Right Wing Milk Conspiracy

[doni_georgia]

A friend of mine called me yesterday. Her mom will only drink Mayfield Milk. Her mom went to WalMart (first mistake) to get groceries yesterday and Mayfield was $6.99 a gallon. When she asked why milk prices were so high, the WalMart clerk told her to "blame the environmentalists." She was told because of corn being used for alternative foods milk prices are sjy rocketing and likely to continue to go up.

Okay, first of all, if so much corn is being used to produce ethynol, why can't I find ethynol anywhere to purchase? Secondly, I shop at Ingles (hardly a left wing organization) and Mayfield is $4.99 there as is the brand of organic milk I buy. I know milk prices are on the rise after being really low in 2006. But every news source I can find says prices should rise $.30 to $.40 cents a gallon. I just find it really interesting that the prices should rise the week following the Live Earth concert and that clearly the employees at our local MallWart are telling people to blame the environmentalists. I already boycott Walmart and like I said I buy only organic milk, but thought this was worthy of posting.

I heard a news story a couple of weeks ago about beef prices rising for the supposed same reason, and my friend was saying her local chicken wings restaurant had raised prices on their meals for the same reason. Food prices going up and everyone wants to blame corn being used for ethynol - what about GAS PRICES and the fact that the cost of shipping food has increased! We eat a predominately vegetarian diet at my house and what meat we do eat is organic. I haven't noticed any price change on any of the organic meats or dairy products. Just find it interesting that non-organic prices are soaring while organic seems to be holding steady. Thoughts?

[Demeter]

1. The Truth Would Set Us Free

That's why we can't get any, at any price. They can't afford to let it on the market.

[lynnertic]

4. good one!

:thumbsup:

[groovedaddy]

2. another conspiracy with milk & dairy products:

RBG - growth hormones. The Monsanto megalith at work!

[SharonAnn]

16. There were changes in Federal price supports for milk last year. It was said that

milk prices would rise.

[lynnertic]

3. Corn feeds the animals that feed us.

Organic animals aren't being fed the corn that was grown for animal feed (which is likely GM corn) so the cost of producing Organic milk wouldn't be affected by the rising cost of that particular feed.

And the conspiracy IMO is no more and no less than the suggestion we "blame the liberals".

I'm glad I got my bike fixed.

[doni_georgia]

5. Haven't thought about GM corn

The "blame the liberals" part was exactly what I see as the conspiracy. That and evidently the milk industry is taking cues for the oil companies on how to increase their profit margins.

[lynnertic]

23. oh my, I've read that dairy farmers are really hurting.

It's a really low-margin business. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like only the big industrial farms are getting money. It at least bears looking into.

[yardwork]

6. Who asked anyone to make ethanol from corn?

The Bush administration pushed that idea, not environmentalists. Corn is an extremely inefficient source of ethanol.

These lies make me crazy!

[doni_georgia]

11. Yep - you're right there

I was also telling my friend that the price of soy products are remaining steady. Tofu, soy milk, etc. hasn't really gone up. If the environmentalists were to blame soy would be going up too from the cost of producing biodiesel.

Maybe Bush pushed so hard for corn to be used for this exact reason? Just a thought. If the process is inefficient, then it will be doomed to failure.

[yardwork]

21. I think that the corn lobby had a lot to do with it, yes.

Lots of corn being raised in "red" states.

[Tesha]

22. That would be "Archer Daniels Midland", via their purchased Senators and Congressmen. (NT)

[unpossibles]

7. you may be onto something

as a vegetarian who seldom eats/drinks dairy products I have to say I am amazed that soy milk (about $4-6 a gallon depending on brand & store) is now the same price or cheaper than milk.

The blaming of environmentalists/liberals makes sense though - it's the same people blamed for gas prices and a myriad of other problems.

as a semi-joke, maybe the dairy people were sick of everyone saying "gas is more expensive than milk!" and decided to do something about it.... ha?

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Yes, the price of corn is going up pretty rapidly,

and will drag the prices of beef & dairy with it. That's why lots of people think it's stupid to make fuel out of food.

And organic foods are totally out of that loop, so they will stay about the same unless the price of non-organic stuff starts rising REALLY high.

[leftofthedial]

9. only reigning in the capitalist corporate cancer that is eating our planet

will save us from extinction

capitalism has metastasized

[Arkansas Granny]

10. First of all, I'm wondering who asks a clerk at Wal-Mart for

an analysis on higher milk prices.

[AllieB]

12. Just because someone is a clerk at Wally World, it doesn't mean they're stupid

Nice elitist attitude there, Granny. In areas where there are few jobs, some people's only choice is to work at Walmart or join the Army. It doesn't mean they don't pick up a newspaper from time to time. Of course, they also may get all their news from Rush and Bill O.

[Arkansas Granny]

18. I don't mean to imply that Wal-Mart clerks are stupid. It's just that

I don't ordinarily ask a clerk at any store for an explanation of product pricing. They may have an opinion on the matter and it may be very well informed, but most of them have little to do with pricing policy.

[doni_georgia]

13. you'd have to know this woman

She is one of those types that would send a Big Mac back for having white lettuce instead of green (she actually did that before). She drives her daughter (my friend) crazy.

[JHB]

14. And for a follow-up...

...where is the clerk getting his "information"?

Does Wallyworld have a "product knowledge program" that tells employees this?
Or is this clerk just a freelancer in the agro-economics game?

[doni_georgia]

15. That was my question

Did the clerk come up with this on his/her own or was he/she told to tell people this when asked why milk was so expensive?
We know that there is no love lost between WallyWorld and progressives. I personally haven't stepped foot into a WalMart in about 7 years and have no intention to. I wouldn't shop at any chains at all if I could get away with it. Still I don't shop at many. I get my eggs from a neighbor who has free range chickens, get my produce from the local farmer's market, and everything else from Ingles because it's actually got the biggest selection of organic foods of any store in my area.

[gatorboy]

17. If that was true, everything would be going up.

Most people have no idea about just how much corn goes into most everything they eat.

Is it possible that milk prices have gone up because we have less cows (I remember hearing about drastic livestock loss during the freeze we had)?

[doni_georgia]

20. Many dairy farms went out of business in 2006

Prices were really low because of over production. Now there is more demand and less supply. That is the bottom line. Also I believe that there was a conference that agreed to raise the cost of milk $.30 - $.40 a gallon to boost the industry.

[madrchsod]

19. you guys talking about us????