On Demand
Milk Money
Monday, June 09, 2008
New York City Councilwoman Letitia James(D-35), representing Brooklyn and a member of the council committee on oversight and investigations, talks about her new report revealing lax oversight of the state Milk Price Gouging Law. Councilman Eric Gioia, D-26 (Queens), chair of the City Council's Committee on Oversight and Investigations, weighs in.
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How flexible is the law in allowing producers (and retailers) to recoop prices of inputs? With energy costs (petroleum and electricity) rising, any price control will likely pinch the producers and the unintentional result may be reduced supply (putting additional upward pressure on prices). Does the law allow for rapid adjustments in such cases?
how about some comments on the myth that milk is healthy?? many many humans beings are allergic to milk, and, even for the ones that aren't, milk is really not as healthy as the dairy industry would have us believe..
http://www.milksucks.com/index2.asp
http://www.notmilk.com/
http://virtualatdp.berkeley.edu:8081/philosophy/_2/_2/3
two cases in point:
1) many kids with ear infections, the ear infection goes away if you take away dairy from their diet, how many people know THAT?? (do dr's tell their patients this? I doubt it..)
2) dairy is also VERY BAD for anybody with sinus problems or anybody with any respiratory problems..
(as far as the calcium issue, we can get ALL the calcium we need from vegetables, fruit, and other foods, which are a healthier source of calcium than milk or cheese, which are loaded with fat...)
human beings are the only mammals who continue to drink milk after we are weaned.. does THAT tell you something??
(pls withhold my name if you read this on the air, I don't need the wrath of the dairy industry to breathe down my throat..)
thanks...
cows "milk" is a disgusting product made from the torture and abuse of said creatures, not to mention that it is not healthy for humans,
gee how about some discussion about soymilk or rice milk,
I used to live in an upstate dairy farming community, and this price-fixing seems remarkably short-sighted. Dairy farmers are already going out of business or aging out, with no one to take their place in this difficult, time-consuming, uncertain work. With increases in feed prices, energy costs, etc., more farmers will give up. Why should they alone bear the burden of subsidizing a needed product?
WE LOVE YOU TISH!!!
Who is this fool? She is so full of herself.
It's so hot, I wanted to go into the office today - though we have the day off for a Jewish holiday {Shavuot] - because the air conditioning is better there.
This month's threshold: http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/DI/ThresholdPrice2008-06.pdf
All threshold info: http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/DI/DIStats.html
The only way that we ever have any turnover in our city government is through term limits. Our Assembly members seem to serve lifetime terms, and only seem to be changed by the extremely undemocratic system of "special elections" where candidates are chosen by the parties. Term limits have been a boon for this city and are extremely popular. I was disturbed to hear the council member refer to her 11 year term. It shows that all members take their re-election for granted. The only way we can have new people in government is to keep term limits.
"legal" price of food? what? let the free market decide the press.
Does that include organic 1%, 2%, skim, etc?
No term limits for legislators, term limits for chief executives.
Please Note that
Milk CAN be safely FRozen.
If you freeze non-fat (skim milk) it won't have any 'dot's in in when you defrost it.
To defrost, simply take it, put it in refrigerator one full day before you need it.
why do children need milk???
milk is for fattening up baby cows, not children!
Other necessities: housing, healthcare, fruits and vegetables. Get a grip!
Your guest mentioned bodegas. Does the size of the store figure into the price? A small deli has understandable reason to charge higher prices on everything.
On the other hand, many normal size NYC grocery stores no longer display unit price labels on their shelves. One manager said they're too small to do that, implying that they don't have to, or that it's too difficult. That's BULL. They did it for decades okay, and the store is the same size now as always.
Water is a necessity yet the city keeps raising the price instead of making an effort to collect from deadbeats who don't pay their bill.
Perhaps a temporary tax break on milk would help parents of young children get through the summer. Oh, but of course, how foolish of me! That wouldn't solve the problem so why bother?
You don't "need" milk. There are plenty of other sources of calcium and vitamins.
cheap milk is industrial milk - not only is it full of additives and hormones they don't have to mention, it's ultrapasteurized - you can't make yogurt from it - si it is probably doing more harm tahn good - no vitamins (cows never see the sunlight, live in filth in confinement, are fed corn when they should be fed grass) kids don't need THAT!
Milk is NOT a necessity. This is myth. They need calcium and Vitamin D, that is true. Milk is viewed as unhealthy by many leading nutritionists and physicians. Much of the world exists without a diet of cow dairy at all.
Are the prices "guidelines" or "regulated rates"? If only guidelines are you fomenting "milk vigilantyism"?
My grandmother to cut food costs would cut all her milk with 50% powdered milk. It worked and we all got used to it and it was cost effective.
Paul,
Voter vigilance, honest ballots and transparent procedures are the ONLY solution to the problem of unresponsive representation. Apart from the personal integrity of representatives and their staffs, how responsive need a rep be in the last term? In rare cases, they may want your vote when they move on to a higher office. But even then, the incentive is to sell you out if it will gain more votes from other districts. Term limits simply make shift power to staff and bureaucrats, who aren't elected at all.
Councilwoman James repeaded "I want", "I want", "I want" so many times it was clear that she wants, what she wants, as long as She Wants It. What about the what the people want? Humm...She made a fantastic case for why we require term limits. Thanks for the lesson!
Dry skim milk is available in most supermarkets, in 10 envelope ( one quart) packages. Usually priced around $11 or 12 dollars. Or just over one dollar per quart. Maybe not the most palatable milk, but affordable.
Paul
great points. i was thinking how does she know where we'll be in 11 years. although i feel the voters should control term limits, in practice the power of incumbency is so powerful in the current 2 party system, i could never vote to end term limits. the founders planned on a citizen legislature not a profession class of people who couldn't make it in the real world.
jenny beat me to it. i am not vegan, and do drink and give my kids plenty of milk, but i was surprised that brian did't question the councilman's assertion that "milk is essential" no one needs milk (or bread or meat) to survive although statements like the above have conditioned us to think we do.-the price gouging alone is a legitimate issue for a basic staple..on the other hand, the cost of water... (i know it's "free" from the tap but for how long?)
to gary g
"Fresh raw milk, from cows eating well-manured green grass is a living unprocessed whole food. Compare this to the supposedly "healthy" soy milk which has been washed in acids and alkalis, ultrapasteurized, then allowed to sit in a box for many months."
read more on realmilk.com - they will tell you more about the clever media work of the soy and vegetable oil industries.
did you know that you can't even make yogurt from ultrapasteurized milk, it's so dead?
I wonder if the price of milk in NYC is also higher because self life. If you notice on milk sold in NYC it has two sell by dates, one for NYC and one for outside NYC. The retailers have something like 3 or 5 days less to sell the milk in NYC. Does this result in them throwing way milk forcing them to sell milk for more money.
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