A UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor warned that food prices could double as a result of the surge in U.S. fuel prices. The advisor, Milton McGiffen, who works with vegetable crops in Riverside County, was quoted today in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“If you double the price of oil, I would assume that food would at least double, and it might be more because the cost of oil gets magnified in the food chain," he is quoted in the story.

The article said the fuel-to-food price link stems from:

• Farmers paying more to fill their tractors with diesel for planting and harvesting
• Higher cost...