analysts expect that international wholesale sugar prices may reach 40 cents a pound.“
I thought this was a naive statement. When was the last time that prices did not go up hwne there was talk of a shortage. We know as soon as there is more media coverage of a possibel shortage prices will go up even if the cost to the supplier has not. It has happened this summer with gas and I am afraid it will with sugar also. Besides, even if sugar does not increase the baked goosd and cereals we purchase will as prices are sure to increase for those who use sgar as an ingredient, so if we have sugar stored we will be able to more easily absorb the increase in the price of other products.
I”m not alone in this belief.
“However, USDA officials said it’s the other 15% that the nation requires may be a source of concern.
“One thing you need to know about sugar is that it’s an inelastic product, people are willing to pay whatever price for it,” an official who declined to be identified said. “If the world is going to be short of sugar, the question is what price we will pay to get what we need.” ”
Why the shortage?
“The problem with sugar stems from what is anticipated to be two poor sugarcane harvests in the world’s two largest producers: India and Brazil. India, which up until two years ago was a net exporter of sugar, has become a net importer of sugar after two straight poor harvests and resilient demand.
Meanwhile, officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture said they are now hearing reports that Brazil’s sugarcane harvest is suffering from too much rain. Also Brazil, which produces nearly half of the world’s sugar, has been converting up to half of its supplies into ethanol instead of refined sugar. According to the USDA, Brazil converted 42.5% of its crop into ethanol last year, up from 40.4% two years ago.”
This week add five pounds of sugar to your General Store for each person in your family. This will complete a three month supply, our goal for the year. If you wish to add more for a longer supply that is up to you. Also add one pound of honey per family member. There continues to be a serious problem with disease in bees and threats from killer bees destroying the honey bee population. So why not stock up on honey now too and we will have are “Sweets” covered.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/sugar-prices-food-producers-worried/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125011957488227095.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,855359,00.html
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/200906/s2587056.htm
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=7ef7f57e-1e3e-494e-9d44-b055cb28f8c3)
I just heard about the anticipated sugar shortage last week. My parents think I am being silly for wanting to stop by my local BJs and get a couple of big bags. I have started baking for my kids over the past 18 months and not looking forward to doubling the price of sugar to include in the recipes! Thanks for letting me know I am not doing something so unusual!
Thank you so much for sharing this information.I’ve directed the people in my neighborhood through my blog, to come read your article and look at the references you’ve listed. I really not only appreciate the heads up, but I also really appreciate the sources you got the information from. It’s so much easier to convince someone of something if you know where to show them. I have been know to laugh with my family that I don’t know why I have so much white sugar because I don’t use it very often. Now I know why. By the way, I will be getting more soon. Thanks again for keeping us informed and helping others of us know we aren’t the only ones out there who are concerned about the way the world is headed.
Keep in mind that you can usually cut the amount of sugar in a recipe by half. This is especially true for things like breads. My bread recipe calls for 2/3 cups of sugar! Over the past couple of years, in an effort to reduce the cost of our grocery budget, I’ve cut that amount down to 2 Tbsp of sugar or honey. You can leave sugar out of many homemade seasonings (like chili, spaghetti or taco seasoning) without any noticeable difference. You might start by cutting recipe amount by 1/4 and then go from there.
For those who do not eat sugar, you may consider storing some anyway. Given that it is an inelastic product, it could prove to be very valuable for trading if necessary. Many people are willing to give up just about anything except for sugar.
Sandra
I’ve been reading the reports about the sugar shortage too and wasn’t sure whether to take them seriously or not because last year when there was all the talk about a rice shortage… you wouldn’t have known it where we live. There was always rice on the grocery store shelves and even sales on rice.
I do know that in some areas people panicked and that did cause localized shortages. It’s possible that may happen again.
Since I’ve been doing so much canning and planning to do more, I bought a 50 lb bag of sugar on our last trip to Costco. It’ll be interesting to see if the price has gone up on our next trip.
I had no idea…
I just went to a pandemic preparedness class in my community and they mentioned something called a cytokine storm… have you heard of this? The presenters were also selling products so I tended to be more leary butthis was something that I had not heard of before and I figured you would be the one to ask.
Thanks
Michelle: There is a lengthy exlplanation of cytokine storms in the Prep Not Panic ebook but in brief this is the answer:
Cytokine storms are the reason young people die more than would normally be expected during a pandemic.
When an illness of any kind enters the body an immunological response against the germ occurs. In those with the strongest immune systems the response is the strongest. Unfortunately, this massive response causes the release of human enzymes called “cytokines,” which destroy lung cells at the same time as it destroys the illness. This causes a potentially deadly outpouring of fluids into the lung. This interferes with the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide and leads to sever respiratory conditions such as pneumonia.
I also would be VERY wary of anyone selling a product when speaking of a pandemic. The best defense against this is a good offense, build your immune system through good nutrition, self quarantine and treat the symptoms of the flu seriously, and know when to go to the doctor or hospital. If you have symptoms go, don’t get diagnosed over the phone. Too many illnesses can appear to be a flu so if your condition worsens insist on a personal exam.
Again the guidelines for when to go to the doctor and when to go to the hospital are in the book so if you have it run off a copy and post it where you can find it should your family become ill.
I’m so glad to know about this. I prefer stevia to sweeten liquids and don’t bake much, so I was just about to close the blog page until I read the part about using sugar to barter since many people absolutely DO depend on sugar. It is also a source of quick energy in an emergency, say for a diabetic. So, it’s off to the store for sugar. Gotta go!
I use honey when I make whole wheat bread, so I add honey to my food storage whenever I find a good buy. We do not use white sugar or white flour anymore. It is really not good for you. The only reason I can think of to have it to barter for other items in an emergency. I wasn’t going to comment on this, but felt that there was another perspective out there.