Rising food prices across the world are generating a great deal of heat and dust. Some of that high-decibel debate about food versus fuel and end of an era when food prices were declining, has found its way into India as well. The worst hit here is, of course, the common man, who suddenly finds that his food bill has bloated over the last one year. A quick check at the retail end reveals that wheat flour is up Rs 2 a kg, rice is dearer by at least Rs 32 at Rs 75 a kg, prices of pulses like tuvar dal have risen by Rs 10 a kg, and even edible oils such as mustard oil are more expensive by Rs 21 a litre. Ghee is up by Rs 35 a kg. In a country where 80 per cent of India's 1.1 billion population earn less than $2 (Rs 80) a day, soaring food prices is not just a serious economic and social issue, but also a political hot potato. No wonder, everyone from the Prime Minister to the Finance Minister to the central bank governor says that curbing food inflation is as much, if not far more important, than fuelling growth. So, just how vulnerable are we to food price shocks? It's early March and at Ashok Gulati's office at the International Food Policy Research Institute (ifpri) in Delhi, there's little sign of the furore elsewhere in the world. Gulati, who is Director (Asia), ifpri, and a top food economist, is hardly perturbed by the dire forecast in Indian media. There's news of declining food supplies, rising prices and increasing hunger