I was going to write about something completely different today, but I felt that I needed to issue this warning instead. Even before COVID-19 came along, crazy global weather patterns were playing havoc with harvests all over the globe, the African Swine Fever plague had already killed about one-fourth of all the pigs in the world, and giant armies of locusts the size of major cities were devouring crops at a staggering rate on the other side of the planet. And now this coronavirus pandemic has caused an unprecedented worldwide economic shutdown, and this has put an enormous amount of stress on global food supplies.
On the official UN website, the United Nations is openly using the term “biblical proportion” to describe the famines that are coming. Even if COVID-19 miraculously disappeared tomorrow, a lot of people on the other side of the world would still starve to death, but of course COVID-19 is not going anywhere any time soon.
Here in the United States, our stores still have plenty of food. But empty shelves have started to appear, and food prices are starting to go up aggressively.
In fact, we just witnessed the largest one month increase in food prices that we have seen since 1974.
For a long time I have been warning my readers that eventually a loaf of bread in the U.S. will cost five dollars, and one of my readers in Hawaii just told me that “my wife came home with ½ loaf of bread for $2.99”.
So it appears that the day I have been warning about has already arrived for some people.
Of course the price of meat is going up even faster than the price of bread. The following is an excerpt from an email that one of Robert Wenzel’s readers in Alaska just sent him…
Our local Costco as of now, beef hamburger is $9 a pound, and steaks are $18 a pound. Hamburger was at $3.50 a pound before all this.
Our local butcher shops, that butcher and package the little local beef that is raised here, are all out of meat.
Luckily, I have a couple moose in our freezers, and plenty of canned smoked salmon, and salmon season is coming soon again.
Hopefully the price of hamburger has not nearly tripled in your area yet, but without a doubt meat prices are going to just keep heading higher.
Ultimately, it is all about supply and demand. Meat processing facilities have been shut down all over America due to COVID-19, and this is starting to create some really annoying shortages…
If you go to Wendy’s this week, there’s a good chance you won’t be able to get a hamburger. Go to the supermarket and you’ll probably see some empty shelves in the meat section. You may also be restricted to buying one or two packs of whatever’s available. Try not to look at the prices. They’re almost definitely higher than what you’re used to.
This is the new reality: an America where beef, chicken, and pork are not quite as abundant or affordable as they were even a month ago.
But as I keep reminding my readers, the only reason these meat shortages are so severe is because many farmers are unable to make their normal sales to the processing plants that have closed down.
As a result, a lot of these farmers have been forced to gas or shoot thousands of their animals…
For farmers in Iowa, Minnesota, and other Midwestern states, they have had little choice but to euthanize the backlog of animals, which means gassing or shooting thousands of pigs in a day, according to The New York Times.
The financial and emotional repercussions on the farmers are profound. Some farmers lose as much as $390,000 in a day, said the report. So far 90,000 pigs have been killed in Minnesota alone.
In the end, a lot of farmers may have to go out of business after being financially ruined during this crisis, and we will seriously miss that lost capacity in the days ahead.
Because the truth is that global food supplies are only going to get tighter and tighter. As I have discussed previously, UN World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley has warned that we are facing “the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two”, and he insists that we could soon see 300,000 people literally starve to death every single day…
“If we can’t reach these people with the life-saving assistance they need, our analysis shows that 300,000 people could starve to death every single day over a three-month period”, he upheld. “This does not include the increase of starvation due to COVID-19”.
And did you catch that last part?
He specifically excluded the effects of COVID-19 from his very ominous projection.
So the truth is that the number of people starving to death each day could ultimately end up being far, far higher.
In wealthy western countries, starvation is not an imminent threat. But what we are seeing is an explosion of hunger that is absolutely unprecedented. All over America, people have been lining up “for hours” at America’s food banks so that they can be sure to get something before the supplies run out…
In the past month, America’s food banks have been completely overwhelmed by demand. In cities like Pittsburgh, San Antonio, and Phoenix, residents have lined up for hours as food banks attempt to address a massive influx of need. Some organizations have been forced to turn people away while others are struggling to maintain the supplies necessary to keep up.
Images of the lines at food pickup points underscore how devastating the economic fallout from the pandemic has been.
This week, vehicles started lining up at 2 AM in the morning at a food bank in the Dallas area, and one woman said that the reason why she lined up so early was because she didn’t get anything at all on her first two attempts…
Carmel Zeno was the third car in line. This was her first time successfully getting food for her family at the mobile pantry site at Fair Park.
“This is my third attempt at this location. I didn’t make it in time before,” she said. “Of course, I’m unemployed. Right now, I have two out of five kids home. One has a diagnosis because of COVID. I’m thankful for whatever I can get, so it’s one of those situations.”
Even if you have been in line for hours, when the food is gone it is gone. So if you want to be absolutely certain to get something, you need to get in line very, very early.
And you know what?
We were warned in advance that this was coming.
Back in 2015, Heidi Baker had a vision in which she saw very long lines of people in beautiful vehicles waiting to receive food. If you are not familiar with that vision, here is specifically what she was shown…
“I had a vision in your church and it wasn’t what I expected to see. I saw bread lines, soup kitchens, and I saw people wearing beautiful clothing. Their clothing was not worn out. Now in my nation when people are hungry you can tell. I mean they are in shredded rags. They don’t have shoes or they have flip flops. Most of them have no shoes. They are hungry and they know they are hungry. They come for food, not because they are beggars, but because they are hungry.
I have held starving children in my arms. I know what starvation is. I know what pain is. I know what suffering is. But in this vision that I had that was in your nation, which the Lord is helping me to say, I will identify with America as well as Mozambique.
I saw this bread line, long bread lines, and I said, “Lord, I don’t think that is popular to say in a church, especially one that is all about revival and victory and power.”
I didn’t want to see what I saw, but I saw what I saw so, I was so undone that I just said what I saw. And I saw all these people and they had beautiful cars, 4 by 4’s and Lexus, Mercedez, BMW’s, Toyotas. There they were with fancy shiny cars, but they were standing in line.
What I said about worrying, the worriers turned into worshipping warriors.
I asked, “Why are they so well dressed and standing in this line?”
He said, “Because it is a suddenly. They are suddenly in need of food.”
I asked, “What are we to do?”
He said, “Tell them that what you see in Mozambique they will see in America with the signs and wonders and miracles. They will see it on their soil. They will see what I do.”
What is it that He does? For one thing He puts peace on you in the midst of the storm.”
Needless to say, her vision has now been fulfilled.
And most Americans don’t realize this yet, but things are going to get a whole lot worse.
In the short-term, let us hope that food processing plants will start to reopen and some of the temporary shortages that we are now witnessing will be alleviated.
But over time global food supplies are going to continue to get tighter and tighter, and much worse shortages will eventually happen here in the United States.
So use the window of opportunity that you have now to get prepared, because food prices are never again going to be as low as they are right now.
About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with all many people as we possibly can.