The Trump Food Crisis

The world is facing a "global food security emergency" because of an illegal war to protect the Epstein class.

"One of the biggest economic casualties of the U.S.-led war in Iran has been the global fertilizer supply," writes Ana Swanson in The New York Times (gift link).

Problems are already being reported in countries including India, Algeria, Slovakia, Brazil, China and Australia.

The disruption in fertilizer (and natural gas) shipments is leading to "cascading effects" that "are growing worse by the day," writes Swanson, who notes:

Nearly a third of the world’s fertilizer is shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, and many other countries that produce their own fertilizer, like Egypt and Thailand, often do so using natural gas from the Middle East.

The fertilizer crisis is already leading to higher prices for farmers globally and the growing prospect of "food insecurity in some parts of the world."

With U.S. corn and soy farmers already in the midst of spring planting season, these conflict-driven fertilizer shortages couldn't come at a worse time.

American farmers have already seen their livelihoods imperiled by Trump tariffs.

Once again, they are being forced t0 literally "begging President Trump for relief" from the problems his reckless policies have caused them.

A global tragedy caused by a war to protect the Epstein class

Writing in Fortune, Dr. Siddharth Misra, a Professor at Texas A&M, warns:

A massive increase in fertilizer costs will transform (the) energy shortage into a global food security emergency. Ultimately, to prevent total societal collapse, governments will be forced to implement severe wartime rationing, restricting fuel exclusively to military logistics, emergency services, and vital agricultural supply chains.

Because of the war, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is already warning that 45 million more people could experience acute levels of hunger, or worse, by the end of 2026.

Experts already predict that 2027 could be much worse.

But even as the rest of the world suffers in terms of food insecurity, the U.S. will likely be spared the worst.

Here, the most immediate threat caused by Trump's illegal, ill-planned war in Iran is not a shortage of food.

It's a rapidly worsening crisis of affordability.

Soaring food inflation will exacerbate the affordability crisis

As Phil Lempert wrote in Forbes on March 16, "a sustained 30% increase" in fertilizer costs will become a "slow-moving freight train that will hit U.S. grocery shoppers 6 to 12 months from now, long after the initial shock has faded."

The USDA is already predicting that inflation for beef and veal—already above 14%—could surge to 18% this year.

And, in a nation where 59% of all fresh fruit and more than a third of all vegetables consumed are imported, the "freight train" will soon be slamming into produce prices too.

It's bad enough that higher prices for food packaging and transportation are already starting to drive up the cost of food.

But, experts say, food inflation is likely to keep rising.

Millions will lose SNAP benefits just as food and energy costs peak

In the months ahead, the reality of a new surge in food inflation and higher household energy costs will come crashing down upon millions of low-income households already penalized by Trump's drastic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The expanded work requirements and calculation changes in Trump's "One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act" will mean that millions of participants—particularly older adults, veterans, and vulnerable young adults—will lose some or all of their nutritional assistance in the months ahead.

Before Trump's war began, these cuts were already predicted to cause at least 70,000 preventable deaths in the U.S. between now and 2040.

Within months, 95 million Americans could face food insecurity

In a worst-case scenario, the number of food-insecure individuals in the U.S. could skyrocket from a 2024 baseline of 47.9 million to as many as 95 million.

But that's a number you won't ever see reported by the Trump Administration.

Trump's USDA recently abolished its Household Food Security Survey, which for 30 years had served as "the gold standard for tracking food insecurity" in America.

According to Sara Bleich, professor of health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, eliminating this vital survey will "make it easier for the Trump administration to obscure the harmful effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (and) much harder for policymakers, researchers, and advocates to understand the full impact of these SNAP cuts."

As the Trump Food Crisis bites:

• Thousands more Americans will be dying preventable deaths
• Millions more children, seniors, veterans, and working-class families will be going hungry

As this national catastrophe worsens, Trump won't even be attempting to monitor the devastation he's causing.

But what else did you expect from the psychopath who, in the midst of bungling the Covid pandemic, wanted to slow the testing down?

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Further reading: My February 2026 update on some of the other crises Trump has unleashed.