Top 10 Endangered Foods: Future Meals Might Miss These Ingredients

It's bad enough that there's so much news these days about high food prices, severe food shortages and even food riots in various parts of the world. But did you know there are many different kinds of basic foods that are actually endangered? That's right: some food crops are seriously in danger of all but disappearing from our planet.

Which are the top threatened foods? Some of the ones you might find it hard to do without. They include:

Wheat. The future of wheat has "never been less secure," according to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Edward Schafer. Not only are wheat stocks low in the U.S. and around the world, but wheat harvests are increasingly threatened by drought and other effects of climate change. There's also the danger posed by African stem rust, an extremely virulent crop disease that can decimate wide areas.

Bananas. A fungus that causes black leaf streak disease can wipe out more than half the harvest on a banana plantation, according to Bioversity International. Another fungus known as fusarium wilt, which previously wiped out a Central American banana variety known as Gros Michel, is now threatening the common Cavendish variety. While pesticides help, the fungi attacking bananas eventually become resistant. With the commercial market largely dependent on a single variety of banana, one outbreak could devastate future banana harvests.

Wild rice. Some Native Americans in Minnesota say they fear that genetically engineered varieties of wild rice could hurt the native variety, which they consider a sacred food source.

Avocados, almonds, honey, watermelon and cantaloupe. These are just a few of the many plant crops and food products that depend on pollination by bees. And the bees are threatened by a mysterious affliction called colony collapse disorder, in which whole colonies of bees simply disappear overnight. Scientists aren't yet sure of the cause -- they're examining everything from viruses, mites, pesticides, exhaustion and genetically modified crops -- but the problem is expected to spread across more of North America this year.

Ice cream. Many of the fruits and other crops that help flavor ice cream are also dependent upon bees. Think ice cream makers aren't taking it seriously? Think again. Häagen-Dazs recently made a $250,000 grant for research on colony collapse disorder. The company says 40 percent of its flavors rely on bee-pollinated crops

Fish. Wild fish stocks around the world are suffering from a variety of threats, including overfishing, pollution, destruction of mangrove swamps and climate change. Just this week, the dramatic decline in the projected Chinook salmon run forced officials to order a complete closure on salmon fishing from Oregon to the Mexican border. Many other species of fish around the world -- including cod, bluefin tuna, Pacific sardine and Peruvian anchovy -- are also experiencing large population declines. Raising fish in commercial fish farms doesn't seem to be helping the threat to wild fish, either: in fact, the practice appears to endanger wild marine life by creating polluted runoff and increasing the risk of disease.