Food prices are expected to rise later this year dpa picture alliance/Alamy Global food prices hit their highest levels on record after the 1970s energy crisis , triggered by conflict in the Middle East, once inflation is corrected for. Could we be headed for a new record – the worst food shock ever – as fuel, fertiliser and pesticide prices skyrocket because of the turmoil in Iran? Faced with soaring costs, many farmers are likely to plant less in the coming weeks, leading to shortfalls and rising food prices later this year. This is already happening, but just how bad it will get depends on many factors, from how long the war continues to how hard global warming-fuelled weather extremes hit crops this year. “The potential is there for this to develop into a major crisis for poor and hungry people,” says Matin Qaim at the University of Bonn in Germany. “We are in a bit of a perfect storm, and there isn’t any easy way out of this,” says Tim Benton at the University of Leeds, UK.…