The Law of Unintended Consequences is at play again. This time, it is making it hard for a working mother to buy milk for children (subscription):
Maybe instead of “thank you,” the folks who have just checked out your groceries should say “sorry.”
Not that it’s their fault your food bill is wiping out your movie money and vacation fund. Checkers are also spending 37 percent more on eggs and 29 percent more on milk than they did a year ago. Industry watchers are saying 80 percent of grocery prices are likely to rise and stay high for years.
Moms are reporting they’re cutting their children’s milk consumption.
Elaine Martinez had just finished her shopping at Lowe’s Super Save at Lomas and 12th. She considers herself lucky that her 4-year-old, Christopher, likes healthful foods, but he can’t have as much as he used to.
“It’s awful to tell him he can’t have milk; he has to have water,” she said. “It’s not something as a mother I want to say to my child.”
Now if you didn’t read this whole article until the end, you might think this would be an article about economic recession. You know, something that Democrats might try to blame on the Republicans, but it’s not.
But corn is also a factor. It used to be food for humans and cattle. Now a lot of it is used for corn-derived ethanol to replace gasoline. Fields previously devoted to wheat, soy beans and corn for human consumption are producing corn for ethanol.
That’s right, producing food for human consumption has taken a backseat to dealing with the mythical global warming crisis. This is a result of the environmental hysteria created by people like Al Gore, which has in turn led to the nonsensical production of ethanol.
The next time you hear a candidate running on their environmental record and telling you how important it is that we use alternative sources of fuel for our vehicles, I hope you picture a 4-year old boy like Christopher who has to drink water instead of milk.
