Decreasing dependence on foreign oil. Bringing prices down at the pump. Creating domestic jobs using an all-American product. Or taking food from the mouths of the hungry?
Once heralded as the solution to America growing energy problem, the biofuel ethanol is now under attack for driving up global food prices.
The corn based product, which is mixed with petrol, has been a boon for farmers in Midwest states like Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska. Increased demand has meant corn prices have more than doubled in the past year. Farmers are now devoting more and more land to corn for the pump instead of the plate. And that has huge implications for the world poorest.
"We have a situation where the biofuels compete very seriously with food for poor people, driving up food prices," said spokesman for the International Food Policy Research Institute, Joachim von Braun.
But many at home are also feeling the pinch. As the price of corn rises, so does animal feed, in turn pushing up the price of staples like eggs, milk, and meat.
Iowa farmers, who are currently reaping the benefits from the boom in biofuels, say they are being used as scapegoats in a problem that runs far deeper than the price of corn.
"You look at the price of food and the packaging costs more than our product in it." said Raymond Defenbaugh, farmer and CEO of ethanol plant Big River Resources.
"The transportation has added inordinately to the price of corn and so have wages costs. There are factors other than the cost of grain."
With nearly 60 million tons of American corn formerly used as food now being re-routed to the petrol tank, it is easy to point the finger at biofuels.
But for some, the real issue is not the corn but rather the consumer. Agriculture expert Chuck Albright says we need to cut fuel consumption in the U.S.
Source:http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/01082008/140/iowa-food-crisis-vs-fuel-crisis.html
