Mammanomics: How to get screwed in the globalized kitchenplace

This morning I saw a very interesting topic on the news: Japan has a butter shortage!

 

My first thought was to write a post about this. Before I could get to it, Rob sent me an equally interesting link on the first recession ever that Starbucks is facing. You can read the article Rob sent me a link to, "The First Starbucks Recession" by the wonderfully propagandized news reporter TIME/CNN .

 

In all honesty I don't like Starbucks coffee. It IS too bitter, exactly as the author of the article said at the end of his commentary. And in all honesty, even though The Starbucks CEO Schultz claims McD's coffee is "less than satisfactory" (he was quoted using the word "swill"), I have found that here in Japan, McDonald's Premium Roast is FAR BETTER than Starbucks' brewed coffee which is, in my opinion, "burned toast". They burn the shit out of their beans which leaves a horridly strong acidic aftertaste in the mouth. Sure, it works for latte's but not all of us want to dope ourselves up on cow hormones and get massive carb-induced sleepies (yes, milk is a BIG carb) from it.

 

And soy latte's? HAHAHAHA. I've talked about how bad for us soy is, so you won't find me drinking that stuff! I have tried all cream latte's, but although I love the taste of cream, a grande cream sat like a huge lump of curds in my tummy and just rolled around there, making me feel ill. So I try the variety of brewed coffees and other "watered down shots" and stuff, but still, they are all too burned in flavour for my "Italian roast spoiled tastebuds". (Yes, it is true, the espresso in Italy is infinitely tastier than that at Starbucks).

 

What I DO like about Starbucks is the atmosphere, a LOT. McDonalds sucks for "atmosphere" and the other coffee shops here are all smoke filled dingy dens, even if they do try to compete with Starbucks. Ugh. But the problem is as the Fox explained, the USA is soooo hard hit by deficit and "middle class cleansing" that the masses (the poor and the rich are at the opposite ends of the economic bell curve) simply cannot afford five bucks a cup!

 

If you read that article, I think you will see that Schultz is not entirely on the mark with his assessment, because he is not taking into account that North Americans (Americans specifically) simply DO NOT HAVE THE CASH to go in for the "five bucks" on a regular basis anymore, and it is only getting worse.

 

"We Japanese" learned through our 15 year repression all about becoming "recessioned". Now it's time for America and their big companies to feel the pinch along with all the consumers who may want to buy a "five bucks" but simply cannot...

 

Back to my main topic of the day: butter and the amazing shortage in Japan!

 

This is an easy lesson on global economics and even a "house mom" who gets sleepy at simply hearing the word "economics" should perk up her ears at this topic because it really DOES affect the household, the family and a whole lot more.

 

It seems that Japan has basically "run out of butter" Yep. It was on the news this morning. It is a massive deficit of that creamy goodness stuff that goes in everything from the croissants and delicious breads the Japanese are maniacs for, to the buttery smoothness of tonkotsu raamen! The patisserie's are getting a fraction of what they need, or none at all. Schools have been forced to change school lunches because they can't get the breads they were using. Prices are rising, demand is strong... but there is NO SUPPLY.

 

What happened?

 

Economics.

 

Global Economics to be more specific.

 

FRIKKIN GLOBALIZATION if you want to know the truth! Globalization in all its glory that the economists and governments and businesses completely ignore when they make their decisions to cut costs by "going global" and importing products and services from overseas based solely on "price competition".

 

Yep. Big business really screwed up this time, and it looks like it's going to take a long time to fix this mess.

 

It is a serious problem.

 

In the past, prices for milk in Japan started to go up. So butter manufacturers decided to buy from India and China. Well, guess what happened out there? Their GDP (income) has increased dramatically, and they are demanding more milk-related products, more grain-related products, more "obesity-related carbohydrates" just like we in the west. They are following on our heels quickly. But because their population is so vastly ginormous compared to ours in the west and here in Japan, the demand for these "new foods" like dairy, cheese in China which was until recently shunned as "not fit for human consumption" has created a giant vortex in the production so that prices have skyrocketed out there, as supply gets all sucked up.

 

I can't blame this entirely on "out there" of course, because the consumption of "designer breads and pastries" as well as cheese products is skyrocketing here as well, eating up huge amounts of milk products before it ever gets turned into butter (the last thing on the milk-product food chain to be made).

 

In the past Japan was buying a ton of milk from China and India to meet the demand, and throwing out the more expensive Japanese milk because nobody here would buy it at the high prices. Then prices out there went up as it does when more people want something (that was the economics lesson by the way, right there), and they stopped using the foreign milk.

 

So the companies that produce butter have tried to return to using the now "cheaper" Japanese milk, but because they stopped using the J-Milk processors and dairy farms here a lot of dairies went teats up. So guess what that means? It means that now there is not enough supply here in Japan to be shunted off for butter production and for the first time ever, there is a SERIOUS shortage of butter. This is causing major problems across the land here, and not just in the home kitchen, but in retail as well.

 

So, thanks to "globalization", we are not only screwing our blue and white collared middle class "bread winners", we are screwing all of the mamma's working hard to feed their children, keep within the budget and try to stay alive amid dwindling salaries, skyrocketing healthcare, and basic loss of position in the social bell curve.

 

You can read this good article from the Japan Times Online, "Butter supplies running short at supermarkets" , written April 6th. Today, three days later, we are actually at a more dire situation than they let on here, as seen on TV news this morning.

 

On a final note, I just want to say that I sure hope the Margarine manufacturers don't capitalize on this and "marketize" (brain wash through marketing) the kitchenplace to convince them (again) that margarine is "good for you". It isn't. It's one of the worst things you could EVER put in your mouth. A plastic food that won't ever rot is scary enough, but when you understand how it works on a biochemical level and takes over the receptors that require healthy Essential Fatty Acids that are found in butter, cheeses, proteins, eggs and stuff, and basically prevents the cells from GETTING what they really need... and you begin to see the true health nightmare that "no cholesterol!" margarine has done to our health. It is a true "fake food" not fit for even our worst nightmare enemies and ghouls!

 

It's lunchtime, and I'm hungry so I'm heading over to the kitchen, going to open up the fridge and enjoy a nice cold slice of delicious (and expensive) designer butter.....

 

I... *tummy rumbling*... love you!

 

Cam