Urea output has plummeted across the Middle East as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz chokes the supply of essential fertilizers. More than half of the region’s production of these vital chemicals has been lost since the conflict began. Farmers across the globe now face a shortage of the white granules needed to nourish their crops and sustain the coming harvest. On the iron deck of a stalled cargo ship in the Gulf, the air is thick with the smell of salt and black oil smoke. Iranian drone attacks have damaged industrial plants in Qatar and Bahrain, further crippling the production of the urea farmers rely on. This scarcity threatens to drive global food inflation to record highs, placing a heavy burden on the family table. War abroad always finds its way to the local market. When the arteries of trade are severed by military blockades, it is the humble laborer and the small-scale farmer who suffer first. We are seeing the true cost of a world that has traded local resilience for global dependence. A nation that cannot fertilize its own soil is a nation at the mercy of distant generals. We must look to our own lands and our own resources to find a way through this man-made drought of plenty.