If you’ve been wondering if your weekly veggie run has become more pricey, then you’d be correct. This is because the war in Ukraine, the climate crisis, expensive fuel, and the COVID-19 pandemic have all combined together to cause issues for the world’s food supply chains. According to The Age, vegetables have risen in price by 12.7%, while beef and veal have risen in price by 12.1%.
Items like coffee have also risen by 8.2%, juices by 6.4%, and condiments by 5.2%. Luckily for consumers, the prices of some fruit have decreased in the last twelve months. This is because fruit like apples and avos have been oversupplied, plus items like pumpkins and pears have been easily obtainable.
Rabobank senior analyst Michael Harvey told The Age that this situation wasn’t going to let up anytime soon. He also said, “I think it’s fair to say the number of seismic events happening all at once is quite unprecedented.”
Moreover, these circumstances aren’t going to be improved by the Aussie farmers that are planning on having a brilliant crop season. As per The Guardian, these folks will plant a massive 23.83m hectares worth of wheat, barley, canola, oats, and pulses. That amount of crops would almost cover the whole of England. They are doing this because this is the third year in a row that they’ve received good rain.
An article in Purist stated that the Labor Government needs to take better care of its citizens as food prices rise. They wrote, “At least a million Australians run out of food and can’t afford to buy more, and many more skip meals.” It’s worth noting that if food prices keep increasing, then the amount of people unable to purchase food will also increase. Purist also stated, “Over a third of people experiencing food insecurity don’t seek help, because they feel ashamed or embarrassed.”
But what could the Australian Government do to help out these disadvantaged individuals? Purist suggested that they should increase the minimum wage, help strengthen the resilience of our farms, and create a new Minister for Food. They argued, “There are few things more essential to our lives or more important to our health than food. It deserves more attention from government.”
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