There must be something special in the air when Paul Krugman and Rush Limbaugh agree on something. Perhaps that “special something” is called… the truth?

Here’s some corroborating evidence from the AP:

Food Costs Rising Fastest in 17 Years

The U.S. is wrestling with the worst food inflation in 17 years, and analysts expect new data due on Wednesday to show it’s getting worse. That’s putting the squeeze on poor families and forcing bakeries, bagel shops and delis to explain price increases to their customers.

USDA economist Ephraim Leibtag explained the jumps in a recent presentation to the Food Marketing Institute, starting with the factors everyone knows about: sharply higher commodity costs for wheat, corn, soybeans and milk, plus higher energy and transportation costs.

The other reasons are more complex. Rapid economic growth in China and India has increased demand for meat there, and exports of U.S. products, such as corn, have set records as the weak dollar has made them cheaper. That’s lowered the supply of corn available for sale in the U.S., raising prices here. Ethanol production has also diverted corn from dinner tables and into fuel tanks.

Soybean prices have gone up as farmers switched more of their acreage to corn. Drought in Australia has even affected the price of bread, as it led to tighter global wheat supplies.

While it’s not the only culprit, it looks like ethanol — and it’s taxpayer-fueled subsidies — is a significant factor in the rising costs of food.

It’s the government interfering with the private sector — did you honestly think something good would come out of it?