Costco & Sam's Club Rationing Rice

1. 0

   pgrundyposted 17 years ago

   I saw this on the news last night--It turns out people in the US are starting to hoard rice because the price has more than doubled since the beginning of this year, and the news reports of hunger riots overseas have some people here spooked. People were buying entire pallets of rice, and now they are limited to four bags only per trip, with the warning that flour and beans will also be rationed it people keep acting this way.
   
   I find this really alarming. Not the prospect of being hungry (I'm way too fat anyway--hunger would be a good education for me), but the prospect that people are already panicking here when there is still plenty of food. The panic is dangerous I think.
   
   Also, the reports of the situation in Haiti are making me crazy. Haiti is not so far away. Can't we all just mail one of those bags of rice to people there who need it? I'm serious. How would you do that? How would you get the address of a person in Haiti and would they deliver a package unmolested? Can we do that? People there are eating cookies made of dirt, butter, and sugar. They need food badly and we are just a stone's throw away.
   
   Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome.
   
   Thanks.

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2. 73

   SweetiePieposted 17 years ago

   I really agree with you.  I remember when I was in school, I lived in the mountains, there were several incidents where bears dug through the trash and ate food.  So much good food is thrown away each day by restaurants, schools, businesses, I think it would be good to send some of this food to our neighbors in need.  For example, we can send pasta and rice overseas and it would not go bad.

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3. 0

   pgrundyposted 17 years ago

   Yes, that is what I was thinking, but I'm not sure how to go about it. It frustrates me to see this on the news and not be able to respond. Here is a link to the UN's World Food Programme:
   
   http://www.wfp.org/english/
   
   There is a game there called "free rice"---it's a vocabulary game. Every time you play it sends rice overseas. Plus you can donate money to this UN organization.
   
   Still I'd like to get involved more directly. Any thoughts on how?

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4. 73

   SweetiePieposted 17 years ago

   Thanks for the information about the UN programs and I will look at that link.  When I was in high school our church youth group used to send money to churches in poor countries so the pastors there could arrange to buy food for people in the community.  Also, I had pen-pals in when I was younger and one girl had lost her mother in the conflict in Sierra Leone, so we sent her a calculator so she could continue her studies.  Those are the only types of involvement I have had with donating food overseas, but I would imagine there could be a way to mail bags of rice to people in need.  Does the UN have contact numbers for people who would be involved with these type of donations?

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5. 59

   marisuewritesposted 17 years ago

   there are ways to help, contact the Red Cross and they can tell you where to send to a place that is reliable...we don't want the fat cats in the government getting it...

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