(5) When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. (6) Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” --the revelation of st. john, ch. 6

a literally biblical famine is when food is so expensive that you have to work all day just to afford one day's worth of food for yourself, or one day's worth of less nutritious food for yourself and a small family

if food is too expensive, then why are you spending literally all of your money on it?