Some worthwhile quotes from the Economist regarding the current food
situation:
Since the spring, wheat prices have doubled and almost every crop
under the sun—maize, milk, oilseeds, you name it—is at or near a peak
in nominal terms. /The Economist/'s food-price index is higher today
than at any time since it was created in 1845 (see chart). Even in
real terms, prices have jumped by 75% since 2005.
[ ... snip comments on various causes ... ]
[ article continues...] But the rise in prices is also the
self-inflicted result of America's reckless ethanol subsidies. This
year biofuels will take a third of America's (record) maize harvest.
That affects food markets directly: fill up an SUV's fuel tank with
ethanol and you have used enough maize to feed a person for a year.
And it affects them indirectly, as farmers switch to maize from other
crops. The 30m tonnes of extra maize going to ethanol this year
amounts to half the fall in the world's overall grain stocks.
Full article at
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=10252015
This is pretty stunning. It's exactly what people on this list have been
saying about corn-based ethanol; I had no idea the boondoggle had gone
that far.
