Why are we facing a food crisis?

Four crises are converging on the world's food supply.

 

War has closed the Strait of Hormuz.

 

Extreme heat is cutting crop yields.

 

The strongest El Niño in a decade is forecast.

 

And Trump's tariffs are fracturing the trade networks that keep food moving.

 

The UK could face food shortages as early as this summer.

World food prices are already at their highest level since November 2023, and that pressure has not yet fully been transmitted to what you pay at the till.

UK inflation is already expected to breach 5% in 2026, partly as a result of these pressures and the Bank of England warns it could get worse.

Meanwhile, it's the developing world faces the sharpest pain. In countries where food takes the largest share of household income, price spikes tip millions into food insecurity. But the UK is not immune

None of these four pressures arose by accident. Each is the consequence of political choices: the decisions to wage war, to burn fossil fuels, to impose tariffs. And the political response so far is nowhere near equal to the scale of the threat. Will you go hungry? That's the question now? The possibility is real.