Several sources now say that investment speculators are helping to fuel the global food crisis.

Meanwhile:

The World Bank says that 100 million more people are facing severe hunger. Yet some of the world’s richest food companies are making record profits. Monsanto last month reported that its net income for the three months up to the end of February this year had more than doubled over the same period in 2007, from $543m (£275m) to $1.12bn. Its profits increased from $1.44bn to $2.22bn.

But that’s the free market, yes? Some think the market’s a little too free:

The Food and Agriculture Organisation reports that 37 developing countries are in urgent need of food. And food riots are breaking out across the globe from Bangladesh to Burkina Faso, from China to Cameroon, and from Uzbekistan to the United Arab Emirates.

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement, called the escalating earnings and profits “immoral” late last week. He said that the benefits of the food price increases were being kept by the big companies, and were not finding their way down to farmers in the developing world.

Of course, we’ve heard something similar in other markets:

Shell and BP between them recorded profits of £14bn in the first three months of the year - or £3m an hour - on the back of rising oil prices. Shell promptly attracted even greater condemnation by announcing that it was pulling out of plans to build the world’s biggest wind farm off the Kent [England] coast.

I think it’s the rage of a dying beast. That is, multinational corporations, the entities that really call the shots in situations like this, since we gave over power to them. But don’t worry, dear reader, there’s good news ahead:

World leaders are to meet next month at a special summit on the food crisis, and it will be high on the agenda of the G8 summit of the world’s richest countries in Hokkaido, Japan, in July.

Will the “world’s richest countries” move to agressively modify the system so that corporations don’t do quite so much damage? Snowball. Hot place. Chance of survival?