President Biden acknowledged that Americans are likely to face food shortages in the coming months, though he blamed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the primary cause of the issue.
From the Post Millennial:
“Can you say whether there’s the conversation is a turn to the subject of food shortages and what the US will do to address wheat shortages in particular, as a result of this?” Biden was asked.
“With regard to food shortages. Yes, we did talk about food shortages. And, and it’s gonna be real,” Biden said.
“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 went on.
Biden’s comments come as Americans have continued to face surging inflation, most notably at the gas pump and at the country’s grocery stores. One analysis by NBC News found that Americans have faced rising prices throughout the last year for food staples such as juice, meat, and bread, but some experts have warned that prices could rise even further due to the war in Ukraine.
“It comes an absolutely horrible time for American consumers because we’re looking every day at inflation almost reaching 10%,” Dan Varroney, a supply chain expert and founder of Potomac Core, told FOX Business. “Last month’s figures were close to 8%. And that means that consumers, including those that are living paycheck to paycheck, are going to pay more for food.”
Wheat could be one food particularly hard hit by the ongoing war in Ukraine, with Russia and Ukraine both being large exporters of wheat to the global market.
“And because both Russia and Ukraine have been the breadbasket of Europe in terms of wheat, for example, just give one example. But we had a long discussion in the G7 with the, with both the United States, which has a significant third-largest producer of wheat in the world, as well as Canada, which is also a major, major producer,” Biden said.
But Biden said he has been in talks with friendly nations on how they could possibly alleviate the rise in prices, including lifting limitations of international food shipments.
“And so we are in the process of working out with our European friends, what it would be, what it would take to help alleviate the concerns relative to food shortages,” Biden said.
“We also talked about a significant major US investment, among others, in terms of providing for, the need for humanitarian assistance, including food as we move forward,” Biden concluded.
