There was a somewhat phony story circulating about tent cities cropping up in Los Angeles as a result of the credit crunch. This story isn't phony.

Surging commodity prices have pushed up global food prices 83% in the past three years, according to the World Bank -- putting huge stress on some of the world's poorest nations. Even as the ministers met, Haiti's Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis was resigning after a week in which that tiny country's capital was racked by rioting over higher prices for staples like rice and beans.

Among other targets, they singled out U.S. policies pushing corn-based ethanol and other biofuels as deepening the woes.

James Connaughton, chairman of the White House's council on environmental quality, said biofuels are only one contributor to rising food prices. Rising prices for energy and electricity also contribute, as does strong demand for food from big developing countries like China.