Biofuel production boosts food prices by 75%, report suggests

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The production of biofuels has driven up food prices 75 per cent, according to an unpublished World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.
In an article published Friday, the British daily cites a confidential report authored by Don Mitchell, a senior economist at the bank. The newspaper suggests the report has not been released so as not to embarrass U.S. President George Bush, whose government had suggested biofuels accounted for a three per cent increase in food prices.
"Without the increase in biofuels, global wheat and maize stocks would not have declined appreciably and price increases due to other factors would have been moderate," the report said, according to the Guardian.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/07/04/biofuel-food.html

I'm really noticing that the price of almost everything is going up all the time at the grocery store. It's not only conversion of crops to ethanol, it's also the skyrocketing cost of oil which filters through the whole economy. Families like mine are finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet.

 

[IisJustMe]

I seriously doubt it is 75%, though I don't doubt it is increasing food production and transport costs. I don't think the Bush administration's 3% estimate would be accurate either, but I think it's closer than 75%. The droughts around the world are far more likely to be the cause, simply because there is less crop produced. There isn't that much going into energy production.

 

[ArnautDaniel]

Watch "King Corn".

I suspect the kind of crops that would be most offset by production of grain for biofuel are the ones that don't go directly into the food supply.

They are probably the ones that have to be very heavily processed into things like corn syrup and animal feed.

So I can see biofuel production raising the price of your big mac and pepsi, but not basic grain production that much.

 

[susanann]

The secret is out!





Burning food sources, cause the price of food to go up!



Who would have ever thought of that?



DUH!