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"Food Shortage Aggravates As Supply Chain
Breakdown Triggers Panic At Local Supermarkets"
by Epic Economist
"The global food crisis is no longer a distant possibility, or a future concern for economists to discuss in studies and notes to investors. It's happening right now. Its effects are already visible, and they’re causing lots of stress and pain for millions of people around the world. This crisis is going to have a major impact on the life of every single person on the face of the planet, including you and your family. The information we’re about to share is extremely important and quite alarming.
With sanctions and supply chain disruptions pushing consumer prices to soar as oil and commodity prices face a massive spike, increased costs of gas and diesel are also weighting on the cost of food and sparking fears that the world is on the verge of a horrifying hunger crisis. And this time, the U.S. is not going to be immune. In fact, in a press conference held in Brussels a few days ago, President Joe Biden confirmed the seriousness of the issue. Biden admitted for the first time that we’re going to “experience food shortages as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”. “It’s going to be real,” Biden stated. “The price of the sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia. It’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well,” he stressed.
In the United States, food prices recorded the largest monthly increase last month, with the overall increase in food prices nearing 8%, the biggest jump since July 1981. Adding fuel to the fire, domestic food production is being disrupted by a shortage of fertilizer and skyrocketing prices. With Russia as a top fertilizer exporter, prices have shot to record highs in a 30-day span. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, fertilizer costs have risen as much as 300% in some areas, which is “adding significant pressure to farmers’ pocketbooks”.
In some cases, farmers who are still willing to pay higher prices for fertilizer are not able to get it delivered at all. There’s simply not enough supply for everyone, said Clark Gregory, an Iowa farmer who grows hay for his livestock operation. "There's no way the math can hold on this," he said. "I can't imagine it's enough." Other farmers have indicated that it might be time to get out of the farming business since it's not just commodity and fertilizer prices, but other input price increases, such as diesel fuel. "I think there will be a lot of people pulling out, a lot of bankruptcies and foreclosures," Gregory added.
This perfect storm of factors is only getting worse and scarier. Global leaders can’t even deny it anymore. Hundreds of millions of people will experience food insecurity, hunger, or famine by the end of this year. And if you have not been paying much attention to this issue until this point, you need to wake up because this is the real deal and things are changing fast. If you think food prices are high right now, you’ll be shocked when you find out that they’re not going to get lower than this for decades. We should act while we can because many more challenges are likely to emerge soon."
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