Today in Focus: "George Monbiot on Our Fragile Food System"
Aired: April 7, 2026 | Host: Nosheen Iqbal | Guest: George Monbiot, Guardian columnist and food security campaigner
Episode Overview
In this penetrating episode, The Guardian’s Nosheen Iqbal speaks with George Monbiot about the global repercussions of the ongoing war in Iran, with a specific focus on the vulnerabilities it exposes in the global food system. Monbiot, an established voice on environmental and systemic food security, warns how the conflict’s impact on vital fertilizer exports from the Gulf region could tip a food supply system—already described as ‘on a knife edge’—toward both local and potentially global crisis. The episode lays bare the fragile links between geopolitics, market efficiency, corporate consolidation, humanitarian aid, and environmental resilience, and asks what governments and individuals can realistically do to brace for shocks ahead.
Key Topics & Themes
1. The Gulf Conflict and Its Immediate Threat to Food Security
[02:01-04:26]
- The war in Iran has partially shut the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global fertilizer shipments.
- Gulf countries supply roughly 30% of nitrate fertilizer, 20% of phosphate fertilizer, and about half of the world’s sulfur—all crucial for modern agriculture.
- Disruption is already causing spiking prices, with the harshest impacts forecast for highly import-dependent regions such as Africa and South Asia.
- Monbiot warns, "You knock out part of that and the backup systems just aren't there anymore." (A, 02:28)
2. How Fragile Is Our Food System?
[04:26-10:41]
- Food security isn't simply about national self-sufficiency; global trade fills local gaps.
- The global food system has become as vulnerable as the financial system that triggered the 2008 crash, having lost key elements of resilience:
- Diversity: Fewer corporations and crop types
- Redundancy: Low spare capacity ("just-in-time" logistics)
- Synchronization: Everything moves through the same infrastructure, increasing risk of systemic failure
- Loss of regulation and backup systems
- Memorable analogy: "My concern... is that the global food system looks rather like the global financial system in the approach to 2008... Once a system loses its resilience, you can't predict what event could cause a tipping point." (A, 06:27)
- On differences with finance: “You can't bail out the food system by issuing future food.” (A, 10:33)
3. Projected and Current Impacts: Who’s at Risk?
[10:41-13:37]
- Africa and South Asia are highly vulnerable due to heavy dependence on Gulf-derived fertilizers.
- Situation is aggravated by the collapse of humanitarian aid and lack of international negotiations to secure food/aid corridors—contrast with Russia-Ukraine grain deal of 2022-23.
- “Even if the global food system isn't pushed into collapse... the local food system can be, and this is what we've seen now several times.” (A, 11:41)
- Malnutrition has been rising for a decade, and further shocks—such as those from the Iran conflict—are poised to worsen global hunger.
4. Resilience, Reform, and the Limits of ‘the Market’
[16:21-21:12]
- The UK has moderate resilience thanks to currency strength, but “there is really no we in the UK”—food insecurity already affects the poor.
- Disparities in nutrition will widen as food inflation hits.
- Unlike China, Norway, and Switzerland, the UK does not maintain significant national food reserves:
“The government is leaving it to... a handful of huge and ruthless global multinational corporations. There’s no reassurance there whatsoever. We're talking about leaving it to the oligarchs." (A, 17:29) - Monbiot calls for governments to build strategic food reserves and not rely on market forces.
- Recommendations include a national stockpile program, dietary shift toward plant-based foods, and fostering of alternative proteins and crops compatible with local climates.
- “Livestock is an incredibly inefficient way of feeding people... We would ensure that we were much less dependent on imports if we switched towards a plant-based diet.” (A, 19:33)
- Monbiot recounts trying microbial protein pancakes: “I was the first person outside the laboratory on earth to eat a pancake made from bacterial protein. A small flip for man.” (A, 20:34)
5. Steps To A More Resilient Food System
[22:12-25:24]
- Diversify sources of import and export—avoid dependence on “super exporters” (US, Canada, Brazil, Russia, Ukraine).
- Diversify the food supply itself: “Around 60% of our calories are supplied by just four: wheat, rice, maize and soy.”
- Break up corporate consolidation with antitrust laws and loosen intellectual property rights to democratize food innovation and production.
- “In other words, breaking up this global monoculture of food production and food delivery which makes us so vulnerable.” (A, 24:15)
- Food nationalism, or complete localism, is not the solution—balance is essential: “Food nationalism is not the same as food security… If you become like North Korea… you are far more vulnerable to famine.” (A, 24:38)
6. The Inaction Problem: Why Don’t Governments Act?
[25:24-26:48]
- Despite expertise and warnings, governments have failed to change course.
- Monbiot: “If this goes down, it’s then too late… You’re not going to climb back up that cliff. The time to act is now, while we still can.” (A, 25:38)
- Frustration voiced at the lack of policy response to clear signals and scientific testimony.
7. What Can Individuals Do?
[27:12-29:34]
- On personal prep: Monbiot admits, “I have been stockpiling food... but that doesn't solve the national crisis.”
- Community food reserves are proposed, but he stresses these efforts are insufficient on their own: “We need government to step in and... govern.”
- Stockpiling before a crisis is ‘pro-social’ as it reduces rush-demand, but it is no substitute for systemic solutions.
- “The great tragedy of our time is we've had 45 years of neoliberalism telling us government shouldn’t govern... No, it's not in their interest. They're not the people who sort things out. It's governments that sort things out.” (A, 28:28)
Memorable Quotes (with Timestamps)
- “You knock out part of that and the backup systems just aren't there anymore.”
— George Monbiot [02:28] - "The global food system looks rather like the global financial system in the approach to 2008… Once a system loses its resilience, you can't predict what event could cause a tipping point."
— George Monbiot [06:27] - “You can’t bail out the food system by issuing future food.”
— George Monbiot [10:33] - “If you haven't made any preparations and the global food system collapses, well, really, you're stuck with it. You're not going to climb back up that cliff. So the time to act is now, while we still can.”
— George Monbiot [25:38] - “Leaving it to the market... means a handful of huge and ruthless global multinational corporations. There’s no reassurance there whatsoever. We're talking about leaving it to the oligarchs.”
— George Monbiot [17:29] - “I was the first person outside the laboratory on earth to eat a pancake made from bacterial protein. A small flip for man.”
— George Monbiot [20:34]
Key Takeaways
- The war in Iran has revealed and exacerbated the brittle nature of global food supply chains, especially via constraints on fertilizer.
- The global food system shares the same systemic risks that led to financial catastrophe in 2008: lack of diversity, interdependence, reduced redundancy, and poor regulation.
- Local collapses, as seen in Sudan, are already poised to worsen, with the most vulnerable regions facing acute threat.
- National governments need to act now through building food reserves, dietary policy shifts, and food system diversification. Reliance on “the market” is failing.
- Individuals can prepare on a small scale but ultimate security is a matter of collective, governmental action.
- Without urgent action, Monbiot warns, the human suffering from systemic food collapse could be unimaginable.
Suggested Timestamps for Further Listening
- Fertilizer and Gulf chokepoint explained: [02:01–02:49]
- Food system vs Financial crisis analogy: [06:27–07:32]
- Immediate impacts for Africa/South Asia: [10:41–13:37]
- Plant-based diets and alternatives: [18:12–20:49]
- Government inaction and frustration: [25:24–26:48]
- Individual preparation ethics: [27:12–29:34]
By exploring the intersections of war, trade, climate, and policy through a systemic lens, this episode is both a wake-up call and a road map for action—at the national and individual level.