Food and fuel are two basic necessities, and the rising cost of both continues to be in the news. Some experts say the two are linked, but does the public make the connection? A new United Nations report says the demand for ethanol and other "biofuels" made with food crops has helped boost food prices globally. The Food and Agriculture Organization study says food prices rose 53 percent worldwide in the first three months of this year, and some developing nations have seen rioting over the problem.

Americans are feeling the impact of higher food prices, too. Ninety percent of participants in a March Gallup survey said food prices have gone up "a lot" or "a little." A month later, 46 percent said recent food prices are causing them financial hardship; that number rose to 64 percent among Americans with income of less than $30,000 a year.

Americans are also feeling the sting of gas prices. In our Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index, fully seven in 10 Americans say they worry "a lot" about the rise in the cost of energy, a 16-point jump from six months ago. The public also has firmly linked energy and national security, and energy independence is the public's first choice as a security strategy in the index.

But so far, alternative fuels are not the first item on most Americans' personal energy agenda. In a Gallup poll last year on the most important things average Americans should do to address environmental problems, only 3 percent mentioned using more alternative fuels, as opposed to 18 percent who thought people should buy more energy efficient products. This is in line with Public Agenda's research on energy. The public tends to think about their own personal habits and consumption first when asked about energy conservation.

On the other hand, when Gallup asked people an open-ended question on what the government should do about energy, 19 percent said it should promote alternative fuels, more than any other item. More recent surveys still show support for ethanol research. In a March survey, the Pew Research Center found 57 percent favored more federal funding for ethanol research, although that was down 10 points from two years before.

But there's very little survey work on whether food and fuel are linked in the public's mind. In April 2007, a CBS News/New York Times poll asked people whether they thought ethanol was a good idea "because it is an American-made substitute for foreign oil that causes less air pollution" or a bad idea "because it drives up food prices and has less energy." At that time, 70 percent said they favored ethanol. But that was before the global controversy over food prices broke this spring, and there's little data on how that might have affected public attitudes. It's fair to say, however, that world food prices haven't received nearly as much public attention as gas prices.