2007, a 157 per cent rise in profits since 2006. Profits for ADM, the world’s second largest grain trader, showed a lower rate of increase in 2008, partly because of its heavy investments in the sinking ethanol market, but the company’s profits were still more than 200 per cent higher than they were in 2006 (see tables, right).

Going abroad



The crisis eventually eased, at least temporarily, but by then its impact on rich, food-insecure nations had been profound. Take Saudi Arabia. Since the late 1970s the country had been seeking to become self-sufficient in some foods, particularly wheat. But just before the food crisis erupted, the government reluctantly decided that this strategy was doomed, largely because the country simply didn’t have enough water to irrigate crops.

In a radical changeuseful to the artist. More particularly, the easel assembly of the invention can comprise:
a box-shaped casing;
a plurality of folding legs mounted on and extendable from the casing for supporting the casing upon a surface;
an artwork support structure mounted on and erectable from the casing for supporting an artist""s work surface;
a drawer receivable in the casing and extendable therefrom in a direction transverse to the surface and toward a user of the easel, the drawer having a pair of longitudinal sides extending in the direction; and
a workstation attachment for the easel comprising:
an elongated tray dimensioned to extend below the drawer and beyond the sides, and
a pair of slides on the tray engaging the sides of the drawer and supporting the tray on the drawer.
As noted, a pair of brush