Global food crisis: prices reach record high

A Chinese worker unloads bags of garlic at a market in Hefei, central China. The herb was last year's best-performing commodity in the country
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The rocketing price of tomatoes in Israel has led many families to treat them as an expensive delicacy Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

Workers at Stavropol bread-baking plant in Russia, where the price of bread has risen dramatically following the heatwave in August Photograph: Danil Semyonov/AFP/Getty Images

In China, a hot summer followed by autumn floods ruined this year's cabbage crop and caused prices to rise between three- and five-fold Photograph: EPA

Harvested corn is unloaded from a combine harvester on a farm in Illinois, US. Prices have soared this month amid shortage fears Photograph: Getty Images

Pakistani traders sell sugar cane at a market in Lahore. Demand for the crop has dramatically outstripped supply, pushing up prices Photograph: ARIF ALI/AFP/Getty Images

Pakistanis wait in line for sugar outside a utility store in Rawalpindi. There is a strong perception that politicians control prices in the country Photograph: FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty Images

A woman harvests paddy rice at a field in Tinpiple, Kathmandu. The global price of rice has risen 45% over the past six months Photograph: Narendra Shrestha/EPA