As war continues to ravage Ukraine, many Americans are beginning to notice that it’s not just gas prices going up – food prices are creeping up, too.

Global food industry experts say that with Russian oil banned from the United States, shoppers can expect their grocery bill to begin rising too, and perhaps skyrocket if Ukraine misses its wheat planting season.

“It comes at an absolutely horrible time for American consumers because we’re looking every day at inflation almost reaching 10%,” supply chain expert Dan Varroney told Fox Business. “Last month’s figures were close to 8%. And that means that consumers, including those that are living paycheck to paycheck, are going to pay more for food.”

Russia and Ukraine combined annually produce 25% of the world’s wheat supply, and while neither of them export directly to the U.S., taking them out of the global market could have serious effects in the United States as global supplies are squeezed.

And underpinning all food supply is energy, whose prices haven’t gotten any break recently, and probably won’t for a while.

“Everything from getting food from the ground, to producing it, to storing it, to delivering, it all involved energy,” Varroney said. “It’s energy costs that are going to choke consumers at every level as food companies need to stay competitive.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)