Recession. Doom and gloom. Consumers will stop spending. Oil will go to $150. That's the dominant talk in the financial headlines these days, and they might be right, they might not. But chew on this basic fact: No matter what happens in the world, folks still have to eat.

This fact is fully reflected out in the rough-and-tumble world of the Chicago commodity futures pits as prices for grains and other food products go ever higher. Lots of people think commodities trading is the way to play the food market, but I have a different approach. I prefer investing in the best food-oriented stocks my stock research uncovers.

I'll explain this in more detail in a moment, but first, I want to share a lesson we can take from history. Back in the days of the California Gold Rush, a few people got wealthy by finding gold. Many more folks made a ton of money by selling the supplies and items that the miners needed to search for the glittery gold stuff: Picks, axes, mules, shovels, whatever they needed to dig and pan the hills of California in search of gold. You see, the smartest folks got rich without ever leaving the store! In a similar way, my stock research and screening process has begun to uncover a lot of these types of companies--except this time, the gold's to be found in the food business.

As the world's population grows, seed, fertilizer and farm equipment companies have been ringing in major profits. These food-service companies are hitting my radar as their excellent fundamentals spur buying pressure. My market analysis identifies the best stocks to buy as demand for wheat grows, the agricultural sector soars, and the falling dollar further aids my carefully chosen stocks. These companies sell things like fertilizer and seed that farmers need to meet the growing demand.

Two of My Favorite Stocks to Buy

One of my favorite stocks right now is Monsanto (MON). An industry heavyweight, Monsanto helps farmers grow more crops by using technologically enhanced herbicides and seeds. In fact, my Blue Chip Growth readers are nearing a 300% gain in MON.

Monsanto recently reported that its earnings had tripled year-over-year and raised its earning forecast. Now, in these post-Sarbanes Oxley days, a company has to be very enthusiastic about its future to actually raise estimates. But when it does, all the Wall Street analysts will follow suit, and the stock will be in high demand. High demand from foreign markets and the biofuels industry should continue to push sales of the company's seed and productivity products well beyond 2008!

Another strong stock is Mosaic Company (MOS). This company is in the fertilizer business. It counts more than two-thirds of its profits from outside of the United States, so it's been benefiting from the weak U.S. dollar. As demand for fertilizer has grown around the world, this company's margins increased by almost 75% year-over-year. That's what I like to see!

Monsanto and Mosaic are just two stocks on my Blue Chip Growth Buy List that are riding the food-service boom. The broader economy may be nearing recession, but remember, people will always have to eat. Grains must be raised to feed people--not just in the United States, but also around the world. Growth from emerging markets is expected to continue unabated. Biofuel research to break our dependency on foreign oil will continue to use a lot of the grain grown in the Midwest. Rather than try to guess the food price in the commodity markets, I'm content to sell the farmers the picks and shovels they need to grow their product. This way, we can profit from the food boom simply by selling them what they need.