3 ms·

Seems the real story here is climate change significantly increasing the price of a staple food. “Pasta is cheap anyway” is such a privileged point of view.

MomoXenosaga 5y ago
Well it's not a big deal for people in Europe if grain prices go up or down by 50% so the headline is a bit ridiculous. Nobody in Italy is going to starve.
- touisteur 5y ago
  I did food distribution to students last winter and... The kids are living on pasta & rice, the cheapest one near the ground in supermarkets. They've teamed up to try and buy larger quantities/lower price. Same w/ dairy and basic staples. The kids I met there probably won't handle that increase well. I mean the nonprofit giving them food flyers were all 'give veggies, fruits, bottled/canned sauce, they're already only eating pasta and we've got them on that.' I was a penniless student minmaxing food price/consumption, but this is a slaughter.
  - touisteur 5y ago
    And, we've taken (big corp) as many interns we could take (4 times more than usual), stretching everything, and I know some of them interns would have liked more attention, more guidance and I was upfront, this is a special time, we're taking as many as we can, they'll have a (not so great, but better than most SMEs) salary for 4 or 6 months and industry experience in a well-known company, and we'll give them real subjects and treat them with respect. Just less availability and guidance than what we were used to. Sorry not sorry. Of course we got work in exchange, but if you don't try to help now, when will you. Turns out, the results of this are amazing. Success or failure of the internship subjects, we've learned SO much from all the experiences, many of our young colleagues now have a tiny management experience, some really want to take more next years, some are more 'not for me but I'll help if you ask' and some are 'uh people management is not for me'. And there's a good mood from all this. Most of the interns were amazing, ultra motivated, and (it's cynical, I know) so grateful. It's going to sound very trumpian but some of them, (not 'big guys, strong guys') when announced we were taking them in, literally melt down crying. One of them came in the last days of his stay, telling me he was so grateful we 'saved' him, because he couldn't find anything (the boy is top-5 in his school, WTF). Most of them came to me or their supervisor in the last days saying how hard it was out there and how relieved they were. It was a hard year (try seriously reading, reviewing, correcting, RE-READING 35 internship reports/memos in 3 weeks), but no regrets.
- austinjp 5y ago
  Not really sure I follow? For anyone living in poverty, increases in the price of staple foods will be a disaster, no?

MomoXenosaga 5y ago

Well it's not a big deal for people in Europe if grain prices go up or down by 50% so the headline is a bit ridiculous. Nobody in Italy is going to starve.

touisteur 5y ago
I did food distribution to students last winter and... The kids are living on pasta & rice, the cheapest one near the ground in supermarkets. They've teamed up to try and buy larger quantities/lower price. Same w/ dairy and basic staples. The kids I met there probably won't handle that increase well. I mean the nonprofit giving them food flyers were all 'give veggies, fruits, bottled/canned sauce, they're already only eating pasta and we've got them on that.' I was a penniless student minmaxing food price/consumption, but this is a slaughter.
- touisteur 5y ago
  And, we've taken (big corp) as many interns we could take (4 times more than usual), stretching everything, and I know some of them interns would have liked more attention, more guidance and I was upfront, this is a special time, we're taking as many as we can, they'll have a (not so great, but better than most SMEs) salary for 4 or 6 months and industry experience in a well-known company, and we'll give them real subjects and treat them with respect. Just less availability and guidance than what we were used to. Sorry not sorry. Of course we got work in exchange, but if you don't try to help now, when will you. Turns out, the results of this are amazing. Success or failure of the internship subjects, we've learned SO much from all the experiences, many of our young colleagues now have a tiny management experience, some really want to take more next years, some are more 'not for me but I'll help if you ask' and some are 'uh people management is not for me'. And there's a good mood from all this. Most of the interns were amazing, ultra motivated, and (it's cynical, I know) so grateful. It's going to sound very trumpian but some of them, (not 'big guys, strong guys') when announced we were taking them in, literally melt down crying. One of them came in the last days of his stay, telling me he was so grateful we 'saved' him, because he couldn't find anything (the boy is top-5 in his school, WTF). Most of them came to me or their supervisor in the last days saying how hard it was out there and how relieved they were. It was a hard year (try seriously reading, reviewing, correcting, RE-READING 35 internship reports/memos in 3 weeks), but no regrets.
austinjp 5y ago
Not really sure I follow? For anyone living in poverty, increases in the price of staple foods will be a disaster, no?