Of course I’m not surprised: The House Agriculture Committee endorsed a letter this week to Budget Chairman Paul Ryan arguing that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps low-income Americans purchase food, would make a better target for cuts than automatic subsidies to farms. I have a better idea. Let’s quit the ethanol nonsense, and…
Tag: corn
A New Name for High-Fructose Corn Syrup – NYTimes.com
Here comes the corn industry again: The Corn Refiners Association, which represents firms that make the syrup, has been trying to improve the image of the much maligned sweetener with ad campaigns promoting it as a natural ingredient made from corn. Now, the group has petitioned the United States Food and Drug Administration to start…
World Bank Report Confirms: Biofuels Behind Food Price Hikes
A leaked report by the World Bank, purportedly confirms that biofuels, not increased demand from India and China, has caused the world’s food prices to increase by 75%. President Bush has linked higher food prices to higher demand from India and China, but the leaked World Bank study disputes that: “Rapid income growth in developing…
Corn Industry Says Don’t Blame Us, Again
Here we go again. The corn industry, this time under the guise of the New Fuels Alliance and FoodPriceTruth.org, are saying that higher food prices, in particular, chicken, are NOT a result of more corn going to corn based biofuels instead of chicken feed. Yeah, right. Same old story.
Food Crisis, Riots, Social Unrest
As I said back in March, riots over food prices have begun. In fact, this month in Haiti, the prime minister was ousted over food-related rioting and death. A recent NYTimes Editorial describes the current situation. Although the rise in food prices are partly a result of “uncontrollable forces — including rising energy costs and the growth…
Food costs will continue to go up in 2008
Another article which explains why food prices are going up. From the Christian Science Monitor: Two major trends have been pushing prices up faster than they have risen for more than 30 years. One is that increasingly prosperous consumers in India and China are not only eating more food but eating more meat. Animals have…
Pending global food crisis – Due to corn and Ethanol
An excellent article which reiterates the point, that food prices are going up, because of corn being diverted from human consumption to ethanol production. The amount of corn it takes to produce 75 litres of ethanol– roughly a tank of fuel– is enough corn to feed one person on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet for a year…
Iowa Corn Promotion Board says don’t blame us for rising food prices!
Iowa Corn Promotion Board and the Iowa Corn Growers Association are apparently going to launch a consumer-education campaign that says that they are not responsible for food prices going up. I would partly agree, in that they are not entirely responsible. Of course oil prices, labor costs, transportation costs, etc share some of the blame….
Ethanol subsidies causing NYC bagel prices to go up
Bagels are costing alot more these days. Why? Ethanol subsidies, paid for by our taxes, allow for grain, that normally go towards food and animal feed, to go to ethanol distilleries. From ENS, “U.S. taxpayers, by subsidizing the conversion of grain into ethanol, are in effect financing a rise in their own food prices. It…
Corn based ethanol production causing global food insecurity
Here’s a good read on why an increase in ethanol [derived from corn] to “reduce our dependency on foreign oil” is a bad idea for all… Here’s an innovative way to make ethanol cheaply, without corn.