Joe Biden has admitted that the world is approaching a food crisis and blamed Russia for it. Fox News. Biden said that the food shortage is "real" and is due to sanctions. He also admitted that Russia and Ukraine are Europe's breadbasket and the war will disrupt production. Biden's admission is in contrast to his Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, who said earlier that a food crisis would not affect the United States. The food crisis will cause higher prices in the United States, which is already having major problems with inflation. In the third world consequences could be even worse...
Biden on food shortages:
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) March 24, 2022
"With regard to food shortage...it's gonna be real." pic.twitter.com/F3dQ7NLqqB
My Comment:
I consider this a deflection from Joe Biden, who bears much of the responsiblity for the oncoming food crisis. I will point out that I do not blame him for wheat failures in China and the US Midwest, as those are acts of nature, not government. But for the problems in Ukraine and Russia? That's largely on Biden.
Why? I consider the war itself to largely be Biden's fault. Yes, Putin deserves much of the blame for choosing a war of choice but it's undeniable that Biden drew him into it. From what I understand Biden falsely said that Ukraine was going to join NATO, which was of course a red line for Putin. The war was the natural consequence of this.
And the sanctions too? That's on Biden as well. Trying to destroy the economy of Russia over Ukraine has made them a lot more reluctant help out Europe with their food problem. Why would they export grain and fertilizer to countries that are sanctioning them? They will sell that stuff to countries that are still friendly to them. Biden made a choice here, there were a ton of options instead of just sanctions that could be used.
But the most egregious way that Biden is responsible for this crisis is the fact that he is making zero effort to actually end the war. It's clear that NATO's plan is trying to draw out the war so it can turn into an Afghanistan style insurgency. That obviously don't benefit the Ukrainians and it doesn't benefit the rest of the world. It does benefit weapons manufacturers but that's about it.
The fact is that the war could end today if Biden pushed for it. Zelenskyy could give into Putin's demands right now and end the war. Putin's demands aren't that extreme, just Ukrainian neutrality, no joining NATO and status quo ante concerning Crimea and Donbass. But Biden won't let Zelenskyy do so. Indeed, there is pretty much no diplomatic push to end the war at all other than from Ukraine and Russia themselves.
As for the food crisis itself, I don't see anyone in the United States starving. America has a ton of food and even though our winter wheat crop isn't going to be great we will still have huge amounts of corn and other grain to feed our people, not to mention our large herds of livestock.
The real problem will be inflation. Food prices, along with all other prices, are already totally out of control. I've seen my grocery bills increase quite a bit and there isn't much there to cut unless I want to reduce myself to eating plain rice. The sanctions are going to make this much worse, added onto the natural problems caused by the winter wheat failure. It's going to make things extremely tough for everyone that isn't rich and even the rich will probably feel the pinch.
But that's nothing compared to what is going to happen to the third world. Millions of people are dependent on Russian and Ukrainian food and fertilizer, and with the war happening and sanctions a lot of those people will be cut off from their best source of food. Since food insecurity is already a problem for those areas it is very possible that will lead to starvation and instability...
If there is any good news at all it's the fact that people are starting to wake up to the problem. That means actions can be taken to avert the worst of the problems. I would recommend stocking up on foods if you can. I don't expect the government to do anything helpful so keep in mind you might be on your own if this crisis gets bad.
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