Mac Slavo
March 7th, 2022

Even if your grocery store is fully stocked, it’s hard not to notice the price increases. Although we saw this coming a mile away, the prices are only going higher, and the food is only going to get scarcer.

Mere hours after Russia announced a ban on fertilizer exports, the country of Hungary (oh, the irony) dropped a bomb on the world with a decision, which is expected to send already record-high wheat prices even higher. Hungary, one of Europe’s most grain-rich countries, is halting all grain exports effective immediately.

Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia are almost entirely reliant on Russia and Ukraine for their wheat imports. It turns out that both Russia and Ukraine are also cutting off grain exports of the commodity for the time being.

The ruling class and mainstream media are blaming the Russian “invasion” for the food shortages, however, let’s be honest. We all noticed this was a problem last fall when it was noticeable that some things were unavailable. The Russian “invasion” and geopolitical decisions will only compound the issue, however.

PREPPING FOR THE UPCOMING GOVERNMENT-INDUCED FOOD SHORTAGES

Ukraine and Russia provide nearly 30 percent of the world’s wheat and nearly 20 percent of its corn, according to a report by Illinois Newsroom. “A lot of times we don’t realize that as many people died, for example, in World War II as died in actual conflict. About 20 million people died in conflict in World War II and 20 million people around the world died from hunger, starvation, and famine. So war and food security are very tightly related to one another,” said Megan Konar, a researcher of global supply chains at the University of Illinois.

The best we can do is to prepare for this outcome. Time is shortening. We need to get what we can while we can because this crisis could start to impact those who were initially shielded from the food shortages of last fall and early winter. As we come into spring, we should also consider growing what food we can ourselves with what we have.