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Paying more for pork

“Experts say the world could be on the verge of a significant bacon shortage because of rising feed costs and declining pig populations.”

No, this isn’t happening! Even though I don’t prefer bacon, pork is one of my daily staples. This rise in price could mean less food for my inner carnivore. However, the rise in price will be of benefit to Canadian pig farmers, who are struggling to make ends meet. The rise in the price of corn (pig food) has essentially caused this unavoidable rise in pork prices. The size of North America’s corn crop is just not enough to feed both the transportation industry and the pigs of North America, causing farmers to pay more in expenses than what they get in profits. And when a business doesn’t break even, they will eventually have to shut down. Which is sad, considering the deliciousness of steak, ribs and other pig products. As the supply of pork goes down, quantity supplied will fall and prices will rise. According to Britain’s National Pork Association, the price of pork could double by the second-half of next year! Sorry, inner carnivore, I’ll just have to put you on hold more often.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/09/25/bacon-shortage-pigs.html

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NHL Lockout Around the Corner?

Go Canucks! (If there is a season this year)

For hockey fans, an NHL lockout would be like the apocalypse. The league wants money, and the players want a bigger piece from the “hockey-related revenues” pie. What surprises me is that the league is actually trying to cut the players’ portion of the revenue from 57% in the current agreement to 49% when the average NHL player already earns less than a player in the NBA or MLB. The workplace is certainly not the safest in professional sports and yet they don’t get the compensation that the Players’ Association claims they deserve.

But from another perspective, the PA is also putting the season in jeopardy by refusing to agree to the NHL’s proposals. Compared to a regular person’s salary, they should be satisfied with what they are offered. The main ethical issue here is that the collective bargaining taking place now isn’t going anywhere, and both the business (NHL) and the trade union (NHLPA) are contributing to the possibility of the labour force losing work. Not just the players with no European connection, but all the employees that work for the NHL and its teams. Just because everyone wanted more pie, without a season, how will any of those people get the income they deserve as an employee and buy real pie?

1http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ycn-10423863

Article of Interest:  http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/09/12/nhl-and-union-trade-new-offers-as-lockout-deadline-looms/

Images:

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/sports/photos/2012/08/30/940-nhl-nhlpa-8col.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mmM7geBNbGg/Tr1pmW9x4OI/AAAAAAAAAFo/wXVhGqW7o3I/s289/Untitled-2.jpg

 

UPDATE: Vancouver Canucks staff face 20-per-cent cut in work week, paycheque should NHL lockout kick in (which it did!)

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