It is shocking how the price of a loaf of bread has soared over the past few months. This is just one small sign of a far greater global food problem, as important crops such as wheat and rice are now in short supply, caused partly by harvests ruined by droughts and floods in many regions.

Bad weather has led to shortages of other foods as well. A bar of chocolate became more expensive after the cocoa crop in western Africa was left to rot after wet weather last year. A cup of coffee suffered when the Brazilian coffee crop was hit by a dry growing season, while the Indian coffee growers had too much rain. And the price of tea also could be heading for a rise as a long, hot drought has hit tea plantations in Kenya.

Lovers of Australian wine will be dismayed that many producers could go out of business this year as a punishing drought in the south of the country has taken a devastating toll on vineyards. And those with a sweet tooth will be sad to see honey has grown more expensive with droughts in leading exporting regions of Argentina, Australian and Eastern European. This has led to far fewer flowers for bees to gather pollen from, while cold weather in Argentina also meant that the bees could only work for short periods.