Food Fight

Continuing our series on the worldwide food crisis, today we take a look at farmers who are taking advantage of the increased prices of commodities. Josephine Bennett reports from Georgia on the situation for peanut farmers.

Bad harvests, bad weather, bio-fuel policy.... They could all conceivably turn around. But over the long term there's one big unknown we can't really control: the growing collective appetite of China's 1.3 billion people. Scott Tong reports.

Agricultural economists have been saying for years that we were due for a global food crisis. Still, for most of us, the current worldwide spike in food commodity prices has come from out of the blue. Today, Kai Ryssdal begins our special series, "Food Fight."

In the midst of a worldwide food shortage crisis, the crops from small farms are earning record prices. Commentator and farmer Richard Oswald says it's a turnabout that's been a long time coming.

To start our special series called Food Fight, Host Scott Jagow talks to the head of research at Oxfam, an international group working on solutions to poverty, asking him why so many countries are fighting over food.

The Department of Agriculture says U.S. farm profits this year are going to be well above average. But commentator and journalist Bill McConnell says farmers know better than to get too excited about any short-term windfall.

Some big rice growing countries are taking a page from the global oil markets and considering forming an organization like OPEC for Asia's rice growers. Jeff Tyler reports on whether a food cartel could actually work.

Consumers are facing a double whammy. Sticker-shock at the gas pumps and again at the grocery store. Today a Congressional hearing focuses on how rising food costs affect Americans and what can be done. Jeff Tyler has more.

Hundreds of millions of the world's poorest consumers are suffering greatly as the global cost of food has soared. Washington Post reporter Anthony Faioloa met some of them recently in western Africa. He talks with Kai Ryssdal about what he saw.

The price of rice is up 146% over a year ago. It's become expensive for Americans and dangerously scarce for the world's poorest consumers. Public policy professor Per Pinstrup-Andersen talks with Kai Ryssdal about the scarcity of the world's main grain.