cheap at half the rice

Rice is in the news this week. Mindful of its mission to educate and inform, the BBC held a Rice Day to tell us how poor people are coping with huge jumps in the price of their staple foodstuff.
There are even helpful FAQs to explain why "prices are increasing sharply for some of the most basic foodstuffs traded on international commodity markets". Who or what is to blame? Everything from historically low prices to global warming and ethanol production. Oh and the greedy Chinese, who are not only persecuting the Tibetans, but have the effrontery to sell us container loads of plastic toys and buy cheeseburgers with the proceeds. But surely that means they're eating less rice, not more? Why are there riots in Haiti and not outside MacDonalds in Milton Keynes? Well the Chinese dinners thing is a red herring. The real problem is that they're keeping domestic rice prices down by cutting their exports. Other Asian countries are doing the same.
And there, surely, is the real story.
It's there in those three words - international commodity markets. Demand for rice is outstripping supply. Some farmers are hoarding it. Shoppers are buying a bit extra to keep in the back of the cupboard. Market forces dictate that prices will rise. But the market which really matters isn't in anyone's village or High Street, it's the global market, where commodity prices are determined not only by how much is produced and consumed, but by tariffs, protectionism - and speculation.
Speculation, as Money Week unblushingly reminds us, can make you lots and lots of money. But if profiteering while the poor starve makes you feel a bit sick, don't worry. They'll also tell you 'how to make a fortune from the Chinese water crisis'.
I hope I haven't put you off your dinner.