Did you notice an interesting coincidence, yesterday, of ethnic food shortage articles appearing in both the NY and LA Times?
The NY Times reported a spike in lentil prices in the Indian markets in Jackson Heights (Queens), due to a poor crop in India.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/nyregion/29lentil.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Meanwhile, the LA Times reported a shortage of Oaxacan food staples in Southern California, due to political unrest in that southern Mexico region... stuff like spicy mole paste (mmm!), tlayudas (crunchy tortillas), and fried grasshoppers.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oaxaca29sep29,1,4743893.story?coll=la-headlines-california
(Fried grasshoppers?! Hmmmm... I wonder how they taste?)
So with these food imports problems facing the coasts (or rather, the largest cities on each coast), what about the largest city in the Midwest?
It turns out they've got a self-made shortage, that went into affect last month. The Chicago city council had voted to ban foie gras, the livers of force-fed geese and ducks.
And now, some politicians want to repeal the ban.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/73328,CST-NWS-foiegras27.article
All I can say is that a food fight is always messy.