What do you serve world leaders for lunch at a U.N. summit trying to solve a crisis caused by soaring food prices?

You clearly want to impress dozens of heads of state but without laying on opulent meals when up to 1 billion people are threatened by hunger.

U.N. organisers of the June 3-5 food summit in Rome are treading a fine line, putting typically Italian ingredients on the menus, such as mozzarella cheese, pasta, spinach, beans, risotto and parmesan. No pizzas, though.

The main exception to traditional Italian ingredients are pineapples, requiring more energy to transport from the tropics. Veal is on the menu twice and beef once — environmentalists say vegetarianism is best for the climate because cows need to eat about 16 kilos of grain or grass to put on a kilo of meat.

So here is Tuesday’s menu:

Vol au vent with maize and mozzarella

Pasta with a cream of pumpkin and prawns

Braised veal slices with cherry tomatoes and basil

Spinach a la romaine

Fruit salad with ice cream

 They have even gone easy on the wine: today it is the Orvieto Classico Poggio Calvelli 2005; not among Italy’s most expensive.

Any better advice? Maybe they should all go vegetarian?