The Price of Food

Food prices in the UK are on track to rise by 10% by the end of 2026, driven by a perfect storm of geopolitical conflict, energy shocks, and concentrated corporate power—yet the most vulnerable are already living on the edge. At St Toswald's Church in Coney Hill, Tanya Dando runs a food hub where people come not just for meals, but for dignity. Many, like 65-year-old Rosina Yates, survive on sandwiches and rationed fruit, terrified to turn on their heating or cook with gas. The crisis is not just economic—it’s existential. As the Strait of Hormuz shuts down, disrupting fuel, food, and fertilizer flows, global supply chains buckle. The Gulf’s industrial dominance in ammonia and urea production means a war in the Middle East now directly impacts rice bags in Thailand and wheat in Sudan. Meanwhile, financial speculation and monopolistic control over seeds and fertilizers by a handful of corporations have amplified price spikes, with profits soaring while farmers and consumers suffer. In the UK, the government’s response—tariff suspensions and price cap talk—feels like a desperate echo of 1970s controls, but the real fix lies in systemic change: protecting the poorest, reforming food policy, and reclaiming state power to ensure resilient, agroecological food systems. The future of food isn’t just about inflation—it’s about justice. The episode reveals that food inflation isn’t just a cost-of-living issue—it’s a crisis of power.