The Highwire with Del Bigtree - ARE HIGH GAS PRICES JUST THE BEGINNING?

Episode Date: March 14, 2022

As gas prices rise, all eyes are now on food prices as the conflict in Ukraine has the potential to shift the balance of global food security. Coming off the back of soaring food inflation after two years of failed COVID lockdowns, Are countries prepared to navigate these new geopolitical waters?#Ukraine #GasPrices #FoodCrisis #EnergyCrisis #FoodProductionChainBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-highwire-with-del-bigtree--3620606/support.

As everyone knows, you know, we're not reporting in a vacuum here. There is, there is situations happening right now in Europe and Ukraine, probably some of the most serious since World War II. And there is ripple effects coming out from this. And we're going to report on some of that right now as we will continue our reporting going forward. So here's a headline of the New York Post, skyrocketing food prices is talking about. Food prices reach record highs skyrocket by 20.7% across the globe. This was compiled by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. It tracks food staples.

And they were blaming this rise on crop conditions, reduce export availability. Here's the kicker. This was put together before the war in Ukraine started. Let that sink in for a second. This was just really from the last couple of years of the lockdowns. So now we go to the next headline here. Remember, Ukraine is really called the breadbasket of Europe. So Putin's energy shock is broadening into a world food crisis.

So brace for rationing. It says here roughly 33% of world exports of barley come from Russia and Ukraine combined, 29% of wheat, 19% of maize, as well as 80% of sunflower oil. It goes on to say, quote, everything is going up vertically. The whole production chain for food is under pressure from every side, says Abel-Dalaza Abbasan, the ex-head of agro markets at the UN's food and agriculture organization. He says, I've never seen anything like this in 30 years. And I fear that prices are going to go much higher in the 2022, 2022, 2023 season. The situation is just awful.

And at some point, people are going to realize what may be coming. So we're going through this. We're unpacking this. But, you know, it's really important for people to be realistic about what possibly might be happening here. So I pulled some more, you know, data points on this story. as it's moving forward and developing. So this is out of Bloomberg talking about Russian fertilizer.

So Russia jolt's global fertilizer market by seeking end to exports. So the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Russia has urged their Russian fertilized producers cut volumes to farmers due to the delivery issues because of what's happening there. And let's look at one of the images from this article here, just to give an idea.

So here we have Russia is 9 million metric tons. Belarus is 8 million metric tons. together, about 17 metric tons of potash. It's the fertilizer that they are exporting. Interestingly enough, at the bottom there, Brazil is the world's largest importer of fertilizer. And so they're one of the, they lead the globe in exports of soybeans, coffee, sugar. So that's on the docket, too. As they do not get these fertilizers coming in, the exports of soybeans, coffee, and sugar are, you know, people are keeping an eye on that as expect. to go up as well because this is all interconnected in this in this food chain as we as we

the global food chain if you will i mean it's interesting at this point that governments especially the united states across europe as well in germany they're not talking about victory gardens they're not talking about maybe start planting gardens you may just in case there are some food shortages here so it springs coming this is something i really do think everyone should consider but let's talk about what these food prices could do to countries that are a little poorer. In 2011, we had the Arab Spring uprising. That was because of wheat prices. And headlines are looking like this again. Soaring wheat prices leave these countries susceptible to uprisings. And there's an image here just to really bang this home. We have Egypt at the top of the list as a wheat importer affected by Russia.

that's 610.5 million Indonesia, 543.2 million in Bangladesh, rounding out the top at 294.8 million as an importer of wheat. And these are susceptible if these wheat imports aren't coming in. There's a very fast burn rate for unrest within the society. So this is what we're looking at here is a very serious, very serious times. And we're going to keep reporting on this as these stories develop. Well, and it's shocking because we've talked about even through coaches. you know, we're all seeing empty shelves in grocery stores. Someone said, you know, recently, you know, if you look up at Costco, where's the top shelves that used to be filled? And we always, I think we think in the United States of America that we're just buffered against any sort of crisis like this.

But I think, you know, it is time to think. I've got my gardens going. Continue to talk about other ways as we move forward in our conversations of how we live post-COVID in this post-COVID world, if such a thing actually exists. And really what I keep thinking about is the different bankers and people that have come on the show and telling us that Europe is already bankrupt, that all of this, that COVID and the Great Reset

is just to try and hide the fact that you're all going to be renters because you're about to lose your homes, that the finances are going bust. I would imagine that under those circumstances there's going to be huge food shortages and problems. And so I'm not going to venture into any sort of conspiracy theory

space that anyone's like a wagging the dog are trying to make these things happen. But boy, they sure are convenient, right? It would be very convenient to be saying, well, the reason there's no food on the shelves is because Russia invaded the Ukraine. You know, the reason that, you know, gas prices are so high is COVID, you know, these types of excuses, you know, there's certainly opportunistic moments if, especially we're not being told about a crisis that already existed inside of the stability of our banking and our infrastructure that they were never honest about. So I think we should be very concerned as we look at these headlines, whether or not they're actually tied to what they're saying they're tied to.

I think we know that there are some tough times ahead around the world. And, you know, God help all of us that we get through this and find our way through and how to take care of our families in these, you know, crazy times. Yeah, amen to that.