The author argues that under neo-liberal policies, the food supply is being used to serve the profit interests of the owning class while causing severe famines in many areas of the world.
Also, it appears obvious to me that increasing unstable weather patterns are causing havoc for farmers in producing their crops and thus contributes to the rise in prices. Engdahl argues in the last section of the article that weather changes are due to unusual solar flare activity and cites a few sources to support this. From my reading of many scientific studies, I have seen little that supports this argument. To the contrary, there is abundant research findings to support the thesis that global warming is creating extreme weather patterns. (See this, this, and this.) Most evidence suggests that solar flare activity seems to affect little more than electronic signals. (See "Hazards" subheading in Wikipedia's solar flare entry.)