Consumers all over the world will soon be hit by a jump in food prices as the cost of wheat soars dramatically. Analysts say this is not just a short-term problem: High wheat prices are unlikely to go away.

The price of wheat has doubled since April amid growing demand and struggling supply. Last week in Chicago, wheat prices hit a new record of $8 a bushel. Prices have also reached record highs in Europe. According to Rich Feltes, senior vice president of MF Global Research in Chicago, prices will climb even higher by the end of the year.

Around the world, nations are feeling the pinch. Russia has said it may curb its wheat exports to protect food prices at home. India, the second-largest consumer of wheat, is trying to buy 50 percent more wheat than it has been offered by suppliers. Egypt and Malaysia are also trying to buy large quantities of the grain. World reserves of wheat are now at a 25-year low.

Although part of this shortage is caused by droughts in Australia and Argentina—an environmental factor subject to relatively quick reversal—many of the reasons for the problem are man-made and long-term. Among these is the rise in global living standards, land damage due to intensive agricultural practices, and the current trend toward bio-fuels, to name a few.

“It is not a blip. … We are seeing some forces out there that are not going to go away in three months,” said Robert Schofield, chief executive of Premier Foods, the UK’s biggest food producer. “The food price inflation we are seeing now is not sporadic.”

Since the First World War, the price of wheat (adjusted for inflation) has fallen steadily, largely because technology has enabled supply to keep ahead of demand. However, the current surge in wheat prices reveals that this trend may have reversed.

As demand grows and production is hindered by factors such as drought and crop disease, watch for basic food prices to continue to increase. Biblical prophecy warns of soon-coming food shortages in those nations that have traditionally enjoyed agricultural prosperity. For more information, please read “The Coming Food Shortfall.”