Corn for Food, Not Fuel

[kytwell 179]

By suspending renewable-fuel standards that were unwise from the start, the Environmental Protection Agency could divert vast amounts of corn from inefficient ethanol production back into the food chain, where market forces and common sense dictate it should go.

More than one-third of our corn crop is used to feed livestock. Another 13 percent is exported, much of it to feed livestock as well. Another 40 percent is used to produce ethanol. The remainder goes toward food and beverage production.

Previous droughts in the Midwest (most recently in 1988) also resulted in higher food prices, but misguided energy policies are magnifying the effects of the current one. Federal renewable-fuel standards require the blending of 13.2 billion gallons of corn ethanol with gasoline this year. This will require 4.7 billion bushels of corn, 40 percent of this year’s crop.

Just a small sample. You can read the entire thing by clicking the link. What surprised me was this was posted by the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/opinion/corn-for-food-not-fuel.html

[natty bumppo 297]

or simply another time proven usage ....