Baaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
"Rising value of sheep herds rustlers into English countryside" by Anthony Faiola, Washington Post / January 23, 2011
WINDEMERE, England — Farmer, beware: Thieves are stalking the puffy white gold of the British countryside.
Sheep rustlers....
The culprit? Globalization.
The ovine crime wave began, insurance company and farm union officials say, after global food prices started jumping again. With bouts of bad weather in major producers such as Russia, Argentina, and Australia and increasing demand in Asia, the price for many grains is now busting through the record highs they set in 2008. But meat prices have also surged, particularly for lamb....
Rising prices have fueled what authorities here describe as a thriving black market for lamb and mutton, with stolen animals butchered in makeshift slaughterhouses before their meat is illegally sold to small grocery stores, pubs and penny-wise consumers.
But farmers here are counting more than lost sheep. Britain is also witnessing a surge in the theft of tractors and other farm machinery, with authorities blaming organized crime rings smuggling the stolen equipment into Eastern Europe — where farmers are rushing to cash in on high grain prices by cultivating more and more land.
That's newspaper code for the Russian-Jewish Mafia.
Local authorities in Britain are racing to build up “farmwatch’’ programs, with some ranchers in the picturesque countryside long used to sleeping with their doors unlocked and with keys in their tractors now installing video surveillance equipment on their properties.
And CUI BONO?
The rural crime wave in Britain underscores the ways in which high food prices are rippling across the world.
Right into my supermarket aisle I've noticed.
Although sky-high prices in 2008 eased during the Great Recession, they have shot up again, in part because of bad weather, climbing oil prices and resurgent demand as the global economy recovers.
That means the GRAND DEPRESSION NEVER ENDED!
--more--"
Time to go see what is on the menu at my friend's house.
I will return later, dear readers. Go get a bite for yourself, please.
