During a CNN appearance on Monday, Brian Deese, White House director of the National Economic Council, blamed shortages and high demand at U.S. food banks on Russia's invasion of Ukraine as the U.S. appears to be headed toward another economic recession.
CNN anchor John Berman asked Deese what the Biden administration is doing to help hungry Americans.
"So the USDA, our Department of Agriculture, has already taken steps to increase the benefit for people who are on food assistance, the SNAP Program. We've extended summer feeding through the summer months, which is critically important to make sure that kids who rely on school meals can continue to get quality food over the summer. And our USDA is working with farmers and growers right now to put money into their efforts to try to expand production so that we can grow more, important for prices and supply here in the United States, but also the world," Deese replied.
"Remember the context here, Putin's invasion of Ukraine has taken a lot of the store of commodities that go into food off the market. Wheat, other grains, because Ukraine and Russia are both big global suppliers. So we're doing what we can to grow more here in the United States, which will help our economy, people here in our country, but also the world," he continued.
There appears to be an issue with Deese blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin due to the fact the U.S. does not import wheat from Ukraine; they supply other countries for their wheat needs. WUSA9 reported the war has increased the price of commodities, but when it comes to wheat, we grow more domestically that exceeds the country's demand.
Similar to the Biden administration blaming the gas price hike on Putin, other factors are driving up the cost beyond the war in Ukraine.