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Tag: beef
USDA Responsible For E. Coli Outbreak
Guest Post by Hardscrabble Farmer
Yesterday on NPR I caught a news story about a restaurant chain called Chipotle. They are an upscale fast food restaurant that pretends to be the same type of purveyor as Whole Foods, i.e. they market the idea of using farm fresh ingredients without actually using farm fresh ingredients. Those who think about their health when eating fast food- an oxymoron if ever there was one- choose these types of outfits because it allows them to indulge their hunger without actually correcting their previous ignorance regarding the source of their next next meal. It appears that Chipotle accidentally poisoned its customers in the Northwest with E. Coli contaminated beef.
Not their fault, actually since Chipotle did exactly what they were told to by purchasing their products from “well known and trusted” suppliers. In addition to that, they were secure in the knowledge that the purchases of meats they made were all USDA inspected. Whew! Glad the pros are on the job, doing what they are paid to do, insuring our food supply is safe.
It seems, however, that Chipotle didn’t actually have to poison their customers. The day before they did the USDA had issued a recall on close to 80 tons of ground beef that came from- curiously- a USDA facility in Omaha, Nebraska.
As of now the two events are in no way connected except that they are- in both cases the meat was inspected by the USDA, the very organization who’s sole mission is to inspect for things like this. It’s easy to miss 80 tons of contaminated meat, probably came off the line when the inspector was taking a bathroom break.
Keeping meat safe to eat isn’t rocket science. It must be kept clean, it must be used while fresh or promptly frozen or cured, it must be cooked to the proper temperature and eaten soon thereafter. When was the last time you heard of a hunter getting E.Coli? Hundreds of thousand of tons of wild harvested meat is consumed daily coming from less than laboratory condition environments and yet no one gets sick and dies from it. A salad at McDonalds? Bring your barf bag.
F#@KFLATION
Every day you hear the boobs on CNBC and the rest of the mindless mainstream media regurgitating the Federal Reserve concerns about deflation, as if lower prices somehow hurt the lives of Americans. Who doesn’t like lower prices? Are people really pissed off that gasoline has dropped from $3.60 a gallon to $3.00 in the last four months? The BLS manipulated, massaged, and adjusted bullshit CPI number says there is virtually no inflation. It is heavily weighted towards a made up housing calculation and would only show an increase if people actually got wage increases. The lack of wage inflation, combined with high inflation for food, utilities, rent, tuition, and healthcare has created a new flation – FUCKFLATION. The middle class gets fucked, while the bankers and oligarchs drink champagne, eat caviar, and conduct interviews with CNBC about their fears of deflation.
Guest Post by Anthony Sanders
Inflation? House Prices, Beef, Big Macs And Wages (Beef UP 74% Since 2009, Wage Growth DOWN 45%)
If we look at the YoY growth in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the “inflation” rate in the US is 1.7%.
Since December 2008, beef prices have risen 74%. House prices have risen “only” 17%, chicken has risen 18.5%. Meanwhile, real median household income has fallen 4.6% and average wage growth has fallen 45%.
Of course, house prices have really skyrocketed since 2012 (UP 30% since end of Q4 2011) even though wage growth remains stagnant (at little more than the stated inflation rate).
Then we have McDonald’s Big Mac! Since President Obama took office, Big Mac prices have risen 34.5% (while real median household income has declined 4.6%).
Here is a chart of currency adjusted Big Mac prices.
For those of you that have never eaten at McDonald’s or had a Big Mac, here is the image of a Big Mac … and the reality.
At least “Le Big Mac” holds it form better than Burger King’s “Whopper.”
So, there you have it. The US allegedly has virtually no inflation, yet house, beef, chicken and Big Mac prices keeps shooting up through the roof.
But then again, so has college tuition and medical costs, ALL with falling/stagnant wage income.
PLEASE, NOT THE BACON
Bacon prices can’t keep rising. I love it too much. This development could jump start the revolution. It’s a known fact that bacon price increases initiated the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution. Little known fact – Lenin was baconaholic.
Even with bacon prices at all time time highs, the BLS says it hasn’t increased at all because the average person switched to eating Purina Beggin Strips. It’s the next best thing to real bacon.
Even dogs are upset about the increase in meat prices.
Price of Beef and Bacon Reach All-Time High
July 22, 2014 – 11:14 AM
(CNSNews.com) – The price of beef and bacon hit its all-time high in the United States in June, according to data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).In January 1980, when BLS started tracking the price of these commodities, ground chuck cost $1.82 per pound and bacon cost $1.45 per pound. By this June 2014, ground chuck cost $3.91 per pound and bacon cost $6.11 per pound.A decade ago, in June 2004, a pound of ground chuck cost $2.49, which means that the commodity has increased by 57 percent since then. Bacon has increased by 78.7 percent from the $3.42 it cost in June 2004 to the $6.11 it costs now.
In one month, beef increased from $3.85 in May 2014 to $3.91 in June 2014. Bacon increased from $6.05 in May 2014 to $6.11 in June 2014.
Each month, the BLS employs data collectors to visit thousands of retail stores all over the United States to obtain information on the prices of thousands of items to measure changes for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI is simply the average change over time in prices paid by consumers for a market basket of goods and services.
The BLS found that there was a 0.1 percent change in the food index in June, which tracks foods like meats, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy, as well as many others. “The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased in June, though its 0.2 percent increase was its smallest since December,” stated BLS.
“The index for food at home has increased 2.4 percent over the past year, with the index for meats, poultry, fish and eggs up 7.5 percent,” BLS stated.
PROOF THAT BLS INFLATION NUMBERS ARE A FRAUD
I’ve written dozens of posts about the fraudulent figures put out by the propaganda arm of the government – the BLS. Looking at today’s laughable report proves once again how our government desperately needs to convince the clueless masses that inflation is under control. Beef prices hit a 27 year high today, but the BLS says the price didn’t go up because you substituted beef with chicken. The figures below show that new car prices have not risen in the last year. That’s funny because all of the car companies announced 3% to 5% price increases. The BLS says the price didn’t increase because you now have an ass warmer in your seat and a beeper for when you back up.
But the most outrageous lie within the BLS propaganda is the price of gasoline. They have the gall to report a 1.7% DECLINE in March after a 1.7% DECLINE in February. Please see the chart below of actual gasoline prices for February and March.
The price of gasoline on February 1 was $3.27 per gallon. The price on March 31 was $3.54 per gallon. By my calculations, people in the real world paying real money for real gasoline experienced an 8% increase in gasoline costs. How can these government drones blatantly publish false inflation data when anyone with a smattering of research skills can disprove their bullshit propaganda? Am I the only one who gets pissed off by this shit? Maybe some Ivy League educated Wall Street economist or CNBC faux journalist bimbo can explain to me why the BLS figures are accurate and beyond question.
The price of oil rose from $97 per barrel on February 1 to $102 per barrel on March 31, with a spike above $104 during February. That is a 5% increase in two months. Natural gas is up 9% YTD with a huge spike in February. But somehow the BLS reports all energy costs are flat for the year. You’d have to be a shit eating retarded monkey to believe this crap.
It seems gasoline prices have continued higher in April, up another 2% since the end of March. I’m sure the BLS will report a 4% drop in gasoline prices in April. The BLS and our government keepers are a joke, except I’m not laughing.