Living On Bread Alone

A fox uses a lot of energy chasing a rabbit but that energy is replaced after catching and eating the rabbit. If it wasn’t replaced the fox would starve to death. If a person works hard for a dollar that dollar must allow him to buy enough food to regain his strength, or he would never be able to return to his job. That is why all workers must receive what is called a living wage.

There is no shortage of food in the world. Supermarket shelves in every country are packed with a variety of the best foods. It is true that the prices are higher but that is not the fault of the store owners. If it costs two dollars to produce a sack of rice it can’t be sold for one. If the costs of rice production were lower it would lower the price of a sack of rice .But its costs are based on the price of oil which is going to remain high.

The expanding middle class in China and India have no problem paying higher food costs. Their stores and shopping carts are overflowing with the world best food products.

China is importing millions of tons of beef that was fed on grain. This is helping to drain world grain supplies and raise their prices. China will continue importing beef, and as long as they can pay the bill nobody can change their eating habits. The US agriculture department said that India will have to import about two million tons of wheat in 2008.  Any setback in their wheat crop will see a sharp rise in wheat prices, perhaps by 50 percent.

Despite the rising cost of food the poor manage to feed themselves, if this was not true there would be no poor. They all would have starved to death. The problem of rising food prices for them is that most of their dollar is being spent on food. There is little left over for other basic needs like clothing and shelter. In many undeveloped countries poor people earn only a dollar a day. Their employers never pay less because if they did their workers would not have the energy to return to the job the next day. Many poor people work only for food. They live in the streets or under the roof of the factory that they work in. Fortunately starvation is rarely seen.

We in the US are fortunate to be able to survive without having to earn an income. There are churches, shelters and dumpsters available to everybody. Starvation is impossible here. If a person decided to sit down on the sidewalk and refused to move an ambulance would soon arrive and take him to a place where he would be sheltered and fed.

The problem is not only the high price of food, but that it takes a big part of our dollar from us. There is a saying that man can’t live on bread alone. We need some change left over to even replace a broken shoelace.

melpol