Food Prices Jump Most on Record as War Sparks Supply Chaos

  • UN gauge of world food costs climbed to fresh record in March
  • Higher prices are contributing to inflation and hunger crisis
Dire Consequences of Rising Food Prices
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Global food prices are surging at the fastest pace ever as the war in Ukraine chokes crop supplies, piling more inflationary pain on consumers and worsening a global hunger crisis.

The war has wreaked havoc on supply chains in the crucial Black Sea breadbasket region, upending global trade flows and fueling panic about shortages of key staples such as wheat and cooking oils. That’s sent food prices -- which were already surging before the conflict started -- to a record, with a United Nations’ index of world costs soaring another 13% last month.