The food crisis — caused by sky-high rice prices and grain prices — has now hit Americans, prompting many visitors to this site to ask: Is there a rice ETF?

According to the Washington Times, “Costco and other grocery stores in California reported a run on rice, which has forced them to set limits on how many sacks of rice each customer can buy.”

Meanwhile, reports the paper, “Filipinos in Canada are scooping up all the rice they can find and shipping it to relatives in the Philippines, which is suffering a severe shortage that is leaving many people hungry.

Inflation pressures should abate with slowing growth unless there’s a supply shock.

Rice has now shot up 75% in the last two months alone. Corn is up 30% this year. Wheat has managed 120% gains over the past 12 months.

With staple foods racing to record high prices, the world’s poor are feeling the pinch of the global food crisis. But the effects are not limited to the third world. Costco stores in northern California are imposing limits on buying of oil, flour, and rice reported a recent article in the NY Sun.