Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

SamuelTheThird

(1,182 posts)
Thu Apr 9, 2026, 10:46 AM 6 hrs ago

Food shock is inevitable due to the Iran war - and it could get bad

https://archive.is/Ttw9Y

How bad will it get? The big spike in food prices in the 1970s occurred partly because global food reserves had run low, says Clapp. For now, food reserves are plentiful, but that could change if the conflict drags on, especially if warming-fuelled extreme weather hits yields too.
“There’s a lot of potential for this to spin out of control and lead to a just as severe, if not a worse, crisis,” says Clapp. “If we have major climate events, it could definitely spiral into something much more severe.”
“In the end, prices are global prices, and fertiliser prices are going up everywhere, and food prices are going up everywhere. [People who] are at the lower spectrum of the income distribution are the ones that are most hurt, because they spend a lot on food. They can’t afford significantly rising food prices,” says Qaim.
What’s more, there have already been big cuts in international aid, and more are likely. “When food prices go up and international aid is more needed, the availability of the money goes down and the price of what it can buy goes up,” says Benton. The consequences will include social unrest in the countries hit hardest, says Paul Behrens at the University of Oxford. “Every time that we’ve seen a food price spike in the past, you see this instability.”
4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Food shock is inevitable due to the Iran war - and it could get bad (Original Post) SamuelTheThird 6 hrs ago OP
Food tricks I ran into this week - double scanning and shrinkflation with rollback! bucolic_frolic 6 hrs ago #1
2.5 million lose food aid as Republicans slash SNAP as part of GOP megabill cbabe 5 hrs ago #2
Right now it's stil Lent for me Jilly_in_VA 5 hrs ago #3
Just change "if" to "when" we have major climate events. ananda 5 hrs ago #4

bucolic_frolic

(55,286 posts)
1. Food tricks I ran into this week - double scanning and shrinkflation with rollback!
Thu Apr 9, 2026, 10:52 AM
6 hrs ago

Ice cream dropped 25 cents in price, but when opened it's not as full as before. It's maybe 3-4% off the top!

And a discounted item .... post-Easter ham .... 75% off. Tag is 75% off on one side, full price on the other. It rings at the 75% off price, then at the full price, then discounts the full price. So there are two discounted prices, I paid for it twice.

cbabe

(6,671 posts)
2. 2.5 million lose food aid as Republicans slash SNAP as part of GOP megabill
Thu Apr 9, 2026, 11:34 AM
5 hrs ago
https://www.rawstory.com/2-5-million-americans-lost-food-aid-in-months-after-passage-of-gop-megabill-study-finds/

2.5 million lose food aid as Republicans slash SNAP as part of GOP megabill

Jacob Fischler, Pennsylvania Capital-Star
April 9, 2026 9:41AM ET



Some 6% of the 41 million Americans enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, when President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4, 2025, were no longer receiving benefits by the end of the year.




Arizona was the largest outlier in the data, with a whopping 47% of people in the program — about 424,000 Arizonans — losing benefits in 2025, according to the think tank, which cited more recent state agency data in addition to last year’s USDA numbers.

Full-year 2025 data from the USDA, which operates the federal side of SNAP, shows an even bigger drop of 3.4 million people, or roughly 8% of the program’s total, CBPP said. SNAP is federally funded and administered by states, though that cost-share will change under the law.

In a late Wednesday email, a USDA spokesperson applauded the drop in SNAP participation, noting the program’s rolls had fallen below 40 million for the first time since the pandemic. The spokesperson said the program would continue “to serve those with the greatest need while also strengthening program integrity.”

… more …

Jilly_in_VA

(14,422 posts)
3. Right now it's stil Lent for me
Thu Apr 9, 2026, 11:49 AM
5 hrs ago

Holy Week, to be exact, or Great and Holy Week as my Coptic brothers and sisters put it, so food for the most part has been cheap---beans, pasta, eggs, cheese. After that, I have a freezer full of meat, and we tend to eat seasonal, fresh, and local for the most part.

On that note, we were ecstatic to hear that our local farm stand, which closed last fall due to the sale of the farm, has opened for business as of this past Monday. I didn't go then because I knew it would be crazy, but I do plan to go tomorrow and load up for next week, which, in Orthodox parlance is Bright Week, when fasting is actually forbidden. We all tend to go a little crazy that week, with resulting indigestion after 6 weeks of fasting, but fresh local veggies should help.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Food shock is inevitable ...