Rice is in very short supply. Wheat and corn (maize) are also going to be short this year and for a while into the future. Likewise barley, oats, and other grains.

Part of it is because "developing nations" like India and China are buying more grain, part because the US government has decided that ethanol from grain can help solve the so-called energy problem. Another part is that grain is used to "finish" cattle before they are shipped to slaughter. The grain is being harvested -- it's just not being used for food.

The solutions are inherent in the statement of the problems. If you want to eat cattle, feed them and "finish" them on grass, as was done up to about 1945 (in the US) -- they'll require a different type of cooking, but we already know how to do that AND the meat will be healthier for you (you can also cut back on red meat). Push other sources, such as biomass (switch grass, dead leaves, etc.) as sources of ethanol; yes, it will take more research -- and start developing the more difficult sources of petroleum, like oil shales and oil sands (anyone know of a country just north of the US who might be doing this right now?). And let's start, all of us, working for people instead of for stockholders.