"Comparisons are frequently drawn with the food price shocks of 2007-08 and 2022, when surging energy costs helped drive fertiliser and freight prices higher, amplifying wider disruptions to trade and pushing up the cost of basic staples. Yet the current moment differs from those earlier crises in one crucial respect. During the past two decades, Gulf monarchies such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have come to occupy a far more central place in the global food economy than is often recognised.

The Gulf states now shape the production and circulation of food directly, supplying key chemical inputs, exporting large volumes of finished fertilisers and controlling the logistical corridors through which food and agricultural commodities move across much of the Middle East, central and east Asia and Africa.

That deeper integration with the global food system is what makes the ongoing conflict both different from, and potentially far more serious than, earlier price shocks. A shock in the Gulf can now cascade rapidly through the supply chains that carry food from the farm to the shelf. Any prolonged disruption in the region can therefore spread far more widely, whether this is because of the closure of key maritime corridors, higher freight and insurance costs, interruptions at ports and re-export hubs or damage to energy and industrial infrastructure. "

https://www.ft.com/content/36343e24-b06f-434d-a7e5-6046e7bcf3df

#Food #Iran #War #FoodScarcity

🗺️ 🥦 🌽 🎋
Uh oh. Trunmp WTF did you do!
Food and it's ties to the Strait of Hormauz

"Oil powers cars. Nitrogen powers crops. If the strait of Hormuz closes, the most consequential price may not be Brent crude but the cost of feeding the world."

#FoodScarcity #Food
#War #MiddleEast

https://theconversation.com/how-the-iran-war-could-create-a-fertiliser-shock-an-often-ignored-global-risk-to-food-prices-and-farming-277552

Why shouldn't governments that promote Scarcity instead of Abundance be seen as Enemies of the People?

"Millions of Americans greeted the end of the government shutdown — and the resumption of food stamp benefits — with relief. But others are learning they could soon lose federal food aid permanently.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins directed USDA staff during the record-setting 43-day shutdown to continue ushering states toward compliance with Republicans’ signature tax and spending law, which is projected to kick millions out of the nation’s largest anti-hunger program in the next few months.

Those changes, combined with other provisions in the new law, will represent the most significant cuts to the social safety net in decades. And it all comes as low-income families are confronting stagnating wages that aren’t keeping up with the skyrocketing cost of living — an issue that some Republicans blamed for their losses in off-year elections this month.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides an average of $6 per day for nearly 42 million people, roughly 40 percent of whom are children. Under the new law, parents and older Americans will be required to meet stricter work requirements, and states eventually will have to share in the cost of SNAP benefits, which could force further program cuts, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Tens of thousands of legal immigrants will also lose access to the program under the law."

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/15/food-stamps-snap-trump-one-big-beautiful-bill-impact-00653447

#USA #Trump #Austerity #FoodStamps #FoodScarcity #Poverty #Inequality #Kleptocracy

NC Local: Need food in NC? Use this map to find it. “NC Local created this resource to make it easier for everyone to find food assistance. Even as the shutdown of the federal government nears its end – and as SNAP payments promise to resume, we know that many people in the state will continue to face food insecurity. We will continue to update the data and refine the interface.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/16/nc-local-need-food-in-nc-use-this-map-to-find-it/

Via MottG on Mastodon: Lemontree. From the About US page: “There are more food pantries in the US than McDonalds. Yet, no one has accurate information on their location and hours. We’re building the most comprehensive dataset on food resources, backed by up-to-the-minute data & real user feedback.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/10/lemontree/

Spotted on LinkedIn: The NYC Directory of Resources and Aid. “Showing 109 resources and 48 weekly food distros.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/03/the-nyc-directory-of-resources-and-aid/

University of Kentucky: Find food assistance, community support through FindHelpNowKY.org. “Kentuckians experiencing food insecurity can access immediate, local assistance through FindHelpNowKY.org, an online tool that helps users quickly locate food, housing and other community resources by ZIP code or city.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/03/university-of-kentucky-find-food-assistance-community-support-through-findhelpnowky-org/