In one of the scariest moments in modern history, we're doing our best at ScheerPost to pierce the fog of lies that conceal it but we need some help to pay our writers and staff. Please consider a tax-deductible donation.
Joshua Scheer
The global economy is already reeling from the cascading effects of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran—fuel shortages, disrupted supply chains, and a deepening energy crisis. But beneath the headlines about oil and geopolitics lies a quieter, more dangerous threat: a global food system on the brink.
The warning signs are everywhere, if you know where to look.
Rising fuel prices are driving up the cost of planting, harvesting, and transporting crops. Fertilizer shortages—exacerbated by geopolitical tensions, export bans, and disrupted trade routes—are forcing farmers to scale back production or abandon key crops altogether. Pesticide inputs, many derived from petroleum, are becoming more expensive and harder to access. The result is a mounting squeeze on agricultural production just as the growing season begins.
This is not a future crisis. It is already happening.
As explored in a recent episode of Clearing the FOG, host Margaret Flowers speaks with Kayla Dones of DD Geopolitics and Lauren Borsheim of Food & Water Watch to unpack how war abroad is accelerating systemic failure at home. Their message is stark: the global food system was already fragile—decades of consolidation, deregulation, and climate disruption saw to that. Now, war is pushing it toward a breaking point.
A Perfect Storm for Scarcity
Modern agriculture is deeply dependent on fossil fuels—not just for transportation, but for the very inputs that make industrial farming possible. Fertilizers, pesticides, and mechanized equipment all rely on stable energy markets. When those markets are disrupted, food production follows.
And disruption is exactly what we’re seeing.
China, the world’s largest fertilizer producer, has restricted exports. Key chemical supply chains have been damaged by conflict. Meanwhile, farmers—already operating on razor-thin margins—are facing the reality that it may cost more to grow crops than they can sell them for.
The consequences are predictable: fewer planted acres, lower yields, and rising prices at the grocery store.
But the deeper issue is structural. For decades, U.S. agricultural policy has favored consolidation—rewarding large agribusinesses while squeezing out small and mid-sized farms. The result is a brittle, centralized system with little resilience. When shocks come, they don’t bend—they break.
The Farm Bill and the Politics of Hunger
At the very moment this crisis is intensifying, Congress is debating a new Farm Bill that critics say will only deepen the problem.
According to Borsheim, the current proposal doubles down on corporate control—propping up industrial agriculture while cutting support for consumers and smaller farmers. It fails to address rising food costs, weakens conservation programs, and even shields pesticide companies from accountability for health harms.
In other words, the legislation meant to stabilize the food system may instead accelerate its collapse.
This is not just bad policy—it’s a political choice. One that reflects a broader shift in which food is treated not as a public good, but as a commodity controlled by a handful of powerful interests.
From Shortages to Unrest
History offers a clear warning: when food becomes unaffordable, societies destabilize.
Dones points to a well-documented pattern—when staple prices cross certain thresholds, unrest follows. From bread riots to modern uprisings, food insecurity has repeatedly served as the spark that ignites broader crises.
Today, with tens of millions already food insecure in the United States and billions globally living in vulnerable conditions, the margin for error is thin.
What happens when that margin disappears?
What Can Be Done
If the system is failing at the top, the response—at least for now—may have to come from below.
The conversations in Clearing the FOG point toward a growing movement for food sovereignty: local farming, community-supported agriculture, cooperative models, and regenerative practices that reduce dependence on fossil-fuel inputs.
These are not abstract ideas—they are survival strategies.
Stockpiling basic staples, supporting local farmers, building community food networks, and engaging politically around the Farm Bill are all steps that can mitigate the impact of what’s coming. But they are also reminders of a deeper truth: resilience cannot be outsourced to corporations or governments alone.
It has to be built.
A Crisis of Priorities
The emerging food crisis is not simply the result of war or market forces. It is the product of long-term policy decisions—choices that prioritized profit over sustainability, consolidation over resilience, and short-term gain over long-term stability.
Now, those choices are colliding with geopolitical conflict in ways that could reshape the global food landscape.
The question is no longer whether disruptions are coming.
It’s whether we are prepared to face them—and whether we are willing to confront the system that made them inevitable.
Editor’s Note: At a moment when the once vaunted model of responsible journalism is overwhelmingly the play thing of self-serving billionaires and their corporate scribes, alternatives of integrity are desperately needed, and ScheerPost is one of them. Please support our independent journalism by contributing to our online donation platform, Network for Good, or send a check to our new PO Box. We can’t thank you enough, and promise to keep bringing you this kind of vital news.
You can also make a donation to our PayPal or subscribe to our Patreon.