Part of the reason wheat prices (and other food prices) are going up is because farmers are growing corn for ethanol. Corn is getting huge subsidies right now to make ethanol to burn instead of gasoline. After all, home grown biofuels are supposed to be better then imported oil. Of course the corollary is you can either burn food or eat it, but you can't do both. Food gets more expensive and gas doesn't get cheaper, so like you say the people who are just making ends meet suffer.

We have to face the facts and realize that automobile and airplane transportation is too expensive and inefficient. Cars get about half the energy efficiency of power plants in terms how much of the energy present in the fuel gets turned into actual work and not lost as heat exhaust. Airplanes have the added problem of injecting their exhaust directly into the upper atmosphere where it can have the greatest environmental impact. My vote is for a huge increase in commuter trains around the country, along with development of high speed trains along major air and highway routes. Trains are inherently more efficient, safer and environmentally sound then cars and planes. But I doubt we'll ever see it happen with out a very rude wake up call.