Everyone here at ONE is watching and deeply concerned about impact of rising food prices on the poorest people around the globe - people who already spend more than half of their income on food. We just put up a new page, at ONE.org/worldfoodcrisis to highlight what is happening, make some statements and to keep track of the latest news.

For those who haven’t been following - Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization announced on Wednesday that the cost of the most basic food staples - rice, wheat and corn - have risen 45% in just the last 9 months. The cost of these staples have now increased 80% since 2005.

From the page:

“To address the current crisis and prevent long-term damage to development progress, the international community needs to address the problem of rising food prices and renew global efforts to combat hunger, malnutrition and agricultural development. In the short-term, quick action should be taken to increase emergency aid to food-importing developing nations and provide the $500 million needed by the World Food Program to meet immediate food needs…In the longer term, the donor community must work with developing nations to develop a comprehensive response to combating hunger and promoting broad-based agricultural development.”

Eric Sylvers has just started a 900 km walk from Passo del Gran San Bernando in the Alps on the Italian-Swiss border to Rome. He’s following the route of the ancient trail of the Via Francigena is a pilgrimage route that dates back to the 8th Century. The trail was first developed by the Longobards, whose empire spanned both sides of the Alps, and was used by pilgrims travelling from England to Rome. These days it is hardly known about. Eric, a journalist based in Milan who works for the International Herald Tribune is walking the route to help put it back on the map. But Eric is also raising awareness for the fight against child hunger too.