The minute things heat up—be it prices, elections, or geopolitical tensions—the easiest punching bag is food exports. From India banning rice exports to Western nations pushing “Buy Local” to the extreme, everyone’s playing trade poker with food on the table. Behind the scenes? Confused farmers, opportunistic traders, and governments trying to salvage failed domestic policy with flashy bans or duties.
Agriculture is no longer just about growing food—it’s also political cannon fodder. Export bans, import tariffs, duty fluctuations — they’re like the yo-yo diets of economic policies. Everyone’s on them.
And what happened to the old school “produce where it's efficient, trade where it’s needed” theory? Gone. Replaced by self-sufficiency nationalism that sounds great in speeches but tanks in reality.
Yes, food is strategic. But isn’t it absurd to grow everything, everywhere, just to avoid depending on anyone else — while still crying about market gluts, falling farmer incomes, and inflation?
Let’s not forget: WTO, GATT, FTAs — all sound nice, but they’ve been bulldozed by realpolitik. There’s no referee left in this game. Just powerplays and protectionism masked as patriotism. Tractors versus treaties.s
Food’s not just grown anymore — it’s weaponized. And unless we start playing fair (or at least smart), the jungle raj of food trade will keep burning both producers and consumers alike.
