This review of the 2007–08 food crisis attempts to provide a balanced and comprehensive assessment of the causes and consequences of the crisis for researchers and policymakers alike. This study was finalized in early 2010, about 18 months after international cereal prices peaked and then plummeted, before rising again in 2009. It is therefore an appropriate point in time to reflect on the events of 2008 and the preceding years, reassess our understanding of the crisis (especially in light of the sharp drop in prices), and update the evidence on the impacts of the crisis with new data and fresh analysis. It is also an opportunity to emphasize to policymakers that food prices remain high by historical standards in both international and local markets, and that if higher prices in 2007 and 2008 were at least partly the result of fundamental pressures on international cereal markets, then it is reasonable to expect prices to remain high in the years to come (especially as economies recover from the financial crisis). Indeed, without actions to repair some significant flaws in the global food system, the food crises of 1972–74 and 2008 could be repeated, perhaps sooner rather than later.