Biofuels Not to Blame for World Food Crisis

Biofuels Not to Blame for World Food Crisisby Toni Nuernberg, Ethanol Promotion and Information Apr. 23, 2008The United States is the world's largest donor of food aid. Hunger is indeed a world-wide calamity, and it is distressing to think that rising food prices have impacted the budgets of humanitarian organizations around the globe. While Americans are feeling the pinch in the checkout lane, developing nations are seeing years of progress in the battle against poverty and hunger fall by the wayside. This is not an issue to be taken lightly, as evident by the Bush administration's release of an additional $200 million in food aid. Americans have never turned a blind eye to humanitarian crises around the world, whether it involves friend or foe. And we will continue to respond, for the factors behind rising food prices and shortages can never be completely eradicated. We live in a global economy where an extensive assortment of interrelated factors drives supply and demand and ultimately the price of food. Drought, population growth, growing protein demand in developing countries, war, transportation costs, crop acreage shifts and many other factors affect food prices and supplies. These same issues also contribute to the need for more arable acres. Tropical forests have been cleared for hundreds of years due to population growth in developing countries that need to feed themselves. Despite these well documented factors behind the increase in food prices, it is irresponsible for many in the media to blame the biofuels industry for such a complex issue. I can unequivocally state that ethanol does not take food from the mouths of starving people. Ethanol production uses field corn-most of which is fed to livestock with only a small percentage going into cereals and snacks. In fact, only the starch portion of the corn kernel is used to produce ethanol. The vitamins, minerals, proteins and fiber are converted to other products including sweeteners, corn oil and high-value livestock feed-feed which helps livestock producers add to the overall food supply. Grain-based ethanol is fueling research into advancing technologies that will improve production of celluosic ethanol from feedstocks such as switchgrass, crop waste and other renewable biomass. In the U.S., rising energy costs are directly related to our food bills, as growers fuel tractors and machinery and truckers transport foodstuffs to market. And the impact of fuel prices on food costs underscores the need for energy independence in the United States. The United States spends roughly one billion dollars a day on imported oil. A fraction of these funds would more than make up for the shortfall in the World Food Program. Ethanol is just one element in our drive to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. It should not be a convenient scapegoat for global issues beyond our control.