From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

The world's biggest challenge, feeding humanity.

Hello again, I'm Warren Olney, and this is To the Point.

From Public Radio International, a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

The rising prices of food and fuel are being called the first real economic crisis of globalization.

In the past three years, increased food costs have pushed 400 million people into the ranks of the world's poorest,

those who live on less than a dollar a day. On to the point, biofuels may be 75% of the problem.

Other factors include global warming, meat consumption, politics, and financial speculation.

We'll look at the worldwide food chain stretched so thin that any disruption means it can't keep up with growing demand.

On reporter's notebook, the president, The Congress, and Declarations of War.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers

of KCRW Santa Monica

and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation

and the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation.

Hello again, Warren Alney, back with To the Point.

800 million people around the world are already hungry.

Millions more face starvation due to the rising price of food.

On To the Point, we'll look at the causes and possible solutions to a problem that will

plague humanity for years to come.

On reporter's notebook, War Powers conflicts between the White House and Congress,

...