We like to keep our charts just simple enough that a PhD in Economics can understand them; and so we present what must be the scariest chart in the world for much of the developing (and for that matter developed) world. Demand for food is rising inexorably (as is the demand for fuel) but at the same time supply is falling rapidly as the availability of arable land per capita plunges. Perhaps this (along with central bank liquidity spillovers) explains the 'paradigm' shift in staple prices. Food for thought? (pun intended)
Rising demand... meet falling supply...
[4]
and the impact...
[5]
Charts: Goldman Sachs