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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFood shock is inevitable due to the Iran war - and it could get bad
https://archive.is/Ttw9YHow 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.
Theres 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 cant afford significantly rising food prices, says Qaim.
Whats 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 weve seen a food price spike in the past, you see this instability.
bucolic_frolic
(55,286 posts)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)2.5 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 years 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 programs 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 programs 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.
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Jilly_in_VA
(14,422 posts)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.
ananda
(35,220 posts)That is a given.