I recently heard a news story where a man here in California was shocked to discover that at his local Costco they were rationing the number of bags of rice each customer could buy. The story went on to say that as a result of government subsidies to farmers to grow grain and corn for earth-friendly fuel, they have not grown enough to feed Americans. Thus, prices go up and quantities go down. If you're the person in your home who does the shopping, you may have noticed that we are now paying 25% more for eggs and 17% more for milk than a year ago. In general food prices are up 4.5% over last year. But rationing? Is this the beginning of the end? I'm thankfully too young to remember any rationing in our abundantly blessed nation, and I know there have been famines across the globe throughout the centuries, but Jesus makes reference to worldwide famines in the last days in 3 of the gospels.
And in Revelation 6: 5-7 "When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
My understanding of this scripture is that a single loaf of bread will cost a day's wages. Wow. The oil and the wine refer to riches. In other words, there will be an enormous gap between the extrememly wealthy and the poor.
Although I'm not a fanatical survivalist, I think I will store up some rice and other nonperishables in my closet just in case prices explode. But, I don't want to leave you on a sour note. According to an article in the NY times, this rise in food prices could be a good thing for naturally grown organic produce grown by independent farmers, whose prices are higher than normal pesticide-laden mass produced food which comes to us deplete of nutrients. When the price of "normal" food reaches that of a healthier organic food, then people will choose the healthier food which will support their small local farmer and make them healthier in the process, which will also reduce medical expenses, and everyone will be happy!
I have noticed food prices have gone up. It's annoying, and we have 5 people in my family and a large food list. It gets hard!Doing most the cooking for my family now and going w/ whoever is doing the shopping (normally my dad) I've seen first hand how prices have gone up. The "cheap" stuff isn't so cheap anymore.
ReplyDelete