In this report, commodities expert Thomas Lines shows what has really happened to food prices and farm incomes in recent years. Food prices have risen, but not faster than manufactures. However, agricultural inputs like fertilisers and oil have risen much faster. This has created a world crisis for farming, a crisis of reduced agricultural incomes, and an ageing farming population. The author argues that a new approach is needed, building on known methods Ð a greater variety of staple crops, traditional farming techniques and agro ecology Ð to create a food system which is economically as well as ecologically more resilient and sustainable.