True cost of a plate of food around the world

(This article is part of a series of opinion pieces to mark World Food Day, October 16.)

GENEVA: How much would you expect to pay for the most basic plate of food? The kind of thing you might whip up at home — nothing fancy, just enough to fill you up and meet a third of today’s calorie needs. A soup maybe, or a simple stew — some beans or lentils, a handful of rice, bread, or corn?