The new UN Food envoy, Olivier De Schutter, has described food shortages affecting 100m people as a 'silent tsunami'.
Protests, strikes and riots have erupted in developing countries around the world after big rises in the prices of wheat, rice, corn, oils and other essential foods that have made it difficult for poor people to make ends meet.
Mr De Schutter criticised the concentration of economic power in the hands of a few large multinational companies that provide seeds and fertiliser, process food and distribute it.
He said he wanted curbs on investors speculating on raw materials and said it was time for a radical re-think on biofuels.
'If we had 100m persons arrested in a dictatorial regime, if we had 100m persons beaten up by police, of course we'd be marching in the streets and we'd be convening special sessions,' Mr De Schutter said.
He said he wanted the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to hold a special session later this month to complement efforts by other international agencies to tackle the crisis and to establish it as a human rights issue.
One third of the 47 members of the council, or 16 countries, would need to request a special session.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon announced earlier this week that he was launching a task force to ensure a solid, coordinated international response to the food crisis.
Economists have linked food supply strains to factors including high fuel and fertiliser costs, the use of crops for biofuels and market speculation.
'This is not a natural disaster, it's not an earthquake, it's a crisis that is man-made,' said Mr De Schutter.
He called for urgent action in several areas, including a freeze on new investment in biofuels and for US and European Union targets for biofuel use to be abandoned.
The previous rapporteur, Jean Ziegler, said last year that the conversion of food crops to ethanol production was a 'crime against humanity'.
Mr De Schutter said he was aware that his predecessor had been seen as divisive and said he did not want to politicise the issue of food.
He urged greater investment in agriculture in developing countries where he said the proportion of overseas aid and World Bank lending for farming had fallen for 25 years.
He also said states should regulate companies better.
Finally, he said the rise in commodity prices had been fueled by speculation on the part of investment funds and he wanted to consult with experts on ways 'to limit the impact of speculative investors' on food prices.
