Why costs are climbing

As food prices surge, starvation looms for millions. Experts call for emergency action but admit there's no quick fix

ERIC REGULY
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
April 12, 2008 at 12:13 AM EDT

ROME — Fatal food riots in Haiti. Violent food-price protests in Egypt and Ivory Coast. Rice so valuable it is transported in armoured convoys. Soldiers guarding fields and warehouses. Export bans to keep local populations from starving.
A swelling global population, soaring energy prices, the clamouring for meat from the rising Asian middle class, competition from biofuels and hot money pouring into the commodity markets are all factors that make this crisis unique and potentially calamitous. Even with concerted global action, such as rushing more land into cultivation, it will take years to fix the problem. More...