On the other hand

According to a global study the the BBC World Service,

[a]lmost two-thirds of people - 60% - in 26 countries say higher food and energy prices this year have affected them "a great deal"....

The BBC World Service global study said that while all nations had felt the burden of the higher costs, the problem was most acute in poorer countries. ...

[T]he aid agency Oxfam said more than 900 million people faced starvation because of soaring prices.

A report by the UK-based charity also found that spiralling inflation in the cost of basic foods such as rice and cereals had pushed an extra 119 million people into hunger this year. ...

The study found that many people in the developing world have simply been forced to eat less this year owing to the higher cost of food. ...

Across all 26 countries, 43% of people said they had altered their diet

by eating less or switching to cheaper foods. Even in the developed world, people reported being affected: 27% of those surveyed in Australia said they were cutting back due to higher prices, along with 25% in the UK and 10% in Germany.

Doug Miller, chairman of polling firm GlobeScan, which helped carry out the survey for the BBC, said the problem of higher food and energy bills was being overshadowed by the continuing crisis in the financial sector.

"While governments around the world are now preoccupied with the financial crisis, it is clear that many of their citizens feel they aren't doing enough to relieve the burden of high food prices, which is falling on those who can least afford it," he said.

Not only are governments "preoccupied" with the financial crisis, they are, according to the charge of former UN chief Kofi Annan, using it as a pretext to renege on their promises to help the world's hungry. Speaking on World Food Day,

Mr Annan said 10,000 children were dying from malnutrition each day - a tragedy, he said, which was as great as a collapsed bank.

"The financial crisis deserves urgent attention and focus. But so does the question of hunger. Millions are liable to die [this year]. Is that any less urgent?" he asked....

His comments were echoed by Pope Benedict XVI, who said

there was enough food in the world to feed the needy.

He said corruption, military spending and the "egoism" of nations was partly to blame for world hunger.

The Pope said rich countries were in a "race for consumption" as food became more scarce in other parts of the world, citing "boundless speculation" in the markets for driving up the price of food and fuel.

Damned socialist. (I know, if only.)

The BBC noted that since the end of the survey period in September, energy prices have fallen, which should also lead to eased food prices as costs for fertilizer and fuel for transportion drop in response. But while that might ease the immediate cruch a slight bit, particularly for nations such as the Philippines, which is the world's largest importer of rice, the issue of the cost of food is not going to go away any time soon.