The Russian invasion of Ukraine sent the world into a food crisis, with prices of staple foods increasing up to 25% across the globe. At the same time, vendors and supermarkets increased the food prices, regardless of whether those foods were affected by the Russian war. Add this to the economic crisis that the pandemic created, and the public got confused and insecure about the future. Amidst this, UOTP decided to shed some light on the public with a thorough report on agricultural production and export. The study aims to empower the public with data that showcases where our food comes from. Since today we live in a globalized world, we added the export values and quantities to show how much the world depends on the agricultural production from a specific country.
The report by the University of Potomac shows that the US is among the largest producers and exporters of numerous staple foods. This indicates that, regardless of the increase in global prices of staple foods like wheat, corn, potatoes, and sunflower seeds, there shouldn’t be huge concern about food security in the US (though the prices may increase due to global price inflation).
At the same time, since a major breadbasket region (Russia and Ukraine together) cannot cultivate or export any food, the world will turn its attention to other exporting countries to fill the gap. As the US is the world’s largest food exporter, farmers who cultivate their crops for export may experience an increase in the selling price. However, as the cost of transportation increases likewise, the price increase may or may not translate into more profit.
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