gotn't milk
The wife and I have gradually been switching to organic foods, especially for dairy products. Rachel prefers the idea of ingesting fewer growth hormones, while I prefer to think of it as an economic statement against corporate farming. Prices tend to be higher for organic foods, but I'm willing to accept it as a true cost of production without resorting to hazardous chemicals or questionable labor practices. Whether any of these assumptions are true is another story.
A routine visit to the Oltorf H.E.B. yielded a small surprise – Horizon organic milk was only available in gallon containers, and prices had increased to over $5 per gallon. A note on the freezer announced that an organic milk shortage was to blame for limited availability and increased prices. The Horizon website is mum on the subject (except for this legislative note), but other sites explain the situation in the US and the UK.
It's misleading to say there is a shortage of organic milk – which implies that cattle udders have suddenly dried up – rather that demand has grown faster than farmers' ability to keep up. As you may remember from economics class, high prices are supposed to encourage more farmers to produce organic milk, but because organic production must be certified over a period of months, even years, this is not a "free" market that can instantly adjust to accommodate our demands. Unless a slew of new organic farms are poised to complete the approval cycle, we're probably stuck with reduced supply and increased prices until more cattle can be raised according to organic specifications.
Americans should be getting used to this scenario since it mirrors the current rise in gas prices. As much as we like to blame the oil companies for charging $2.15 a gallon for the same gas that cost $1.75 three weeks ago, they are simply responding to the same market forces as the organic milk suppliers, but on a global level. US demand for oil has risen in step with SUV sales, but the real pressure comes from China, where demand is now on the fast-track to fuel their rapidly-developing economy. And with no new reserves readily available to satisfy this insatiable global appetite, prices will continue to rise until demand and supply some to some sort of agreement.
I suspect that if the Oltorf H.E.B. knew such geopolitical economic forces lurked in their dairy case, they might clean it more often.
A routine visit to the Oltorf H.E.B. yielded a small surprise – Horizon organic milk was only available in gallon containers, and prices had increased to over $5 per gallon. A note on the freezer announced that an organic milk shortage was to blame for limited availability and increased prices. The Horizon website is mum on the subject (except for this legislative note), but other sites explain the situation in the US and the UK.
It's misleading to say there is a shortage of organic milk – which implies that cattle udders have suddenly dried up – rather that demand has grown faster than farmers' ability to keep up. As you may remember from economics class, high prices are supposed to encourage more farmers to produce organic milk, but because organic production must be certified over a period of months, even years, this is not a "free" market that can instantly adjust to accommodate our demands. Unless a slew of new organic farms are poised to complete the approval cycle, we're probably stuck with reduced supply and increased prices until more cattle can be raised according to organic specifications.
Americans should be getting used to this scenario since it mirrors the current rise in gas prices. As much as we like to blame the oil companies for charging $2.15 a gallon for the same gas that cost $1.75 three weeks ago, they are simply responding to the same market forces as the organic milk suppliers, but on a global level. US demand for oil has risen in step with SUV sales, but the real pressure comes from China, where demand is now on the fast-track to fuel their rapidly-developing economy. And with no new reserves readily available to satisfy this insatiable global appetite, prices will continue to rise until demand and supply some to some sort of agreement.
I suspect that if the Oltorf H.E.B. knew such geopolitical economic forces lurked in their dairy case, they might clean it more often.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
posted by wae at 6:03 AM
3 Comments:
There seems to be plenty of the Central Market organic milk. I think it's an evil plot on the part of H-E-B to get us addicted to THEIR organic milk with the super seekret minc control ingredient. Once they've got us all hooked, they flip the switch and we're all suddenly H-E-B drones.
Think about it.
Oops. That was "mind control", not "minc control", which something far more sinister.
"minc control" ... almost as sinister as leaving out verbs.
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