THE SUDDEN CRISIS

Are you as suspicious as I am about the sudden worldwide "crisis" in food prices?  Do you get the feeling that the mainstream media is so invested in the global-warming "crisis" that it will take time to up to speed on this new one?  You know, so many crises, so little space.  The UN secretary-general weighs in:

VIENNA, Austria - A sharp rise in food prices has developed into a global crisis, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday.

Ban said the U.N. and all members of the international community were very concerned and immediate action was needed.

He spoke to reporters at U.N. offices in Austria, where he was meeting with the nation's top leaders for talks on how the United Nations and European Union can forge closer ties.

"This steeply rising price of food — it has developed into a real global crisis," Ban said, adding that the World Food Program has made an urgent appeal for additional $755 million.

"The United Nations is very much concerned, as (are) all other members of the international community," Ban said. "We must take immediate action in a concerted way."

Ban urged leaders of the international community to sit down together on an "urgent basis" to discuss how to improve economic distribution systems and promote the production of agricultural products.

An estimated 40 percent increase in food prices since last year has sparked violent protests in the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia.

On Thursday, U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization chief Jacques Diouf said immediate efforts should focus on helping farmers in developing countries grow more crops.

Gee.  Production.  What a concept! 

I think they should call Al Gore.  Or, wait, wait.  Remember Michael Dukakis?  He said the world needed to grow Belgian Endive.  And he was the Democratic candidate for president in 1988.  And he was from Massachusetts.  He must know. 

I'd like to see some real hardheaded reporting on this, if the media can, for a few days, rip it attention away from the polar ice cap.

April 26, 2008.