The world's food security structure seems to be crumbling and could give way to a serious crisis if not tackled on a war footing. Of course many factors -rising population, increasing demand for food in faster developing nations like India and China, drought conditions in many parts of world, expanding acreage for cash crops and finally diversion of farmlands to grow corn in America, Latin America and Europe for producing ethanol are responsible for depleting food stocks. But mainly it the sheer greed of oil producing countries that has driven the food prices to new unaffordable heights. These countries have not only transformed oil as a potent political weapon but also want higher and higher prices so as to get maximum return for their oil. Alarm bells rang when petroleum cost had recently touched $113 a barrel. It is expected to go up further resulting in steep hike in oil import bill of developed as well as developing nations. For example, India's yearly oil bill is in the range of $30 billion and if the prices of crude keep going upwards at the present pace, the country may have to shell out double this amount seriously blunting the growth rate. The spurt in cost of oil leads to increase in food prices since petroleum products play a major role as vital inputs in agriculture. As a result, the major food producing nations have started seeking other options as fuel and fertilizer costs soar. Moreover higher cost of transportation of farm produce to markets made agro products much dearer difficult for the lower strata consumers to afford. According to the Wall Street Journal 'the price of rice, the staple for billions of Asians, is up 147 percent over the past year'. The soaring prices of rice, wheat, corn, pulses, vegetable oil and other staples have sparked disturbances in different parts of the third world. Foods riots have erupted in Haiti, Egypt, Senegal, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and elsewhere. In Haiti, the prime minister was forced to resign on this issue. Alarmed at rising food prices, the Egyptian government has ordered their military to bake bread. Pakistan has reportedly called out army units to deter food thieves and protect grain warehouses. In India, the rising inflation and unaffordable food is making the ruling Congress led UPA government jittery in view of approaching general elections. In this context, recent remarks of the IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn that global food crisis could potentially spark resource wars and destabilize even established democracies around the world must not be glossed over. In order to lessen dependency on expensive oil produced in politically unstable regions of the world, major petroleum consuming nations have already started looking for alternatives such as ethanol extracted from corn and sugarcane. The US government has started providing $8 billion as ethanol subsidies every year. More and more farming areas are being diverted to produce corn to be converted into ethanol. A fifth of US corn crop is converted into alternative fuel. As per one estimate 100 million tons of grain enough to feed 450 million persons for a year will be transformed into fuel. The Washington Times rightly commented that car engines are burning the crops that feed half a billion people. This has drastically reduced the surplus grain earmarked for export and humanitarian aid to poor countries creating conditions of hunger in several third world countries. The onus for such a human misery lies squarely on the OPEC cartel that decides crude oil production targets and having a say on the cost. There is some food for thought for oil producing nations that their policy of making hay when the sun shines is also making holes in the pockets of their citizens. These countries mostly depend on imports for food and numerous other essential goods since they generally have no agricultural and industrial base worth the name except fossil fuel. The OPEC states may be earning more petro-dollars but they do not remain untouched by the rising global commodity prices and inflationary trends. For instance, the inflation rate in the United Arab Emirates, a major producer of crude in the Middle East is reported to be as high as 11 percent and could show further upward trend. Other oil producing countries are no exceptions and suffer from similar inflationary syndrome. In view of ongoing efforts to find energy alternatives to fossil fuel, the demand for exorbitantly priced oil has started signaling a declining trend which if continues will bring down the value of the so-called 'black gold'. Such a vicious cycle can adversely affect the economic health of OPEC states and lower the level of prosperity presently enjoyed by oil rich nations. There is a need to take a cue from emergence of ethanol as fuel that has started fueling global chaos. If the good sense prevails upon OPEC cartel to rise above the level of sheer greed by increasing production and bringing down the oil prices, it will no longer be profitable for the growers to divert the grain for producing ethanol. This perhaps calls upon the oil consuming states to pressurize the OPEC countries not to take undue advantage. They must not keep the oil prices at a level that hurts the global economy at a time when long dry spells and climatic changes have brought havoc with agricultural production driving the third world's poor populace on the brink of starvation.