There's been a lot of news recently about rising food prices. Although rising costs are a serious problem, there's an easy way to profit — perhaps substantially — from rising worldwide food shortages and the rapidly increasing prices of corn, soybeans, and wheat, as well as a vast array of other basic foodstuffs.

As you can see in the chart, the cost of basic foodstuffs has risen sharply over the past year, increasing at a rate of 25 percent in September.

The cost of raw foodstuffs (such as barley, corn, and wheat) is expected to continue to rise quickly in the coming years due to rapidly increasing demand from China, India, and other emerging economies.

A growing worldwide population and increasing demand for grains from the bio-fuel industry is expected to add to increasing demand.

According to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), very low world stocks of grains are expected to lead to further increases in grain prices during the next twelve months.

To be more specific, the FAO stated in its latest report, released this morning, "supplies are much tighter than in recent years while demand is rising for food as well as feed and industrial use." Food stockpiles, already low at the start of the season, are likely to remain equally low because global cereal production may only be sufficient to meet expected world utilization, the report said.

The report went on to say that while agricultural commodity prices rose sharply in 2006, they're soaring at an even faster pace this year.

Meanwhile, persistent increases in oil prices have driven up the prices of agricultural crops by raising input costs and by increasing the demand for crops used to produce bio-fuels. In fact, corn prices have risen nearly 50 percent during the past twelve months, while wheat prices have doubled.

In a separate report, the FAO warns that the combination of high petroleum prices and the desire to address environmental issues is likely to increase the demand for corn, soybeans, sugar, and wheat over the next several years.

Meanwhile, supplies of basic foodstuffs have fallen. According to Josette Sheeran, director of the United Nations' World Food Program, "We [the world] are facing the tightest food supplies in recent history."

Fortunately, there is a way for astute investors to profit from rising food costs. For example, an ETF we recommended in our new investor service — The ETF Strategist — has already appreciated 9 percent since we first recommended it for purchase on Sept. 18. Click here if you'd like to learn about this ETF and some of our other profitable investment recommendations.