A hike in the cost of wheat is alarming French households who fear a possible rise in the price of the prized baguette, seen by many as a barometer of the country’s economic health.
Many boulangeries around France are putting up signs, warning customers that the long, crunchy staple could be going up in price by 5 to 10 centimes, from its average of about 89 centimes.
“Although that might not seem like a lot, it’s a huge increase. The baguette is precious. It has only gone up 23 centimes in the last 20 years,” said Dominique Anract, president of the French Confederation of Bakeries and Pastry Shops.
The price hike fears are linked to a 30% worldwide increase since September in the price of wheat — one of the baguette’s key ingredients — after bad harvests in Russia and Canada, Anract said. Rising energy costs are making ovens more expensive to operate and an increase in wage costs are also factors.
“The situation is unprecedented because we have never had all these elements at the same time, of this size. And it comes at the wrong time when the pandemic has led to a drop in cash flow for some bakers,” Anract said.
10 billion baguettes a year
France’s 67 million people are voracious consumers of the baguette. The country’s “Bread Observatory” — a venerable institution that closely follows the fortunes of the famed 65-centimetre loaf — notes that the French munch through 320 baguettes every second. That’s an average of half a baguette per person per day and 10 billion every year.
Anract said that every increase in the price of the baguette “is dire when played out nationwide”.
“The baguette is our emblem, our symbol, the thermometer of our economy. It’s perhaps like Britain’s pint of milk. It can never go beyond one euro,” he said.
Marc Cohen, a 35-year-old father of two, said outside his local baker in the Le Marais area of central Paris that rising baguette prices “would be a pain in the neck. Costs are going up everywhere. Even 5 centimes is a lot because we get one every day. That adds up over the year, and next year it will probably be the same.”
Calling it “depressing news,” 43-year-old engineer Franck Nguyen said “the baguette is an institution in France. If the price goes up by too much, there will be big opposition.”
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
To those familiar with Bible Prophecy, the news that the cost of wheat is skyrocketing should be quite interesting. That is because, in the Book of Revelation, God’s Word states that at the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation something very similar would occur.
In chapter 6 of the book of Revelation, during the opening of the “seal judgments,” the Bible speaks of four horsemen emerging when the first seals are opened by Jesus. The description of the third horsemen reads:
Revelation 6:5-6 KJV – “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”
The word “penny” was originally translated from the Greek word “denarion,” which was a Roman silver coin. From the parable in Matthew 20:1-13, it seems that this at the time was an ordinary pay for a day’s labor:
Matthew 20:2 KJV – “And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny [denarion] a day, he sent them into his vineyard.”
Other Bible translations of Rev. 6:6 simply say “a day’s wages.” Either way, the verse in Revelation speaks of an incredibly significant rise in the cost of the ingredients to make bread.
Pastor Ed Hickey, discussing this judgment of God, said: “You’ve heard of inflation. You’ve heard of hyperinflation. Well, this is hyper hyperinflation! The numbers that are used here to describe what it costs for food. Back then, it’s about 12 times what it would normally cost.”
It is important to make clear that the events spoken of in Revelation 6 have not occurred yet. These seals have not been opened, as some might mistakenly believe. The Bible clearly states that prior to the Tribulation, Christians will be “caught up” from the earth in what is called the Rapture of the Church (1 Corin. 15:51-53, 1 Thess. 4:16-18, Titus 2:13). This is done because, as Believers who have already come to the saving knowledge and acceptance of Jesus Christ, we as Christians are “not appointed to wrath” (1 Thess. 5:9).
However, even though this time of Tribulation on the earth has not begun, that doesn’t mean that we will not see harbingers of these future events.
Luke 21:28 says that “when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
Jan Markell in her article “Hoofbeat of Four Horsemen” wrote that “even if they are Tribulation events, they are casting a shadow on the Church Age.”
These events appear to be “just over the horizon, raring to go,” Markell maintained. “The four horsemen of the apocalypse may be training on some race track somewhere! You can almost hear their hoofbeats.“
