Guest guest Posted December 19, 2007 Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 Grocery prices climb, ethanol takes rap Food industry, livestock growers put blame on demand for corn Andrew Martin, New York Times Tuesday, December 18, 2007 Shopping at a Whole Foods Market in suburban Chicago, Meredith Estes said food prices have jumped so much she has resorted to coupons. Charles Rodgers Jr., an Arkansas cattle rancher, said normal feed rations are so expensive and scarce he is scrambling for alternatives. In Oregon, Jack Joyce, the owner of Rogue Ales, said the cost of barley malt has soared 88 percent this year. For years, cheap food and feed were taken for granted in the United States. But now the price of some foods is rising sharply, and from the corridors of Washington to the aisles of neighborhood supermarkets, a blame alert is under way. Among the favorite targets is ethanol, especially for food manufacturers and livestock farmers who seethe at government mandates for ethanol production. The ethanol boom, they contend, is raising corn prices, driving up the cost of producing dairy products and meat, and causing farmers to plant so much corn as to crowd out other crops. The results are working their way through the marketplace, in this view, with overall consumer grocery costs up 5 percent in a year and feed costs up more than 20 percent. Now, with Congress poised to adopt a new mandate that would double the volume of ethanol made from corn, ethanol skeptics say a fateful moment has arrived, with the nation about to commit itself to decades of competition between food and fuel for the use of agricultural land. " This is like a runaway freight train, " said Scott Faber, a lobbyist for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, who complained that ethanol has the same " magical effect " on politicians as the tooth fairy and Santa Claus have on children. " It's great news for corn farmers, but terrible news for consumers. " - - - Full story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/18/BURVU0CJM.DTL OR: http://tinyurl.com/3d9lyu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 19, 2007 Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 and the new york times isn't aware of the amount of grain crops needed for meat production and how this can all be alleviated with a national/global move towards a non meat-based diet? or they don't care? you might all be aware of this website but one can learn new words and help get rice via the UN to people in need. http://www.freerice.com/index.php brian --- Pete Cohon <p.cohon wrote: > Grocery prices climb, ethanol takes rap > > > > Food industry, livestock growers put blame on demand > for corn > > > > Andrew Martin, New York Times > > Tuesday, December 18, 2007 > > > > Shopping at a Whole Foods Market in suburban > Chicago, Meredith Estes said > food prices have jumped so much she has resorted to > coupons. Charles Rodgers > Jr., an Arkansas cattle rancher, said normal feed > rations are so expensive > and scarce he is scrambling for alternatives. In > Oregon, Jack Joyce, the > owner of Rogue Ales, said the cost of barley malt > has soared 88 percent this > year. > > For years, cheap food and feed were taken for > granted in the United States. > But now the price of some foods is rising sharply, > and from the corridors of > Washington to the aisles of neighborhood > supermarkets, a blame alert is > under way. > > Among the favorite targets is ethanol, especially > for food manufacturers and > livestock farmers who seethe at government mandates > for ethanol production. > The ethanol boom, they contend, is raising corn > prices, driving up the cost > of producing dairy products and meat, and causing > farmers to plant so much > corn as to crowd out other crops. > > The results are working their way through the > marketplace, in this view, > with overall consumer grocery costs up 5 percent in > a year and feed costs up > more than 20 percent. > > Now, with Congress poised to adopt a new mandate > that would double the > volume of ethanol made from corn, ethanol skeptics > say a fateful moment has > arrived, with the nation about to commit itself to > decades of competition > between food and fuel for the use of agricultural > land. > > " This is like a runaway freight train, " said Scott > Faber, a lobbyist for the > Grocery Manufacturers Association, who complained > that ethanol has the same > " magical effect " on politicians as the tooth fairy > and Santa Claus have on > children. " It's great news for corn farmers, but > terrible news for > consumers. " > > > > - - - > > > > Full story: > > http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/18/BURVU0CJM.DTL > > > > OR: http://tinyurl.com/3d9lyu > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been > removed] > > ______________________________\ ____ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Search. http://tools.search./newsearch/category.php?category=shopping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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