The latest Russian food crisis wasn’t brought on by sanctions. But in this political climate, even a bad weather report is enough to make locals race to stock up on a classic staple before it flies off supermarket shelves.

For the past few weeks, Russians have been frantically buying up buckwheat following reports that bad weather in the Altai region of Siberia – which produces nearly half of the buckwheat grown in Russia – may have compromised this year’s harvest. Stores are reporting shortages, and the price of this cornerstone of Russian cuisine is soaring.

Buckwheat, or grechka as it’s known in Russia, is a fruit seed that functions as a more-nutritious alternative to most grains and is a regular feature of the traditional Russian diet. It can be the basis for anything from breakfast porridge to a dinner casserole.

These days, the average Russian eats far less buckwheat than regular wheat. But Russia without grechka is like the South without grits. Or the Middle East without falafel. Life doesn’t stop, but something seems wrong when it’s hard to get.

People across Russia have been taking to social media to share pictures of their empty supermarket shelves where buckwheat was once available in ample supply. In downtown Moscow, at least one supermarket that put buckwheat on sale for as little as 65 cents per 800-gram package two months ago was quoting a price four times as high this week – and had only a few packages left in stock.

Officially, the Russian government says the average price of buckwheat has risen 27.5 percent since the beginning of November. But regionally, the price variation seems to be all over the map – with some mainstream supermarket chains reporting that they are simply out of buckwheat entirely.

The government – which reportedly considered tapping strategic buckwheat reserves this week to stop the rampant increase in buckwheat prices – says there is no quantifiable reason for the trend. Yes, the weather in Russia’s top buckwheat-producing region may have been bad, but there is more than enough of a crop to feed the Russian appetite this year, officials say.

Analysts in Russian media have just one explanation for the buckwheat phenomenon: panic and public hysteria, caused by news of the bad weather in Altai.

Yet the buckwheat panic isn’t happening in a vacuum.

As one of the world's largest producers of buckwheat, it’s safe to assume that Russia’s grechka problems are home-grown. But at the market, shoppers are also suffering the effects of Russia’s changed food import policies due to measures put in place this summer to ban almost all American and European produce, dairy, fish and meat products from entering the country. The move was in response to sanctions the West introduced against Russia over its involvement in the Ukraine conflict.

While shelves remain relatively full, prices of fresh food have risen well above their usual wintertime highs. In Moscow, basic vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini can cost three and four times what they did prior to sanctions this summer. And if you want something fancy, you’d better be ready to dig deep into your pockets: A bunch of asparagus could put you back as much as $25, while one store was selling boxes of cherries this week for a posted price of about $50.

Part of that is due to inflation, which Russia's economy minister said this week is expected to reach 9 percent this year thanks to the weakened ruble. But the buckwheat markup is already higher. And where buckwheat goes, its substitutes may follow.

According to a report from Russian news service Interfax, the price of certain grain products, particularly rice and durum wheat, are also creeping up. Industry experts predict that soon, the retail price of rice and pasta in Russia could be rising faster than the pace of inflation.