We considered the food situation in the cities of the Saratov province during the First World War. Based on materials from the periodical press, the features of the food crisis in the cities of the Saratov province are revealed. The food crisis has been characterized as a major factor affecting other areas of society. According to the authors, interruptions in the provision of food to the population in the cities of the Saratov province during the First World War constantly increased, largely due to the fact that previous food problems were not actually resolved. As a result, at the beginning of the war the food crisis had a sluggish character, and in the end of 1915 it went into an acute phase and became a chronic phenomenon of everyday life. City governments have shown their non-competence in the fighting with the food crisis. The measures were not effective enough, which was largely due to the erroneous forecasting of the development of the crisis. As a result, the activities of city governments postponed the acute phase of the crisis, but did not eliminate it.
