According to UN warnings, the world is facing a food crisis, and the latest cover of the British newspaper The Economist illustrates this well.
The war between Russia and Ukraine boosted the price of wheat by about 40%.
The droughts in the U.S. and India have hit crops, and the corona has created traffic jams and heavy disruptions in supply chains. All of these together produce a frightening picture.
And what is happening in Israel?
Israelis do not suffer from a shortage of products, and the pictures of food queues in Africa seem farther away than ever.
However, the rise in wheat prices has also affected Israel and the prices of bakery products are on the rise in recent months this year.
The Minister of Agriculture, Oded Forer, reassures in a conversation with "Israel Today" that there is currently no shortage of wheat, and that Israel's emergency stock has not been depleted.
"We are fine, but of course we are on the pulse to see that we do not run into any problems. Overall we are in good shape."
Minister of Agriculture Oded Forer: "The State of Israel can not grow all the wheat for itself.", Photo: Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The Minister of Agriculture continued: "The State of Israel can not grow all the wheat for itself, nor has it ever grown. Nearly 90% of our wheat is imported, because the investments we have to make to grow all the wheat here are astronomical, so it is unrealistic. We have to diversify our sources in the context of wheat and that is what we are doing. "
As you may recall, Russia refuses to allow grain to be exported from Ukrainian ports as long as sanctions on it continue.
Yesterday (Wednesday) the British Minister of Defense, Ben Wallace, called on Moscow to allow the export of grain from Ukraine but stressed that his country opposes the removal of sanctions in exchange for the export of grain from Ukrainian ports.
The Russian proposal and Western pressure come just weeks before the start of the harvest season in Ukraine, one of the largest wheat producers in the world and at a time of drought, heat waves and floods have already caused significant damage to wheat harvest in West Asia.
These reasons cause global concern about a sharp rise in the price of grain, and about severe famine in countries that rely on cheap grain.
But rising food prices in a period of global inflation and rising fuel prices could also affect political stability in Western countries and lead to an ongoing economic crisis in some European countries.
Moscow is aware of the power of Ukraine's wheat tap control and is doing everything in its power to exploit it in favor of the Russian war in Kiev.
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