But it doesn't end there. Because of the rising fortunes of countries in the Far East, particularly China, the world's resources are being squeezed too.

As China becomes wealthier it consumes more – in the amount of food it takes and the amount of energy it uses.

Throw in a flood or drought or two and it's meant huge rises in the price of staple foods such as rice and wheat, and relentless increases in the price of oil, gas and electricity.

And it seems that as the fortunes of the East improves, those of the West decline and countries at the bottom of the pecking order, those in the Third World, are going to fare worse than anyone.

Reports in countries like Nigeria suggest that prices for certain foods there have rocketed by more than 80 per cent in the past year.

If this trend continues, and there's nothing on the horizon which suggests it won't, then there will be many countries around the world where vast numbers of people will be starving.

And we in Britain will not be exempt. As food and energy costs continue their relentless spiral upwards, people will find there will be less and less money for luxuries.

Things we take for granted now, holidays abroad, the latest gadgets, a new car every other year and rich boys' toys, will all be that much harder to finance.

The credit crunch coming from America has made people sit up and realise that our extravagant ways must end.

But the financial changes which have come on us like a tidal wave in the past nine months can only be resolved on a global scale.

Leaders worldwide have four monumental problems to deal with urgently. The first is to stablise economies so that the effects of the credit crunch and the stupidity of banks and financial institutions in lending people money they had no chance of paying back are quickly minimised.

Hopefully, the Bank of England moves this week will help us.

The second is to organise a massive increase in food production and improved distribution, with an emphasis on producing more food locally to drastically cut down fuel miles.

The third is to halt the destruction of rain forests and bring more land, now desert and semi-desert, into fruitful production.

The fourth is to act globally to reduce greenhouse gases. The amount of solar energy striking the planet around the equatorial regions is vast and it's this which should be harnessed and put into a world-wide grid, backed up by more wind and tidal power creation.

Fifthly, the human race needs to reduce its breathtaking population increase. The world cannot sustain an indefinite population rise on the scale we have seen in recent decades.

Easy to write, but virtually impossible in practice when every country in the world has its own vested interests.

But unless this world pulls together, and does it quickly, it will have a pretty bleak future in the next decade or two.

Pill-popping can do real harm

I've written before about how daft it is for people to buy bottled water when the water out of the taps is perfectly good to drink.

And the latest revelation is that at best the vitamin suppliment industry does little to help people's health and at worst could actually reduce life expectancy.

What have these two things got in common? It's all driven by huge amounts of publicity persuading people that bottled water is better than tap water and taking vitamins improves general health.

Let me quickly say that if you have a diet which is drastically below the daily intake of vitamins, then taking a supplement is sensible. But people who eat relatively sensibly, and that is the majority of us, don't need to pill pop and, if you do, the latest research suggests it can do your body harm.

Personally, I am extremely sceptical about any product given hype whether it be vitamins, so-called cold cures or some aspects of complementary medicine.

People could have far more general well-being by not spending money on any of it and keeping their money in the bank.

Because it seems the only real value is in the mind – people believe something is doing them good and they then think it's money well spent.

But with the need to tighten our belts, perhaps it's these things which we should be thinking about cutting out.