Food
Top brain foods for studying and exams
The days and nights of exam preparation are stressful. Students can hardly manage time for food preparation. During lengthy exams students feel hungry and tired if they are not fed well. When trying to remember and comprehend diverse concepts and theories, keeping the body in top condition is essential. Healthy diet is the most crucial factor to make the mind, brain and other organs of your body ready for challenging tasks. Diverse research initiatives have shown that certain food items are linked to better cognitive health. Here are some healthy foods to add to your diet while studying for an exam.
15 brain foods that help focus on study
Bananas - memory booster
Nutrients:
1 serving of a medium-ripe banana contains:110 calories, 0 grams of fat, 1 gram of protein, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 15 grams of sugar (naturally present), 3 grams of fiber, and the potassium content is 450 mg.Health Benefits of Bananas
-Improve blood sugar levels.-Support digestive health.-May aid in weight loss.-Support heart health.-High in antioxidants.-This can make you feel more full.-Improve insulin sensitivity if not ripe.
Required amount per day:
Two to three bananas each day is considered an adequate amount for healthy individuals. Make sure you eat this fruit with an energizing diet that contains all the nutrients your body requires.It also has three-quarters of the daily intake of Vitamin B6, an essential nutrient linked to cognition, memory, and long-term mental well-being.
Read Health Benefits of Nigella Seeds (Kalijira)
Beans are thought to fuel
Nutrients:
Folate, protein, fiber, iron, potassium, magnesium, sodium, cholesterol, or trans-fats. It is a rich source of Antioxidants.Health Benefits of beans:
-Protein is crucial nutrition in maintaining and repairing the body. -Improve heart health-A lower risk of getting cancer.-Preventing the development of the fatty liver.-Control of appetite.
Besides, beans are a fantastic food source for slow-release amino acids and glucose, ensuring you are productive and focused without the sugar crash.Required amount per day:
You can consume around 1/2 cup of beans daily to meet the dietary guidelines for beans.
Read Green Coffee: Health Benefits, Side Effects, Recipes
Brown Rice - the focus food
Nutrients:
Calories: 216, Carbs: 44 grams, Fiber: 3.5 grams, Fat: 1.8 grams, Protein: 5 grams, Thiamin (B1): 12% of the RDI, Niacin (B3): 15% of the RDI, Pyridoxine (B6): 14% of the RDI.
Health Benefits:
Not to mention, exams create tension and pressure. A lot of the nutrients in brown rice can help maintain your heart health. Brown rice also has large amounts of Magne, making you less prone to heart stroke and heart disease.
Moreover, its higher fiber content and more nuttiness which can keep you feeling fuller (and focused) for a longer time.
Required amount per day:
Healthy adults need around 3 to 6 ounces of whole grains per day.
Read Natural Collagen-Rich Foods for Healthy Joints, Skin, Hair
Oats: a great source of energy
Nutrients:
51 grams of carbohydrates, 13 grams of protein, five grams of fat, and 8 grams of fiber per cup. A single serving of oats contains 300 calories. Health Benefits:
-Lowers blood sugar levels-Offers antioxidants-Helps to promote healthy bacteria within your gut-It aids you to feel full and satisfied, helping you manage your weight.-Reduces itching and irritation on the skin.-Reduces the risk of developing colon cancer.It's very low GI can keep you energetic. Eating this food before an exam or long hours of study, you can avoid the risks of irritability or crash in energy. You can combine oats with other healthy foods like bananas or blueberries to give you a feeling of epicness.Required amount per day:
A single serving of oatmeal has 40-50 grams. If you're on an oatmeal diet, you should consume about five daily portions.
Read How to fight sugar cravings with healthy foods, drinksTomatoes: boost your immunity
Nutrients:
Vitamin C, Potassium, K1, and Folate (vitamin B9).
Health Benefits:
Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant beneficial for the brain and preventing disease.Required amount per day:
There isn't much research into the best amount of tomatoes you can consume daily. Scientists suggest that a portion of tomatoes is one ordinary tomato or six cherries.
Read Superfood Moringa Powder: Know Its Health Benefits, Side EffectsDark chocolate: an excellent snack for studyingNutrients:
A single ounce serving of chocolate dark, ranging from 70% and the 85% cacao solids, includes:Calories: 170, Protein: 2 grams, Fat: 12 grams, Carbohydrates: 13 grams, Fiber: 3 grams, Sugar: 7 grams.
Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate
-Very healthy.-An antioxidant-rich source.-It could increase blood flow and lower blood pressure.-It increases HDL and shields LDL from the oxidation process.-Could reduce the risk of heart disease.-It could improve the brain's function.Research suggests that cocoa and dark chocolate products could be able to have positive impacts on brain functioning.
Required amount per day:
To prevent the risk of weight gain, Dr. Amidor suggests eating not more than 1 inch (oz) of chocolate dark each day.
Read Soybean Oil Substitutes: Some Healthier Options for Cooking, Baking
Berries: Cleansing agents
Nutrients:
Vitamin C, fiber iron, B vitamins, and iron.
Health Benefits:
- It is filled with antioxidants.-Improve the response of insulin and blood sugar levels.-Fiber-rich and high in content.-Help fight inflammation.-It may aid in lowering cholesterol levels.-Beneficial to your skin.-Fight cancer.-Keep your arteries healthy.Besides, berries are the best to boost memory and brain power. Berries are rich in flavonoid chemicals called anthocyanins. They help to regulate the flow of blood to the brain.Required amount per day:
2 cups of fruits daily for general health, around nine servings daily.
Read Magical Benefits of Himalayan Pink SaltEggs: a mood lifter
Nutrients:
A single egg contains 75 calories, 7 grams of high-quality protein, five grams of fat,1.6 pounds of saturated fat, iron, vitamins, carotenoids, and minerals. Eggs are full of anti-inflammatory nutrients such as lutein and zeaxanthin.Health Benefits of Eggs
Eggs are what they're made to be in terms of brain health. They're a great source of vitamin B1, choline, vitamin B12, and selenium -all of which are essential for memory, brain health, and performance. Required amount per day:
For healthful adults, eating 1 or 2 eggs every day is okay, depending on the amount of other cholesterol you have in your diet. If you have already been diagnosed with high cholesterol or any other risk factor for developing heart diseases, limiting your consumption to no more than 4-5 eggs a week might be best.
Read Egg Diet For Weight Loss: Does It Work?Fish
Nutrients:
omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins like D, B2 (riboflavin), calcium and Phosphorus, zinc, iron, and magnesium. It also contains iodine and potassium. It is recommended that the American Heart Association recommends eating fish at least twice each week as part of an overall healthy diet.
Health Benefits:
Omega-3 fats are crucial to providing long-term benefits to the brain. Consuming a diet high in omega-3s is associated with better cognitive performance and slowing down mental health decline.
Required amount per day:
Minimum 2 ounces of fish each day.
Read Healthy Winter Soup Ideas and Recipes to Help You Get Through the Cold Weather
Nuts: Nature's vitamin
Nutrients:
Calories: 173, Protein: 5 grams, Fat 16 grams, which includes 9 grams monounsaturated fat, Carbs 6 grams, Fiber 3 grams, Vitamin E: 12% of the RDI, Magnesium: 16% of the RDI, Phosphorus: 13% of the RDI, Copper: 23% of the RDI, Manganese: 26% of the RDI, Selenium: 56% of the RDI.
Health Benefits:
-Nuts are antioxidant powerhouses.- Aid Weight Loss.- Lower Cholesterol and Triglycerides.Take a handful of nuts to snack on or make a healthy mix for your trail to help support your brain's health by boosting blood flow and brain waves.
Required amount per day:
One serving equals around 30 grams or 1/3 of 1 cup (or one handful). It's about 30 almonds.
Read Health Benefits of Different Types of Nuts
Leafy greens: energy and clarity
Nutrients:
Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Vitamin E and vitamin C, beta-carotene folate Vitamin B1, B2, B2, and B6, iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium and calcium, Phosphorus, sodium.
Health Benefits:
Leafy greens are beneficial to the health of your heart in several ways. They are rich in potassium, which helps lower high blood pressure; fiber, which helps to keep cholesterol in control; and folate, which helps protect against heart diseases and stroke.
Required amount per day:
Two to three cups of vegetables daily for adults.
Read 7 Healthy Warm Drinks to Stay Warm This Winter
Broccoli
Nutrients:
Fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, iron, potassium, and vitamin K. It has more protein than many other vegetables.
Health Benefits:
Broccoli protects your brain with antioxidants. According to a study from 2013, Vitamin K could be beneficial to memory and brain function during aging.
Required amount per day:
One serving of broccoli is approximately the width of your fist. You need to eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables per day to have a good result.
Read Top 10 Nutritious Winter Vegetables in Bangladesh
Beet
Nutrition:
Calories, Fat, Sodium, Carbohydrates, Fiber, Sugars, Protein, Potassium.
Health Benefits of Beets:
The best drink to concentrate on exam preparation and studying. The lack of blood circulation to your brain can have negative consequences when doing your research, and beets could aid in preventing that. Studies from 2011 indicate that beets can increase circulation to the brain, specifically, the frontal lobe. It is involved in memory and decision-making.
Required amount per day:
The ideal concentration is between 6.4 to 12.8 mg/kg of beets. To put it into simple terms, one cup (136 grams) of beets is enough every day.
Read Khichuri Recipes: 7 varieties of yummy nutritious Khichdi to try at home
Coffee: an adrenaline rush
Nutrients:
Riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), Magnesium, Potassium, phenolic compounds, or antioxidants.
Health Benefits:
-You can live longer.-There is a lower chance of developing heart failure.-There is a little chance to develop Parkinson's disease.-Your liver will be grateful.-Your DNA will become more powerful.
Required amount per day:
Studies show that moderate doses (from 75 to 250 milligrams) of caffeine may improve alertness and concentration, even if you're tired.
Read 7 Yummy Coffee Recipes to Try at Home without Coffee Maker
Green tea: boost productivity
Nutrients:
The nutrients contained in 8 fluid ounces, which is roughly the equivalent of one cup of green tea, comprise:Calories, Protein, Fat, Carbohydrates, Fiber, Sugar.
Health Benefits:
Green tea contains two elements that can help improve the brain's performance. Along with caffeine, green tea also contains L-theanine. The amino acid has been proven to assist in stress management and improve brain performance.
Required amount per day:
Drinking between three and five cups of tea with green every day seems to be the ideal way for the most significant health benefits.
Read Matcha Green Tea Health Benefits
Bottom Line
A healthy lifestyle can improve your academic performance and aid you to attain your goals in exams. A healthy, and balanced diet is mandatory for maintaining your brain and body health. If you do not eat well you can hardly make good preparations for exams and do good performances in the exam hall. So far, we have discussed 15 healthy and nutritious foods to eat during exam preparation as well as on the exam days. You can also add these foods to your regular diet.
Top Instagrammable rooftop restaurants in Banani
Banani is often termed the quintessential urban metropolis within Dhaka - the capital city of Bangladesh. Over the last three decades, Banani has slowly transformed itself into one of the prime social hubs beyond the concrete-scape. In recent years, a good number of restaurants and cafes have boomed in Banani offering spaces and ambience for meeting and hanging out. Among these establishments, several instagrammable rooftop restaurants in Banani have made a niche for themselves.
Thanks to open décor and beautiful skyline views. With that said, here’s our pick of the best rooftop restaurants in Banani for taking selfies, groupes besides enjoying delicious food.
8 instagrammable rooftop restaurants in Banani
Rozak Rooftop Restaurant
Rozak Rooftop Restaurant is one of those places that will bring the nostalgic vibe of the late 90s and early 2000s. From its interior to the fusion menu, everything has been well curated to provide a relaxed and cosy environment under the clouds or the stars as you prefer.
Read Best Instagrammable Rooftop Restaurants at Gulshan in Dhaka
The restaurant is situated on the strip of offices and restaurants on Banani Road 11. Visitors will get to enjoy the open expanse of Banani Model Town or the skyline filled with skyscrapers.
The menu ranges from a choice of Bengali cuisine along with steaks, seafood, different salads, and of course, pasta.
Expect to shell out around 2000 to 2500 BDT per person for a two-course meal.
ChileKotha
ChileKotha which literally translates to the attic is another chain of rooftop restaurants across Dhaka. One of their main branches is situated in Banani F block, Road 4, House 16. The restaurant tried to replicate the homely surrounding of the attic, a place that is close to the heart and full of memories.
Read Instagrammable Rooftop Restaurants in Uttara
Their choice of menu is between authentic Bengali cuisines and Bangla Chinese. There’s also a selection of Kebab items which are one of the must-try items here.
Expect to spend around 1000 to 1500 BDT per person for a filling single-course meal with drinks.
Picasso Restaurant
Picasso is situated right at the junction of Gulshan and Banani near the Gulshan Link Road. The restaurant situated on the rooftop offers a scintillating view of the Gulshan Lake and Banani skyline.
The restaurant features an array of the continental dish with signature items from the head chef, Saifur Rahman. However, the must-try items in this restaurant are the selected dessert items available fresh every day.
Read Best Rooftop Restaurants in Dhanmondi with Instagrammable Views
The restaurant presents its items as food arts. Hence the name Picasso. While food is meant to fill the cravings of hunger, this place will definitely fill your heart as well.
A two-course meal per person will cost between 1500 to 2500 BDT.
Tribe Rooftop Lounge
Even though it's pretty common to see “Lounge” in the name of most cafes in Dhaka, hardly any one of them provides an authentic lounge experience. And that’s where Tribe Rooftop Lounge Comes in.
Situated on the top of Platinum Grand Hotel Gulshan, Tribe offers one of the best lounge experiences with its assortment of drinks and entrée menus. From salads to gourmet steak, surf and turf, and fillets, the choice of delicacies is also robust here.
Read Best Kid-Friendly Restaurants, Cafes in Dhaka City for Family Dine Outs
Expect to spend around 2000 to 2500 BDT per person for a comfortable laid-back experience.
Cielo Rooftop Banani
Cielo Rooftop was one of the first chain rooftop restaurants in Dhaka. The restaurant had its first outlet in Paribagh and from there on ventured into the greater Banani area.
The main highlight of Cielo Rooftop is its cosy outdoors in a high skyscraper. The Banani branch of Cielo Rooftop is situated on the 18th floor which provides a view of the adjoining area. You can hardly find such exclusive views in other restaurants of the city.
Their assortment of food includes continental and fast food with an extensive choice of drinks and desserts. We definitely suggest that you check out their dessert menu and coffee range.
Read Top 10 Buffet Restaurants in Dhaka City
Expect to spend around 700 to 1000 BDT per person for a single-course meal.
La Marisco
La Marisco is another rooftop restaurant situated in Banani F block overlooking the Banani Model Town.
The restaurant features a wide-open space in its rooftop area which makes it look like an open terrace. The interior has been generously designed with faux grass to exude a natural feel. Diners will get to experience an authentic Chinese menu here as the restaurant specialises in Chinese delicacies.
Expect to spend around 1000 to 1500 BDT per person for a two-course meal.
Read Seafood restaurants in Dhaka to remind you the taste of ocean
Jatra Biroti
We already featured Jatra Biroti in our list of Best Instagrammable Rooftop Restaurants in Gulshan. Jatra Biroti sits right between Gulshan and Banani main road making it a claimant of both parts of Dhaka.
This vegetarian restaurant is a boutique experience made to relish the authentic rural cuisines of Bangladesh. There are sitting arrangements in both indoor and outdoor rooftop areas.
The place itself is designed to exude a rural feel with the thatched roof and bamboo sitting area. The cooks here are all women coming from different marginalised backgrounds of society.
Jatra Biroti with its ambiance and food aims to take you to the wandering villages of Bangladesh, where you’ll feel a sense of connection with the root. Not to mention the nostalgic homely taste of their cuisines.
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Couple any item with their seasonal fresh juices and you’re looking to spend around 1000 to 1200 BDT per person.
Tree House
Ending the list with another great rooftop restaurant in greater Banani. Tree House is situated in a recused part of Banani giving it a more cosy and laid-back ambiance. The internal décor of the restaurant is made in a more contemporary style which perfectly blends with the overarching theme of the restaurant.
Diners will have access to an array of continental and fusion cuisines. But the best items have to be their different set menu platters ranging from oriental to Chinese themes. There’s BBQ and steak as well for those looking for a more gourmet experience.
Expect to spend around 1500 to 2000 BDT for a single-course meal.
Read Elegant Resorts near Dhaka to Celebrate Christmas Vacation with Family and Friends
Final Words
Banani is located not far from Dhaka's diplomatic districts, which also include upscale neighbourhoods, top-notch medical facilities, foreign schools, and clubs. As a result, high-end companies and luxury brands frequently concentrate on opening offices in Banani to serve tourists, famous people, and public figures. Here, developers have built special commercial areas that let other businesses distinguish themselves from the competition.
Complying with this trend, the instagrammable rooftop restaurants of Banani are increasingly becoming popular for their amiable ambiance and feel-good experience. While it's one thing to enjoy a meal from the comfort of indoor restaurants, it’s a completely different experience altogether when it comes to rooftops. There’s something special about dining under the open sky and feeling connected to nature. And in a concrete jungle like Dhaka, rooftop restaurants are definitely a breath of fresh air.
Read Project Hilsa: Largest restaurant in Bangladesh with elegant interior, pricey food
Global food prices dip for fifth month
Global food prices dropped for a fifth straight month in August, but were still eight percent higher than a year ago, according to the UN food and agriculture agency.
The cost of food has been one of the biggest contributors to inflation around the world.
FAO's latest global food price index, published Friday, shows that the prices of five commodities – cereals, vegetable oil, dairy, meat and sugar – were lower in August than in July.
The index, which measures the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities, averaged 138.0 points last month, down nearly two percent from July, though 7.9 percent above the value a year before.
The decline in cereal prices reflected improved production prospects in North America and Russia and the resumption of exports from Black Sea ports in Ukraine.
A landmark agreement to unblock Ukraine's grain exports amid the ongoing war was signed in July by the country, Russia, Türkiye and the UN.
Read: UN food price index dropped in July for fourth month
Rice prices on average held steady during August, while quotations for coarse grains, such as maize, rose marginally.
Vegetable oil prices fell 3.3 percent, which is slightly below the August 2021 level. The FAO attributed this to the increased availability of palm oil from Indonesia, due to lower export taxes, and the resumption of sunflower oil shipments from Ukraine.
Although dairy prices saw a two percent drop, they remained 23.5 percent higher than in August 2021.
The price of cheese increased for the tenth consecutive month, though milk prices eased following expectations of increased supplies from New Zealand, even amid projections of lower production in Western Europe and the US.
The price of meat dropped by 1.5 percent but remained just over eight percent higher than the value last August.
International quotations for poultry fell amid elevated export availability, and bovine meat prices declined due to weak domestic demand in some top exporting countries while pig meat quotations rose.
Sugar prices also hit their lowest level since July 2021, largely due to high export caps in India and lower ethanol prices in Brazil.
The FAO also issued its global cereal production forecast for this year, which projects a decline of nearly 40 million tonnes or 1.4 percent from the previous year.
The bulk of this decline mainly concerns coarse grains, with maize yields in Europe expected to drop 16 percent below their five-year average level due to the exceptionally hot and dry weather conditions affecting the continent.
However, the UN agency expects there will be a negligible drop in worldwide wheat production resulting from expected record harvests in Russia and conducive weather conditions in North America.
Global rice production is also expected to decline by 2.1 percent from the all-time high reached in 2021.
Students lock hall canteen at DU over rotten food
Students of Dhaka University's Kabi Jasimuddin Hall have locked up the hall’s canteen for serving low quality and rotten food.
The students locked the canteen after seeing the spoiled rice with insects on Friday noon. More rotten food was retrieved from the canteen kitchen and later brought to the hall garden.
During the drive, canteen manager Mubarak Hossain locked in an argument with the students. At one point, the students became enraged and dared to beat him, but seniors stopped them from hurting the manager.
Students said that all the food in the canteen was rotten and rice powder was being fed in the name of rice. Besides, all kinds of fish, meat and curries were also impossible to eat.
The students have threatened to remove the manager and later locked the canteen until it was cleaned and standardized.
At the canteen this UNB reporter found that there were insects in rice, feathers in cooked chicken and most of the food inside the fridge was spoiled.
Read: Wall collapses at DU hall canteen; 2 injured
In the face of the students' interrogation, canteen manager Mubarak claimed that the shopkeeper had given the bag of rotten rice by mistake.
About the packet of rotten meat inside the fridge, he said, "It was left by a student."
Jasim Uddin Hall Provost Prof Muhammad Abdur Rashid, House Tutor Md Zahirul Islam, Hall unit of Chhatra League President Waliul Sumon and General Secretary Lutfur Rahman along with more students came to the canteen during the heightened period and calmed down the situation.
After inspecting the food in the canteen, the Hall Provost asked the canteen manager to eat the cooked chicken with feathers.
"These foods are a threat to the health of the students. The culprit must be brought to justice. The canteen will remain closed till further notice," Prof Rashid said.
IBBL donates food for flood-hit people of Netrokona
The Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) recently donated food and medicine for the flood-hit people of Netrokona.
Md Anisul Haque, IBBL executive vice president and head of the Mymensingh zone, handed over the food items to the Netrokona Deputy Commissioner's Office.
READ: IBBL signs MoU with BRB Hospital
District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Aftab Ahmed received the food items.
IBBL also handed over food items to the deputy commissioner's offices in Sylhet, Sunamgonj, Bogura, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Sirajganj for the flood-hit people, according to a media statement issued Thursday.
Sylhet flood: Food, pure drinking water crisis hit vicitms hard
Flood vicitms in the district have been going through immese sufferings due to crisis of food and pure drinking water.
“We have neihter any food nor have received any relief at the shelter,”said Terab Bibi, a resident of Chararpar of Sylhet city who has taken shelter at Ramkrishna Primary School in Chalibandar area amid the worsening flood situation.
“I failed to provide any food to my children as no relief materials have reached the shelter yet. I gave some puffed rice to my children. How can I stay here?” said the 35-year old woman.
Floods are ravaging the country and vast areas starting from Sylhet-Sunamganj to northern Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram have been submerged by floodwaters.
As rains ceased, floodwater started to recede in some flood-hit areas on Sunday. However, many rivers are still flowing above the danger level.
EXPLAINER: How did Russia-Ukraine war trigger a food crisis?
Russian hostilities in Ukraine are preventing grain from leaving the “breadbasket of the world” and making food more expensive across the globe, threatening to worsen shortages, hunger and political instability in developing countries.
Together, Russia and Ukraine export nearly a third of the world’s wheat and barley, more than 70% of its sunflower oil and are big suppliers of corn. Russia is the top global fertilizer producer.
World food prices were already climbing, and the war made things worse, preventing some 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain from getting to the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia.
Weeks of negotiations on safe corridors to get grain out of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports have made little progress, with urgency rising as the summer harvest season arrives.
“This needs to happen in the next couple of months (or) it’s going to be horrific,” said Anna Nagurney, who studies crisis management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is on the board of the Kyiv School of Economics.
She says 400 million people worldwide rely on Ukrainian food supplies. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization projects up to 181 million people in 41 countries could face food crisis or worse levels of hunger this year.
Here’s a look at the global food crisis:
WHAT’S THE SITUATION?
Typically, 90% of wheat and other grain from Ukraine’s fields are shipped to world markets by sea but have been held up by Russian blockades of the Black Sea coast.
Some grain is being rerouted through Europe by rail, road and river, but the amount is a drop in the bucket compared with sea routes. The shipments also are backed up because Ukraine’s rail gauges don’t match those of its neighbors to the west.
Read: Food safety a must for BD to be a developed country: Minister
Ukraine’s deputy agriculture minister, Markian Dmytrasevych, asked European Union lawmakers for help exporting more grain, including expanding the use of a Romanian port on the Black Sea, building more cargo terminals on the Danube River and cutting red tape for freight crossing at the Polish border.
But that means food is even farther from those that need it.
“Now you have to go all the way around Europe to come back into the Mediterranean. It really has added an incredible amount of cost to Ukrainian grain,” said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington.
Ukraine has only been able to export 1.5 million to 2 million tons of grain a month since the war, down from more than 6 million tons, said Glauber, a former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Russian grain isn’t getting out, either. Moscow argues that Western sanctions on its banking and shipping industries make it impossible for Russia to export food and fertilizer and are scaring off foreign shipping companies from carrying it. Russian officials insist sanctions be lifted to get grain to global markets.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other Western leaders say, however, that sanctions don’t touch food.
WHAT ARE THE SIDES SAYING?
Ukraine has accused Russia of shelling agricultural infrastructure, burning fields, stealing grain and trying to sell it to Syria after Lebanon and Egypt refused to buy it. Satellite images taken in late May by Maxar Technologies show Russian-flagged ships in a port in Crimea being loaded with grain and then days later docked in Syria with their hatches open.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia has provoked a global food crisis. The West agrees, with officials like European Council President Charles Michel and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying Russia is weaponizing food.
Read: WTO Conference: Bangladesh speaks against sudden ban on food export
Russia says exports can resume once Ukraine removes mines in the Black Sea and arriving ships can be checked for weapons.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov promised that Moscow would not “abuse” its naval advantage and would “take all necessary steps to ensure that the ships can leave there freely.”
Ukrainian and Western officials doubt the pledge. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said this week that it may be possible to create secure corridors without the need to clear sea mines because the location of the explosive devices are known.
But other questions would still remain, such as whether insurers would provide coverage for ships.
Dmytrasevych told the EU agriculture ministers this week that the only solution is defeating Russia and unblocking ports: “No other temporary measures, such as humanitarian corridors, will address the issue.”
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Food prices were rising before the invasion, stemming from factors including bad weather and poor harvests cutting supplies, while global demand rebounded strongly from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Glauber cited poor wheat harvests last year in the United States and Canada and a drought that hurt soybean yields in Brazil. Also exacerbated by climate change, the Horn of Africa is facing one of its worst droughts in four decades, while a record-shattering heat wave in India in March reduced wheat yields.
That, along with soaring costs for fuel and fertilizer, has prevented other big grain-producing countries from filling in the gaps.
WHO’S HARDEST HIT?
Ukraine and Russia mainly export staples to developing countries that are most vulnerable to cost hikes and shortages.
Countries like Somalia, Libya, Lebanon, Egypt and Sudan are heavily reliant on wheat, corn and sunflower oil from the two warring nations.
“The burden is being shouldered by the very poor,” Glauber said. “That’s a humanitarian crisis, no question.”
Beside the threat of hunger, spiraling food prices risk political instability in such countries. They were one of the causes of the Arab Spring, and there are worries of a repeat.
The governments of developing countries must either let food prices rise or subsidize costs, Glauber said. A moderately prosperous country like Egypt, the world’s top wheat importer, can afford to absorb higher food costs, he said.
“For poor countries like Yemen or countries in the Horn of Africa — they’re really going to need humanitarian aid,” he said.
Starvation and famine are stalking that part of Africa. Prices for staples like wheat and cooking oil in some cases are more than doubling, while millions of livestock that families use for milk and meat have died. In Sudan and Yemen, the Russia-Ukraine conflict came on top of years of domestic crises.
UNICEF warned about an “explosion of child deaths” if the world focuses only on the war in Ukraine and doesn’t act. U.N. agencies estimated that more than 200,000 people in Somalia face “catastrophic hunger and starvation,” roughly 18 million Sudanese could experience acute hunger by September and 19 million Yemenis face food insecurity this year.
Wheat prices have risen in some of those countries by as much as 750%.
“Generally, everything has become expensive. Be it water, be it food, it’s almost becoming quite impossible,” Justus Liku, a food security adviser with the aid group CARE, said after visiting Somalia recently.
Liku said a vendor selling cooked food had “no vegetables or animal products. No milk, no meat. The shopkeeper was telling us she’s just there for the sake of being there.”
In Lebanon, bakeries that used to have many types of flat bread now only sell basic white pita bread to conserve flour.
WHAT’S BEING DONE?
For weeks, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been trying to secure an agreement to unblock Russian exports of grain and fertilizer and allow Ukraine to ship commodities from the key port of Odesa. But progress has been slow.
A vast amount of grain is stuck in Ukrainian silos or on farms in the meantime. And there’s more coming — Ukraine’s harvest of winter wheat is getting underway soon, putting more stress on storage facilities even as some fields are likely to go unharvested and because of the fighting.
Serhiy Hrebtsov can’t sell the mountain of grain at his farm in the Donbas region because transport links have been cut off. Scarce buyers mean prices are so low that farming is unsustainable.
“There are some options to sell, but it is like just throwing it away,” he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden says he’s working with European partners on a plan to build temporary silos on Ukraine’s borders, including with Poland, a solution that would also address the different rail gauges between Ukraine and Europe.
The idea is that grain can be transferred into the silos, and then “into cars in Europe and get it out to the ocean and get it across the world. But it’s taking time,” he said in a speech Tuesday.
Dmytrasevych said Ukraine’s grain storage capacity has been reduced by 15 million to 60 million tons after Russian troops destroyed silos or occupied sites in the south and east.
WHAT’S COSTING MORE?
World production of wheat, rice and other grains is expected to reach 2.78 billion tons in 2022, down 16 million tons from the previous year — the first decline in four years, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said.
Wheat prices are up 45% in the first three months of the year compared with the previous year, according to the FAO’s wheat price index. Vegetable oil has jumped 41%, while sugar, meat, milk and fish prices also have risen by double digits.
The increases are fueling faster inflation worldwide, making groceries more expensive and raising costs for restaurant owners, who have been forced to increase prices.
Some countries are reacting by trying to protect domestic supplies. India has restricted sugar and wheat exports, while Malaysia halted exports of live chickens, alarming Singapore, which gets a third of its poultry from its neighbor.
The International Food Policy Research Institute says if food shortages grow more acute as the war drags on, that could lead to more export restrictions that further push up prices.
Another threat is scarce and costly fertilizer, meaning fields could be less productive as farmers skimp, said Steve Mathews of Gro Intelligence, an agriculture data and analytics company.
There are especially big shortfalls of two of the main chemicals in fertilizer, of which Russia is a big supplier.
“If we continue to have the shortage of potassium and phosphate that we have right now, we will see falling yields,” Mathews said. “No question about it in the coming years.”
Most vulnerable now paying more for less food: FAO
Countries are expected to spend $1.8 trillion to import the food they need this year; this would be a new world record but worryingly, it is going to buy them less food, not more, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Ever-higher fixed costs for farmers of "agricultural inputs" such as fertiliser and fuel are likely to be responsible for this year's bigger-than-ever global food import bill, the FAO said Thursday in its latest Food Outlook report.
All but $2 billion of the additional $51 billion that is going to be spent worldwide on edible imports this year was owing to higher prices, the UN agency said. "Animal fats and vegetable oils will be the single biggest contributor to higher import bills this year, although cereals are not far behind for developed countries. Developing countries, as a whole, are reducing imports of cereals, oilseeds and meat, which reflects their incapacity to cover the increase in prices."
Read: FAO records small drop in global food prices in April
Among the most vulnerable nations, the FAO estimated that least developed countries will have little option but to spend five percent less to import food this year.
The sub-Saharan African states and other nations that buy more food than they export are likely to face an increase in costs, for which they will get lower amounts of essential foodstuffs.
"These are alarming signs from a food security perspective. Also, importers will find it difficult to finance rising international costs, and these could, potentially, break them," the FAO said.
Read: Healthy plants can protect environment, boost economies: FAO
To help avoid greater food insecurity among low-income nations and to guarantee food imports, the UN agency has recommended the creation of a balance-of-payment support mechanism.
Ensure safe food to reduce Hypertension risk: Speakers
Speakers at a webinar have emphasized ensuring safe food in the county to reduce the risk of Hypertension risk among people.
They expressed the importance of safe food for tackling NCDs like Hypertension and Cardiovascular diseases at the webinar marking World Food Safety Day organised by research and advocacy organisation PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) with support from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), said a media release.
The World Food Safety Day -2022 was observed in the country on Tuesday as elsewhere in the globe with the theme ‘Safer food, better health’.
The day was of great importance for Bangladesh as the consumption of unsafe food is leading to an exponential rise in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and related mortality in the country.
The speakers said at present one in every five (21 percent) adults in Bangladesh is suffering from hypertension, and the intake of unsafe food is greatly responsible for it.
Hypertension causes increased risks of cardiovascular diseases while 277,000 people die of cardiovascular diseases each year in the country. Half of the women (51 percent) and two-thirds of men (67 percent) are not even aware of their hypertension conditions in Bangladesh, they said.
READ: More awareness needed to ensure safe food: Minister
Speakers shared at the webinar that, Bangladesh has pledged to achieve the target for NCD prevention by 2025 and the targets for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of 2030. The hypertension burden is a major hindrance in achieving these goals and targets.
According to the data of the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019, hypertension is one of the three major risk factors for death and disability in Bangladesh.
Although the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) has already promulgated the ‘Controlling Trans Fatty Acids in Foodstuffs Regulation, 2021’, people are yet to pick the fruit of this great initiative as the regulation is yet to be implemented, they said.
BFSA member (Food Industry and Production) Dr. Md Abdul Alim, GHAI Bangladesh Country Lead Muhammad Ruhul Quddus, associate professor at the Department of Public Health and Informatics of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Dr. Romen Raihan, director of the Center for Non-Communicable Disease and Nutrition at the BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health Professor Dr. Malay Kanti Mridha, upazila health & family planning officer at the Beanibazar Upazila Health Complex Dr. Md Delowar Hossain Shumon, hypertension control programme manager at the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh Dr. Mahfuzur Rahman Bhuiyan, professor at the Department of Food Technology and Rural Industries of the Bangladesh Agricultural University Dr. Abdullah Iqbal, among others, were present at the webinar as discussants.
PROGGA’s coordinator Shihab Mahmud conducted the webinar.
Representatives of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Sciences (INFS) of the University of Dhaka, Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), Bangladesh Agro Processors Association (BAPA), BFSF, and Bangladesh Food and Nutrition Association (BAFNA), along with doctors, nutritionists, journalists and other people of various professions attended the programme.
No food shortage in country: Agriculture Minister
As the government has made food security its top priority, there is no food shortage in the country today, Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque said Friday.
He made these remarks at a program to inaugurate the 29th Annual Convention of Lions Club Bangladesh at a hotel in Dhaka.
Later in the evening, the minister addressed the closing ceremony of the centenary celebrations of Sri Sri Madhav Gauriya Math at Narinda in Dhaka as the chief guest.
Razzaque said that the people of the country are now living in peace and security and this must be maintained. The BNP, spurred on by religious fanaticism, wants to come to power through movement that would hold the people hostage. But it wouldn’t be tolerated and everyone should be aware of this, he added.
Calling on all to remain vigilant and united in maintaining religious harmony, the minister said the Awami League has never allowed communalism. The BNP, on the other hand, has always fed communalism in politics and persecuted religious minorities.
He said fundamentalists and opportunists are still active. "So we all need to be aware and united in maintaining religious harmony among people of all religions and castes," the agriculture minister added.