Get Out of Dodge!

Pilgrim's Pride

Source: Charlotte Business Journal:

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., a chicken processor with operations in Union County, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The company, based in Pittsburg, Texas, says it does not expect the move to affect its daily operations. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing allows companies to protect their assets while they reorganize.

Pligrim’s Pride has been hit hard this year by several factors, including the high cost of ingredients for chicken feed and lower consumer demand for meat.

Earlier this year, the company shut down a facility in Siler City where it had employed more than 800 workers.

“We expect to emerge from this restructuring a stronger, more competitive company that is well-positioned for growth and enhanced profitability,” says Clint Rivers, chief executive. “We are proud of the consistently high quality of our products, our valued customer relationships and the high level of service we provide.”

Pilgrim’s Pride (NYSE:PPC) says it has reached an agreement to obtain $450 million debtor-in-possession financing from a group of lenders led by Bank of Montreal.

Pilgrim’s Pride says it expects to lose $802 million, or $10.83 per share, in the fourth quarter. The company says the latest results will include a $501.4 million charge tied to the impairment of goodwill associated with Pilgrim Pride’s purchase of Gold Kist Inc.

That company lost $33.2 million, or 50 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Pilgrim’s Pride has 48,000 employees. The company operates 35 chicken processing plants and 11 prepared-foods facilities.

Technorati Tags: Famine, Pilgrim’s Pride

Source: NYTimes.com

Food Prices Rising

For more than a year, food manufacturers have been shaving package sizes and raising prices, declaring that they had little choice because of unprecedented increases in the cost of raw ingredients like corn, soybeans and wheat.

Prices are dropping for commodities like this corn being harvested near Auburn, Ill., but economists predict the cost of food for consumers will continue to increase through next year.

Now, with the price of grains and other commodities plunging, it may seem logical that grocery prices will follow. But while prices for some items like milk and fresh produce are dropping, those of most packaged items and meat are holding firm or even increasing. Experts warn that consumers should not expect lower prices anytime soon on most items at the grocery store or in restaurants.

Government and industry economists project that the overall cost of food will continue to climb in 2009, led by increases for meat and poultry. A big reason, they say, is that food companies still have not caught up with the prolonged run-up in commodity prices, which remain above historical averages despite coming down from their highs early this year.

The Agriculture Department is forecasting that food prices will increase 3.5 to 4.5 percent in 2009, compared with an estimated 5 to 6 percent increase by the end of this year.

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Technorati Tags: commodities, corn, soybeans , wheat

Source: scienceblogs.com

One thing that the Thanksgiving Holidays has made clear: America, the land of plenty where holiday overeating is celebrated as a social good, is suffering from a food availability crisis. The Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture describes a range of food security categories, ranging from “food secure,” which includes high food security and marginal food security, and “food insecure,” which includes low food security and very low food security. Households whose food security was classified as either “low” or “very low” did not have enough money to purchase an adequate supply of food at least some of the time — and their numbers are increasing dramatically, as anyone who works at or depends upon a food bank or soup kitchen will tell you.

Across the country, more people are appearing at their local food banks and soup kitchens as they struggle to afford enough to eat. For example, the New York City Coalition Against Hunger’s (NYCCAH) Annual Hunger Survey reports that emergency food providers are serving 28% more people in 2008 than they had last year. But sadly, as New York City food banks point out, donations are down this holiday season just as the faltering economy has increased the need for their services.

“More people are unemployed. People are more desperate for food and scared that it will run out. We have people lining up for food two hours before we begin pantry distribution,” reports Christina Baal, Director of Immigrant and Family Services at Cabrini Immigrant Services.

This decline in food availability has caused NYC food banks and pantries to cut back on the amount and variety of food provided to the hungry and their total food supplies for the week are distributed within a few minutes instead of within an hour or longer. Worse, many pantries have been forced to open less frequently and to close earlier, and several dozen food banks in NYC have permanently closed their doors.

“We can’t nibble around this problem. Hunger is becoming a full blown crisis for our City, and our current economic downturn is only going to make it harder for thousands of New Yorkers to feed themselves and their families,” said Councilmember Bill de Blasio, Chair of the General Welfare Committee.

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Technorati Tags: Food Crisis

Source: Bloomberg.com

Food Prices Rising

Food prices will rise next year, prompting a revival of protectionism from food-growing nations and risking a renewed bout of rioting, according to Jochen Hitzfeld, an analyst at UniCredit SpA in Munich.

“Agricultural commodities will outperform the broad commodity indices in 2009,” Hitzfeld wrote in a research note this week. “If key crop-producing countries then impose export bans again and speculators drive up prices via physical stockpiling and futures contracts, new food unrest is even conceivable in the second half of 2009.”

The CHART OF THE DAY shows food prices for the past 10 years as measured by an index compiled by UBS AG and Bloomberg that tracks at least 13 foodstuffs, including wheat, soybeans, sugar, cocoa and coffee. The index has declined 35 percent since peaking in July.

“The prices of many agricultural commodities are now clearly below their production costs,” Hitzfeld wrote. “We expect the coming year to bring a cutback in area under cultivation as well as a decline in the yield per hectare.”

Technorati Tags: Food prices

We’ve been mentioning the food crisis for many months now.  It is the next major crisis facing us, and it’s far beyond the time to start taking it seriously.  If you have made no preparations yes you had better do so now, in whatever way you are able…

Source: Los Angeles Times

In Montebello, nearly 5,000 turned out for a food giveaway, a number that stunned organizers who had tried to keep it a low-key event, targeting publicity to several churches and schools. But word of mouth proved stronger than a few fliers, and crowds inundated Montebello Park. A diverse mix of people stood in a six-hour-long line — families from middle- and working-class communities, including Pico Rivera, Montebello, Norwalk and Whittier. No one left empty-handed, though.

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Technorati Tags: food crisis

Source: NPR

A worldwide food shortage mixed with a global credit crisis has some countries getting creative. They’re bartering food for other essentials. Javier Blas of Financial Times talks to Madeleine Brand about which nations are striking deals and what they’re trading.

Listen

Technorati Tags: food shortage, bartering