Tag: food shortages

Countries hoarding food supplies as prices spike, hunger crisis looms

Laurel Duggan – May 25, 2022

Countries are imposing export restrictions on food in light of shortage concerns sparked by the war in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Export restrictions were quickly imposed after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine to increase domestic supply and slow the rise of prices, but the trend could exacerbate rising global food prices and shortages, according to the WSJ. Ukraine and Russia are both major exporters of grains and vegetable oils.

Restrictions on food or fertilizer exports were put in place in 26 countries in 2022, according to the WSJ. Economists told the outlet these restrictions would temporarily ease the pain of food shortages in the countries that use them, but are a temporary measure that contributes to higher food prices globally.

India, the world’s second-largest wheat producer, banned wheat exports May 13 as domestic prices jumped while Indonesia, which produces 60% of the world’s palm oil, blocked exports of the substance in late April before lifting the ban in late May. Ghana barred maize, rice and soybean exports; Argentina banned beef exports; and Iran and Egypt blocked the export of numerous foods, according to the WSJ.

“It’s one of these classic things where there’s really a short-term sugar high for the government … And then you end up with the same scarcity problem you had before,” said Simon Evenett, professor of international trade and economic development at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, according to the WSJ.

Food prices rose nearly 30% over the past year, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, with the trend accelerating following the invasion of Ukraine. President Joe Biden expressed concern about the food shortages March 24.

“With regard to food shortages, yes, we did talk about food shortages,” Biden said. “And it’s gonna be real.”

https://www.wnd.com

Israel heeds Joseph’s advice; Stocks up on wheat for upcoming famine

– March 24, 2022

Citing fears of possible food shortages amid the Ukraine crisis, Israel’s transportation minister instructed that cargo ships importing grain and animal feed be given priority for unloading at the port docks over the next month.

This solution of stocking up on grains before a predicted famine mirrors the Bible’s Joseph. Joseph, son of Jacob, was promoted to be the prince of Egypt after he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream of withering grain stocks devouring healthy ones as an imminent famine in Egypt. Joseph then advised Pharaoh to stock up on wheat to have enough reserves once the famine strikes.

Let that food be a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will come upon the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish in the famine.”(Genesis 41:36)

Israel appears to be heeding Joseph’s ancient advice in prioritizing wheat over other imported goods. “We face challenges to our food security at the time being because of the worrying developments in Ukraine,” noted Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli in a statement on Thursday.

“The State of Israel must safeguard its food security by strengthening our domestic agriculture. Taking steps to get the grain and fodder that Israeli agriculture relies on, the nation will quickly ensure that we maintain Israeli food security despite changes worldwide.”

According to the statement, shipping and Ports head Yigal Maor already took “several steps” to implement the decision.

https://www.israel365news.com

Collapse Incoming: European Nations Start RATIONING Food And Fuel

Arsenio Toledo – April 4th, 2022

Countries all over the world, especially in Europe, have started implementing policies that ration food and fuel.

Europe’s struggles with its food and fuel supplies began after most nations on the continent imposed economic sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. This threatened the flow of already-critical commodities in Europe and threatened to collapse already-struggling global supply chains.

As a result, the prices of everything from oil to wheat have soared, leading to multi-decade high inflation rates. Supplies of these essential products have also dwindled after exports from Russia were completely strangled.

In Spain, the country started experiencing sporadic shortages of different products like eggs, milk, and other dairy products almost immediately following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. In early March, major supermarkets like Mercadona and Makro began rationing sunflower oil.

Spain’s left-wing government even went further and gave stores the option to temporarily impose limits on the number of certain products customers purchase.

In Greece, at least four national supermarket chains have started rationing food products like flour and sunflower oil due to critically low supplies caused by the crippled supply chains coming out of Russia and Ukraine.

The supermarkets claim the current rationing is only a preventive measure that will be rolled back once Greece’s supplies of flour and sunflower oil stabilize. Around 30 percent of Greece’s wheat imports come from Russia and Ukraine.

“The reason for the cap on these products is only precautionary, as our customers are concerned about the war in Ukraine,” said one official from supermarket chain Alfa-Beta Vassilopoulos. “We want to ensure we will be able to serve our customers’ needs in the future too.”

https://www.shtfplan.com

Here Comes the Food Shortage!

Socialist takeovers always progress to the food shortage stage sooner or later. Remember reading in horror about how Venezuelans were gobbling up their zoo animals in an effort to remain alive? Seems like it was only yesterday. But since horsemen Pestilence and War have already galloped through, I guess Famine can’t be far behind.

Last fall, I wrote about a conversation I had with an escapee from a late-stage socialist country south of our border:

“Are you ready for the [something in Spanish]?” another socialism escapee asked me the other day.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“The great hunger,” he replied.

I asked him how he knew that was coming, and he said he had seen the same process unfurl decades earlier in his homeland.

Earlier today, the hapless president of the United States emerged from one of his NATO huddles to answer questions from the reporters he had been instructed to call upon, as per his SOP. One of them brought up the potential for food shortages, and Biden’s answer was serious bad-feeling-in-the-pit-of-your-stomach material:

“With regard to food shortages, yes, we did [random sounds] talk about food shortages. And, uh, and it’s gonna be real. The price of these 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.”

Last I heard, sanctions were supposed to be a weapon one wields against one’s enemies. If you’re imposing sanctions and hurting yourself and your allies, you’re doing it wrong.

https://pjmedia.com