Current news coverage and headlines blaming biofuels for shortages of food crops are; "simplistic and perhaps short-sighted scapegoats", according to UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director, UN Environment Programme, Achim Steiner. He went on to say that the headlines were; "convenient distractions for what is so often in reality poor management at national and international levels. They do, however, point to the inescapable fact that food security is intimately linked to national and international security."

Eventually, he said, the current food shock will fade from the front pages like the oil shocks of the 1970s. "Just like those shocks, however, this will be only a temporary respite unless we tackle the fundamental issues of food production and supply, ranging from a distorted trade regime to feeding a population that is set to mushroom from over 7 to over 9 billion by mid-century.

"The business-as-usual temptation might be to clear more forests, drain more wetlands, and dam or divert more river systems, while pouring even greater quantities of fertilizer and pesticides on already chemically saturated soils. This approach is likely to prove an environmental dead end, and a market failure of enormous and far reaching consequences", he added.