The effects of pandemic lockdowns, related supply chain strains, and conflict in Ukraine are wreaking havoc on the world’s agricultural system. Readers have heard the likes of the UN warning that Middle Eastern countries are at “breaking points” as food prices hit record highs, and as of last week, the Rockefeller Foundation began the countdown (about six months) to a “massive, immediate food crisis.”
Now, Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue has issued a similar warning: “We are on the precipice of a global food crisis.”
In a Wednesday interview, Unanue told Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo, “Americans will have to tighten their belts and consume less,” in response to her question about a potential food shortage crisis.
Bartiromo then asked a series of questions, such as “Do you think things will get worse?” and “Do you think food prices will go even higher later this year?”
He warned about an imbalance in world food production, indicating “farmers are paying double for fertilizer, they’re planting less and yields will be less.”
Unanue then spoke about “30% of the global wheat production in Ukraine goes unplanted.” He said the “global food supply chain is a very tight balance. If we interrupt the food production, we will have a food crisis that will send prices through the roof.”
He went on to say, “as a rich country, we can afford higher-priced food, but other countries won’t be able to bear it,” suggesting the US will be the last affected.
To the Unanue’s point, the dominos are already beginning to fall as inflation riots have already sparked socio-economic turmoil in Sir Lanka and Peru. Countries across Africa and the Middle East, many of which are importers of food, are experiencing soaring prices and imminent shortages.
Unanue’s interview is more proof the world’s agricultural system is fracturing and storm clouds are gathering.
Watch the full interview here.
via zerohedge
