The G8 leaders met yesterday to discuss solutions to the global food crisis (that has led to mass starvation, riots, and instability across the plant) over an eight-course, 19-dish meal prepared by 25 chefs.

The Guardian has the scoop on the menu:

Guests at the summit, which is costing £238m, were then able to pick items from a tray modelled on a fan and decorated with bamboo grasses, including diced fatty tuna fish, avocado and jellied soy sauce, and pickled conger eel with soy sauce.

Hairy crab Kegani bisque-style soup was another treat in a meal prepared by the Michelin-starred chef Katsuhiro Nakamura, the grand chef at Hotel Metropolitan Edmont in Tokyo, alongside salt-grilled bighand thornyhead (a small, red Pacific fish) with a vinegary water pepper sauce.

Finally there was a "fantasy" dessert, a special cheese selection accompanied by lavender honey and caramelised nuts, while coffee came with candied fruits and vegetables.

If you think that's a little over the top, one of the solutions proposed by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was a little "prudence and thrift in our kitchens." He claimed that, if only the average consumer would stretch out their weekly food budget, we could reduce "unnecessary demand for food."

Overall, the summit is costing nearly $470 million. For a little perspective, the UN World Food Programme said in April that it needed around $700 million in funding to do its job—feeding starving people around the world—for the remainder of the year.

This is the world we live in.