I hoarded 250 lbs of rice...tomorrow's lunch is going to be even bigger!

Aha, chickens and monkeys! Our evil plot is finally coming to fruition! Soon we will rule the world!

It's a travesty. Now I'm really at the mercy of some high winds, because who can afford a dollar for three bananas?

I'm not sure about rice, but I don't remember eating any corn.

I am attending meeting for rice addiction. It's the NRA. (No Rice Association). Can be messy when angry rifle people show up demanding rice.

My regular chinese restaurant is now offering General Tso's with brown rouse.

This line is supply, this line is demand, the demand line is shifting and the supply line is not. Very simple - this means raise the price. What is this rationing crap? If people want to hoard, let 'em!

Obviously you have not been keeping up with postcardsfromyomomma. All life's answers can be found right there.

@ADismalScience: My premise on the inelasticity of rice will soon be borne out.

Bravo to all. The range of comments above is why I read Gawker.

I'm hoarding chickpeas.

I got Chinese food the other day, and let me just say...pork fried couscous does not fucking cut it.

Everyone's overreacting. All this means is that instead or rice and corn our "choice of sides" will now be fried cucumbers and drill bits.

@CodePink: Fine with me...I make a point of never ordering anything with a side of rice anyway...except when eating Chinese, of course. Also, fried cucumbers sound delicious.

I suddenly regret talking my mom out of buying those 400 acres in Kentucky that she was going to use for a giant rice paddy several years ago.

If I'm going to be stockpiling anything, it will have to be chocolate.

and wine, lots of it.

Rice is a'ight, but he who controls barley controls the world.

@FitnessMadeSimple: I'm in possession of a plot of land in Colorado that my great-grandfather secured during the Homestead Act. It's been a wheat field for the past hundred years. I was hoping to strike oil there or something, but now I know that a rice paddy is the way to go. Fuck my IRA!

@Smitros: A cold shiver ran through me as I contemplated the possibility of a beer shortage. That's it, screw the polar bears!

@blix:
Unfortunately, growing conditions for hops may yet bring about a beer shortage.

Then we just fast-forward to hard liquor.

@Smitros: According to mrbeer.com, where I get the ingredients for my home-brewed beer, there is already a world-wide hops shortage. I think we need to put a moratorium on IPAs and other hop-heavy beers. Save some hops for the rest of us, assholes.

@AuntPeniston: Yeah, I'd get started on that pronto, before we run out of rice seeds (?) to plant.

I just bought saki futures.

I almost forgot about rice until they mentioned the shortage and now it's all I'm craving.

Also, this clip on the Daily Show is great.
[www.thedailyshow.com]

@dado:

Rice is less elastic than most food products, but it has replacements. In the case of extreme poverty, sorghum.

In addition, raising the price of rice will have a major impact on rice derivative products, which are largely less efficient than direct consumption of rice. Thereby increasing the available calories for human consumption.

Wheat and beef are having a similar interaction. It's all good - not only are healthier eating habits becoming necessitated by price fluctuations, but worldwide commodity usage is becoming more efficient.

Next up: stop bottling water and burning corn

my coworker has 8 huge bags of rice in the trunk of his car. true story.

@ADismalScience: If only economics were that simple. oh, wait...

@FitnessMadeSimple: Grow your own hops, and stay the fuck away from my IPA! Seriously though, if you are really into beer making you might be able to grow your own. There is an area near me where hops grow wild, and I used to use them in my beer-making. I need to do that again soon.

Also, rice is the seed.

@arguablythemostfamous: I really do have 5x 50 lb bags of rice in my garage.

my banana, egg and rice casserole is getting really pricey

Oh! So this explains why I just paid $9 for a slice of banana bread.

@valarmorghulis: I like my beer malty, not hoppy. I brew Belgian-style ales, so I don't require much hoppage. But still...don't you think you IPA people go a bit overboard with the hops?

I actually did look into growing hops...but you need a pretty big space to grow them, and, like I said, I just don't like 'em that much.

But if you like IPAs, you should check out this bar called dba on First Ave between 2nd and 3rd. They have an IPA that's 20% alcohol.

@koala325: Banana bread? How am I supposed to feed my family with banana bread?

We should have seen this coming when throwing rice at weddings was outlawed in favor of birdseed.

@arguablythemostfamous:

The economics are the easy part. It's the behavior in response to the economics that doesn't always make sense. And it's the government response to the behavior in response to the economics that rarely makes sense.

Rationing is ridiculous. Just raise the price!

@arguablythemostfamous: My mom made rice pudding a few weeks ago and has a tupperware full of leftovers...I insisted she save it so she could sell it on ebay for a royal sum in the near future.

I have a box of Saltines, a Snickers Almond bar, a pair of flats, and three Whole Foods plastic bags (neatly folded), all stashed in my desk. So after work, I'll change my shoes, throw my provisions in a bag, and walk a little further to a store that hasn't had the shelves cleared by insane, rice-hoarding alarmists.

@ADismalScience: and there isn't even a real rice shortage here in the US. there is a MASSIVE shortage in poorer/developing countries so I think the rationing rationale is more along the lines of "look at the sacrifices we're willing to make for the rest of the world". This will be about as effective as the federal summer gas tax exemption that Hil loves so much.

David Byrne said it all back in the wayback:
"I've got some groceries, some peanut butter, to last a couple of days."

@FitnessMadeSimple: True, hops are pretty difficult to get growing well youself. I'd check out the bar...but considering I live on the left coast won't be anytime soon (but this definatly goes towards making me want to visit NY). It does however, sound like a beer after my own heart. Kinda like those Sam Adams special brews.

All I can say is, I got a bomb shelter full of donuts and if you want in, you'll have to pry the key out my cold, dead hand.

This has got to be bad news for vodka prices. Which should I hoard: potatoes or wheat?

@MisterHippity: Now that's some stellar planning because, as we have learned, donuts are not just tasty treats but also make blowjobs better. Come the revolution, you'll be SET.

@FitnessMadeSimple: No kidding, the sushi place on 20th and 7th in Manhattan serves fried cukes in their mixed tempura. Bon appetit!