New federal numbers confirm what most Americans already know: The price of food is going up – fast.

The Labor Department announced last week that its cost-of-food index rose fully 0.9 percent in April alone – the biggest one-month jump in 18 years.

Just don’t tell Congress.

Faced with skyrocketing commodity prices that have sparked food riots worldwide, that august body last week approved a five-year, $307 billion farm bill bursting with subsidies, protections and special-interest giveaways for fat-cat farmers who are already raking in the dough with both fists.

And they did it with gusto – by veto-proof margins of 318-106 in the House and 81-15 in the Senate.

Hey, spread around enough cash, and there’s no need to worry about pushback.

Even more troubling than the rampant moral corruption – married farming couples making up to $1.5 million a year are still eligible for direct federal handouts – are all the ways in which the bill only makes the food-shortage crisis worse.

Federal ethanol tax credits still stand at an indefensible 45 cents a gallon – giving farmers huge incentive to replace wheat, soy and other staple crops with fuel-bound corn.

Don’t doubt for a moment that the consequences of such a switch won’t continue to show up in your grocery bill.

Congress should know better.

Then again, the laws of supply and demand never were its strong suit.