The war in Ukraine has been an absolute disaster on a humanitarian level. Russia’s unprovoked invasion on February 24 has ruined and stolen many people’s lives forever.
It’s also thrown the world’s food market into chaos around the globe.
Here at home, we’re already dealing with the highest inflation in half a century and gas prices that are so bad, many can’t drive where they normally would.
However, the rising food prices are also being felt at home; it is time to start stockpiling because they’re about to get a whole lot worse.
Food Price Crisis
Ukraine is historically known as the breadbasket of the world. Its fields produce grain products for many food items and manufacturing processes around the world from America to Egypt.
Russia is also a very important location for grain and barley as well. This war has interrupted all of that.
It’s not like farmers are able to get in grain when they are worried about being shot down in their fields or having their tractors blown up.
Russia also had its wheat and agricultural export market badly affected by the war, along with international and US sanctions.
The result is many basic products are going to continue rising in cost here in America. In poorer countries in Asia and Africa, it’s going to result in people starving and even worse situations than here at home.
The UN’s Food Price Index estimates that the price of food this month is up 12% on average from February prices. If the war in Ukraine goes on for months more, which it looks likely to do, expect that number to keep climbing up.
Driving across Ukraine's heartland, farmers whose wheat feeds the world told us that despite huge challenges they will still harvest. With Russia’s blockade, though, barely any of it can leave. Until that changes, global food prices and hunger are going 📈 https://t.co/wfKZFcZIjn
— Max Bearak (@maxbearak) April 8, 2022
The Highest Prices in 30 Years
The UN food price index is at its highest point since it started in 1990. Specifically, with grain products like wheat, oats, corn, and barely, there’s been a 17% jump since the war started in February.
These staple grains are part of many foods we eat and a rise in their price eventually has an effect on everything else, including meat prices and more. The largest jump we’ve seen is in vegetable oils, which have gone up 23% since the war.
Sunflower oils in particular are a lot harder to make without the large supply of oil from Ukraine’s endless sunflower fields. Russia also has huge amounts of sunflower oil.
Fertilizer prices have also skyrocketed in price, contributing to massive cost raises even in areas that can still produce a large volume of agricultural products.
There are also several other issues going on, which is that China and the US are both having quite bad farming weather in the past couple of months.
When these factors are considered together, the end result is a very bad situation with food prices.
With all that is being forced upon us digital ID, colossal fuel bills, food prices, the extreme ideologies , the threat of war escalation Is it any wonder we have a huge mental health crisis. We just cannot let these b******s grind us down . They cannot have that satisfaction
— Deryl Lynn (@DerylLynn) April 5, 2022
The Bottom Line
Canada, Australia, and other areas are being looked at as ways to fill the gap.
Yet, at this point, there’s no doubt that having some food storage in case of an emergency is a very good idea.
