Is Corn To Blame?

The International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington suggests that biofuel production accounts for a quarter to a third of the recent increase in global commodity prices. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations predicted late last year that biofuel production, assuming that current mandates continue, would increase food costs by 10 to 15 percent.

Benjamin Senauer, an expert speaking to The New York Sun , cited a more concrete assessment, saying “It takes around 400 pounds of corn to make 25 gallons of ethanol.” That’s enough to keep an adult alive for a year, though “it’s not going to be a very good diet.”