It's past truism to say that comedy shows have become key providers of information and current events for many people, even as Jon Stewart disclaims such an effect, or says that it shouldn't be that way.

And yet, here's what I learned from watching last night's "The Colbert Show":

* Corn was about $2 a bushel last year, and is now about $7 a bushel. It is being driven up because biofuels are taking about 40 percent of corn, natural disasters such as fires in wheat-producing regions of Russia, and foot in mouth disease that is wiping out livestock in 14 countries.

* Nestle is saying the higher corn prices are making it difficult to make its candy bars.

* The International Monetary Fund reported a few days ago that rising wheat prices are a major cause for recent rioting in the Middle East.

All these nuggets came from Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, a good sport as well as a fount of information. It used to be that if you ever saw someone from the CFR on TV, it was on Cronkite, and certainly not on Carson. It's a vivid measure of how life has changed.

Despite Garrett's great info, the best line of the show still came from Colbert, who wondered how rising prices of corn and wheat could be affecting American food prices, when "most of our food isn't food." It is what is commonly known today as "foodlike substance." Makes you proud, don't it?