U.S. food prices are expected to increase 2% to 3% this year, according to the Consumer Price Index. But the situation is much more serious overseas. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that the price of food staples has reached and may exceed 2008 levels, which at the time spurred food riots around the world. Sharply rising food prices already have contributed to riots that toppled the government of Tunisia and to street protests in Algeria, and they threaten further trouble across the Middle East and North Africa, a region heavily dependent on food imports.

Host Melinda Penkava discusses the situation with author Michael Klare, professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College, who recently wrote an article in Salon magazine, "Welcome to the Year of Living Dangerously."

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