Uh, should we be worried that this appeared not on some hysterical blog somewhere but, you know, in the Wall Street Journal?

I don’t want to alarm anybody, but maybe it’s time for Americans to start stockpiling food.

No, this is not a drill.

You’ve seen the TV footage of food riots in parts of the developing world. Yes, they’re a long way away from the U.S. But most foodstuffs operate in a global market. When the cost of wheat soars in Asia, it will do the same here.

Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.

“Load up the pantry,” says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street’s top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. “I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn’t going to happen here. But I don’t know how the food companies can absorb higher costs.”

You’ve seen, of course, the stories about food riots in some third world nations, the fact that Sam’s Club and now Costco are limiting purchases of rice.

What’s threatening to become a worldwide food crisis appears as if it’s going to hit us, as well.

So clearly, we need to spend more time talking about lapel pins and Obama’s scary black pastor.