UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. food chief warned Tuesday the war in Ukraine has created “a catastrophe on top of a catastrophe” and will have a global impact “beyond anything we’ve seen since World War II” because many of the Ukrainian farmers who produce a significant amount of the world’s wheat are now fighting Russians. David Beasley, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, told the U.N. Security Council that already high food prices are skyrocketing. His agency was […]

The effects of the war in Ukraine are already being felt across the world, from rocking world energy markets to spurring a growing refugee crisis in Europe. But the conflict could have more ripple effects, including sparking a global food crisis. Russia and Ukraine account for roughly 30 percent of global wheat exports, while Russia is the world’s top exporter of fertilizer and a vital amount of the world’s wheat, corn, and barley is trapped in both countries because of […]

The potentially disastrous implications of the war in Ukraine for global food security are clear. The equally bleak implications of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report for the resilience of the food system are even starker. Billions of people are on a trajectory towards hunger, poverty, and instability, driven by conflict, COVID-19, climate change, and rising food costs. The world does not need more dire warnings. The burning question is: what are we going to do? In addition […]

Russian and Ukrainian wheat is not easily replaced. Inventories are already tight in the United States and Canada, according to the United Nations, while Argentina is limiting exports and Australia is already at full shipping capacity. Over the past year, wheat prices are up 69 percent. Among other major food exports of Russia and Ukraine, corn prices are up 36 percent and barley 82 percent. The war also threatens another longer-term shock to the food markets: a shortage of fertilizer. […]

Employees have been berated, attacked, had food thrown at them, and worse. A new report tallies 77,000 violent encounters on the job. In the spring of this year, Perla Hernández, an employee at a Burger King store in Campbell, California, was making a burger when she heard some commotion in the dining area. Stepping out of the kitchen, she was terrified to see a customer brandishing a knife in what appeared to be a dispute with another diner, Hernández recalled […]

The hashtag #BareShelvesBiden was the top trending political topic on Twitter on Friday morning getty The hashtag #BareShelvesBiden was the top trending political topic on Twitter on Friday morning, with more than 47,000 tweets. Critics of President Joe Biden also took aim with the hashtag #EmptyShelvesJoe, and accused the commander-in-chief of mismanagement. This comes after Biden had announced that the Port of Los Angeles, the largest in North America, would operate 24-hours a day to help get products flowing back […]