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by Dr. Mark Sircus
This report explores the converging crises threatening the global food supply - from collapsing bee populations and rice shortages in Asia to skyrocketing coffee, egg, and beef prices.
Climate extremes, pesticide use, trade disruption, and economic desperation are fueling what may become the most severe food shock in modern history.
U.S. egg prices increased again last month to reach a new record high of $6.23 per dozen.
Malaysia is struggling to keep a staple food - rice - readily available to its citizens.
Crop shortages of in-demand products - including rice - increase prices, making it harder for impoverished households to meet their basic needs.
The worst feeling in the world is watching your child cry from hunger, and you can't even give them a piece of bread...
We are entering dangerous territory in terms of food prices and availability.
In some places like Gaza, it is way past critical, with markets empty. There is no flour; when there is, it is sold at prices most cannot afford.
A world of people is suffering from unaffordable food prices, and availability in many places is becoming increasingly limited.
Expect the trends pushing food prices to accelerate even more as we move through 2025. Agricultural commodities have surged nearly 30% year-over-year, reaching their highest levels in a decade.
Attention Steak Lovers:
Florida has been set to produce the fewest oranges since 1930, after the horrific hurricane and frosts that keep penetrating Florida even though it is not winter yet.
The price of orange juice has been up 327 percent over the last 3 years, and thanks to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, prices are expected to go even higher in 2025.
American beekeepers are sounding the alarm as honeybee deaths reach unprecedented levels, with commercial operations reporting an average loss of over 60% of their colonies this winter - potentially the worst die-off in U.S. history.
The economic fallout is staggering: losses are valued at $139 million, honey prices have surged 5%, and many beekeepers face financial ruin.
Scientists are urgently investigating the causes, with pesticides emerging as a key suspect.
A recent University of California, Davis study found that bees may need multiple generations to recover from just one pesticide application, raising concerns about long-term damage to these vital pollinators.
Extreme weather significantly affects agriculture, including the stability and yield of crops like rice.
Earth.org reported that extreme weather like droughts, floods, and heat waves degrades soil health, disrupts planting conditions, and reduces crop yields.
But erratic weather and warming temperatures aren't the only factors impacting rice availability in Malaysia - trade policies, rising agriculture costs, and supply chain disruptions also play a role.
Warmth supports life. Cold suffocates it.
Bad news keeps pouring in.
Heavy snow and freezing temperatures gripped much of Bulgaria on Monday, April 7th, putting the country's fruit harvest at serious risk. The storm hit at a critical time for Bulgaria's agriculture sector, blanketing blooming fruit trees and threatening pollination.
The cold kept bees inside their hives and damaged delicate blossoms nationwide. Peaches, plums, and almonds - already in early bud - have been hit especially hard, along with young seedlings, vineyards, and early vegetables.
The damage follows a February freeze, a brutal drop to -24ºC (minus 11ºF), that destroyed 90% of the country's northern apricot trees, with later varieties like apples and pears also impacted.
Bulgaria may be forced to rely on imported fruit.
Many growers, frustrated by limited state support, say they may be forced to abandon or cut down large portions of their orchards. This is not isolated news but a trend that will not quit as the truth of climate change becomes apparent.
Yes, we have an extreme climate, which tends to be colder, not warmer.
Liar Michael Mann will have to pay through the nose as will others eventually for the climate scam.
We are three weeks into Spring, and it's still winter. I hope that says something about what is happening with our climate...
Of course, this is terrible news getting worse for those less fortunate financially.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 37 percent of Americans (over a third of Americans) are having trouble paying their most basic bills, so things are getting tighter.
Perhaps Americans will have to take time out from eating breakfast. Many Americans like having eggs with orange juice and coffee in the morning, yet all three foods are becoming very expensive.
This essay argues that people may want to stockpile food for the future as weather events, food shortages, and wild price increases occur.
Storing food can be an investment in buying now at lower prices and using it in the future when prices are much higher.
However, part of the food catastrophe is the quality of food. Take these oranges above, for example; they have about half the vitamin C they had 70 years ago.
Social media has been abuzz with photos of bare grocery refrigerator cases and tales of wild egg prices this winter. The scenes aren't manufactured drama.
At the beginning of 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture noted that some grocery stores had been limiting the number of cartons customers could buy and hanging signs announcing shortages where cartons of eggs would usually be stacked.
Egg prices and the price of food in general are slowly and steadily exceeding the reach of a growing number of not only American consumers but the people of the world.
Bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, pushing U.S. egg prices to more than double their cost in the summer of 2023. Prices have recently come down, but only in America is there a chicken apocalypse.
Coffee prices have risen to a nearly 50-year high due to weather changes in these top-growing regions.
Coffee beans are hitting record-high prices not seen in almost 50 years after difficult growing seasons in some of the world's top-producing regions.
After a year of brutal drought followed by bouts of heavy rains in Brazil - the world's top coffee producer with nearly 39% of the global supply - roasters are set to raise prices on the popular caffeinated crops.
At the end of January 2025, Arabica coffee futures surged to record highs, fueled by the ongoing global supply crunch.
The most-active contract climbed nearly 2% in late morning trading, reaching the highest price levels on record from 1972.
Is a Horrifying Global Food Crisis Erupting?
China, the world's biggest soybean buyer, has stopped receiving Brazilian soybean shipments from five firms after cargoes did not meet plant health requirements, according to a statement from the Brazilian government.
This is happening as global food supplies continue to get tighter and tighter.
A "perfect storm" of factors is suppressing production all over the planet, and meanwhile, worldwide demand for food keeps rising.
Food prices have become a significant issue in country after country, and if current trends continue, it won't be too long before widespread unrest breaks out.
In the United States, living costs are eviscerating the middle class.
The vegetable oil index jumped 7.5% above levels seen a month ago and 32% above those seen a year earlier, driven by concerns over lower-than-expected palm oil output due to excessive rainfall in Southeast Asia.
Conclusion
It is difficult for people to hear that they will no longer be able to live and eat the way they used to. Many Americans are racking up credit card debt like never before to keep their lifestyles the same.
How long can that last?
Meanwhile, the size of the US cattle herd has fallen to the lowest level since 1961. America's beef cow inventory has steadily declined over the last half-decade, reaching 64-year lows and signaling a deepening crisis across the cattle industry.
Consumers should brace for higher ground beef prices as the cattle crisis worsens.
With severe droughts, high interest rates, costly feed prices, sliding farm income, surging farm debt, and a shifting consumer preference toward cheaper chicken, struggling ranchers have been culling heifers, preventing any meaningful recovery in the number of calves necessary to expand the nation's herds.
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