Soaring food prices will be at the top of the agenda next week at a meeting of the United Nations, The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Switzerland. As it should be — the food crisis is critical and requires immediate global attention.

Estimates show global food prices have jumped more than 80 percent in the last three years, pushing developing nations into deep despair.

Riots in Haiti and other developing nations over food costs could be just the tip of the iceberg. World Bank President Robert Zoellick warned of the depth of this crisis: More than 30 nations are on the brink of social unrest due to high food prices, and for many of these countries there is "no margin for survival".

Emergency food aid is crucial. So it's good to see the United States step up with $200 million to help meet the $500 million goal set by the UN's World Food Program. Other countries are sure to follow suit.

But more can be done.

Ethanol incentives have helped push the price of corn and other grains sky high. Hefty subsidies (51 cents per gallon) for ethanol blenders have made matters worse. The IMF estimates that the corn ethanol production is cause for more than half the rise in the global demand for corn.

The trickle-down impact is clear: higher feed prices, higher dairy-product prices — and higher grain prices overall, as growers abandon rice, soy and other crops for more lucrative corn crops.

The push toward renewable energy is not only sensible, it's necessary. But the unintended results of corn-ethanol incentives demand immediate attention. That means pulling back on subsidies — including rich subsidies packed into the farm bill now being considered in Congress. Lawmakers should now aggressively examine new sources of biofuels, sources that do not compete with the food supply.

Dire circumstances call for immediate aid, and rightly so. But the U.S. and the rest of the world's developed nations must also work together, as the World Bank suggests, to finance longer-term farm productivity and improved crop yields in developing nations that too often are forced to cope with widespread hunger.