The threat of famine and increasing food shortages is not going to go away, on the contrary. Above and beyond the stock market phenomenon lies the problem of the decline in food production that now has a structural basis. The demonstration is overwhelming and forces on us the question: are we capable of avoiding the impending crash? We have conducted an investigation in Europe, travelled widely in Africa with its chronic food shortages, but also visited cereal and soy estates in Argentina and ethanol factories in the United States, then zigzagged across China, now on its way to rapid urbanisation.