Democracy now seems to being doing a especially good job of shedding light on the various intersecting conditions that are producing food conflict right now by interviewing experts.
Below find links to three of their recent interviews. (Site has lots of related links, one can download interviews as video, Mp3, etc., and there is an opportunity to donate to their efforts!)
"Stuffed and Starved: As Food Riots Break Out Across the Globe, Raj Patel Details “The Hidden Battle for the World Food System.”
interrogates subject of food riots in this interview with book author.
DN! summary: "Global food prices have risen dramatically, adding a new level of danger to the crisis of world hunger. In Africa, food riots have swept across the continent, with recent protests in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mauritania and Senegal. In most of West Africa, the price of food has risen by 50 percent—in Sierra Leone, 300 percent. In the United States there has been a 41 percent surge in prices for wheat, corn, rice and other cereals over the past six months. We speak with Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System."