The UN's Emergency Food Summit

World leaders urged to address food crisis by Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 4, 2008

ROME -- World powers must act quickly and boldly to control soaring food prices that threaten nearly 1 billion people with hunger and could trigger devastating social unrest across the globe, the United Nations said Tuesday. At a three-day emergency food summit, U.N. officials urged nations to eliminate trade barriers, expand biotechnology research and boost production with an annual investment of $20 billion to $30 billion...

...Record-setting high fuel costs, the growing demand for biofuels, a string of poor harvests exacerbated by climate change, market speculation, changing diets in Asia -- all of these factors have combined to send food prices through the roof. The climbing prices make staples unavailable or unaffordable for hundreds of millions of people, including an emerging category of what officials call the "new hungry."

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