Sam's Club and CostCo have limited the amount of rice that Americans can buy but this is an economic indicator... 
Actually that limit was is on large bags of rice (like 20 lbs) or larger. This is all tied back to higher energy prices and the unknown futures of commodities. People are getting jumpy and are panicking. Of course listening to the likes of Glen Beck is not helping, he is promoting stocking up on his TV program.

What we need is a president that can actually put together a solid alternative energy plan. I would much rather we have a push on alternative energy than panicking the public with a Global Warming scare. For the alternative energy plan to work there needs to be bi-partisan support that might just be ok'ing drilling in ANWR. In return Republicans need to put the hammer down on finding new ideas for energy. And this time mean it.