Reports brawl over impact of crops for fuel

BIOFUELS: Do the fuels harm the food supply —and fuel prices — or don’t they?

Days after an Ontario study declared the debate on farm crops for fuel finally over, UN researchers are warning of dire consequences for the world's poor from the growing practice.

And another analysis, this one released by the Canadian Trucking Alliance, says federal government requirements to include fuel derived from crops in diesel fuel will push up transportation costs and consumer prices.

The debate over ethanol and biodiesel has become intense as the use of corn for fuel has soared to the point where four out of every 10 bushels of corn grown in North America this year will be used for fuel -- not food.

Read the rest of the article here:

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011/06/20/18310371.html

What do you think??

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Permalink Reply by Joann on June 22, 2011 at 5:08am

It would appear there is more than enough food to feed the world's population but the distribution and the associated costs are the real barriers.

Derivative speculations of agricultural commodities on Wall Street is proving to impact food costs, I believe, at a greater extent than the processing of the commodities.

Some studies are also speculating that " about 40 percent of all the food produced in the U.S. is thrown out".

That translates to "85 million gallons of water a day" wasted and "300 million barrels of oil per year". .....1400 calories of equivalent food waste/day or 150 trillion calories/year. Those are numbers for just one country alone.

I find the current ethanol/food debate to be a distraction from real global food problems. The distribution (manipulation) of wealth appears to be at the root of the problem.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007940