Is Ethanol Driving Up Food Prices?

Ethanol Will Drive Up World Food Prices

We are witnessing the beginning of one of the great tragedies of history, says Lester Brown. The United States, in a misguided effort to reduce its oil insecurity by converting grain into fuel for cars, is generating global food insecurity on a scale never seen before, he warns. The world is facing the most severe food price inflation in history as grain and soybean prices climb to all-time highs. Wheat trading on the Chicago Board of Trade on December 17 breached the $10 per bushel level for the first time ever. In mid-January, corn was trading over $5 per bushel, close to its historic high. And on January 11, soybeans traded at $13.42 per bushel, the highest price ever recorded. All these prices are double those of a year or two ago.