Biofuels 'causing food price rises'

[texas grass]

Biofuels 'causing food price rises'
World leaders will meet next week to discuss food prices in developing countries [AFP]

Biofuels have triggered a 75 per cent increase in world food prices, according to a leaked confidential report from the World Bank.

The report's author, a senior economist at the bank, said that contrary to claims by the United States government, increased demand from India and China had not been the cause of rising food prices.

"Rapid income growth in developing countries has not led to large increases in global grain consumption," the report said.

Rising food prices and the use of biofuels, which supporters claim are a greener alternative to using fossil fuel, will be discussed at a G8 summit in Japan next week.

The report estimated that compared with biofuels, higher energy and fertiliser prices had accounted for an increase of only 15 per cent in food prices.



The report said that droughts in Australia have also not had a significant impact on prices.

Biofuels push



It highlighted Europe and the US as being the biggest proponents for the greater use of biofuels, and therefore of having the greatest effect.



All petrol and diesel in Britain has had to include a biofuels component of at least 2.5 per cent since April this year.



In response to the report, Bruegel, a Brussels-based economic think tank, also attacked the use of the fuels.



It said that biofuels fail to contribute to energy security, do not achieve cheap cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases and trigger higher food prices worldwide.



On Friday, the European Union said it would continue to push ahead with plans to see biofuels account for at least 10 per cent of energy used by the bloc's huge transport sector by 2020.


Michael Mann, an EU spokesman, said: "If you don't have targets, you don't make progress [in combating climate change]."

Markets distorted



Friday's report said: "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."



It said that the drive for biofuels has distorted food markets by diverting grain away from food for fuel, encouraging farmers to set aside land for its production, and sparked financial speculation on grains.



But Brazil's transformation of sugar cane into fuel has not had such a dramatic impact, the report said.



Robert Bailey, biofuels policy adviser for the UK-based Oxfam charity, told Al Jazeera that the report sounded "perfectly credible".



"There's absolutely no evidence that these fuels are actually going to contribute to reducing the emissions from transport," he said.



"There's very little evidence to suggest that they're actually providing a credible alternative to oil â?? at best they can only be a marginal alternative - but there's huge evidence that they're causing deforestation overseas and driving up food prices with huge impacts upon poverty."



Last week, Oxfam estimated that biofuels were responsible for driving 30 million people across the world into poverty.



Bailey said: "But we're coming up against a lot resistance in rich countries [to get rid of biofuels] and I think the reason â?¦ for these policies isn't fear or security, or climate change, it's about covering continued avenues to support agricultural lobbies in rich countries."



Robert Vierhout, from the European bioethanol fuel association, disputed Oxfam's findings, saying there were undisputed environmental benefits to using the fuels and that they could be used "in a cost efficient way".

texas grass Reviewed by texas grass on 07-07-2008. Biofuels 'causing food price rises' Biofuels 'causing food price rises' World leaders will meet next week to discuss food prices in developing countries Biofuels have triggered a 75 per cent increase in world food prices, according to a leaked confidential report from the World Bank. The report's author, a senior economist at the bank, said that contrary to claims by the United States government, increased demand from India and China had not been the cause of rising food prices. "Rapid income growth in developing Rating: 5

[stinkyattic]

Problem:
Competition for access to corn crops coming from grain, animal feed, and biofuel industries is boosting prices.

Solution:
Prioritize. Number one should be grain for human consumption. Number two should be transportation, and that should be made more efficient in every way possible, from increasing public transit routes to improving fuel efficiency in all types of vehicles, industrial, and heating systems.
Number three should be grain to animal feed. You know, we don't NEED animal protein at every meal... We can get lots of protein from soy products and even genetically modified sweet potatoes that NASA has been developing as a sustainable space food. Meat is a luxury in poor countries. We need to start eating like peasants, not like kings.

This is very much a mess of our own making.

[delusionsofNORMALity]

Problem:
Competition for access to corn crops coming from grain, animal feed, and biofuel industries is boosting prices.

there is going to be a down side to any form our transportation may take. where emissions may be controlled, starvation cannot be avoided if we convert to bio-fuels. whether we use food crops or convert tillable land to the production of more efficient crops, our food production will suffer. obviously bio-fuels are another dead end, just like the hybrids that have become more a status symbol than an answer.

..... we don't NEED animal protein at every meal... We can get lots of protein from soy products and even genetically modified sweet potatoes that NASA has been developing as a sustainable space food. Meat is a luxury in poor countries. We need to start eating like peasants, not like kings.

careful there, you're starting to sound a bit too much like brak and that whole comfortable poverty crowd. forcibly lowering our standard of living does nothing more than limit our freedom of choice and hand even more of the people's power to would-be tyrants. we are omnivorous creatures and the luxury of eating meat is one of those little perks that comes with the drive to success.

[stinkyattic]

I've never heard the term 'comfortable poverty', but something tells me you'd get a kick out of my town were you ever to visit. It's practically a badge of honor to drive THE crappiest rattlebox with the most political bumper stickers, and see and be seen at Salvation Army shopping for jeans on a Saturday morning (OMG let's NOT go to the Gap!), and to subsist off vegan chili with textured soy protein and brown rice, and visit with friends at the farmers market while poking at all the local organic offerings. It's a very 'green' existence overall, and not NEARLY as many houses are for sale around here as in more affluent-appearing areas. Yankee hippies are VERY good with money, lol!

But if we're going to get down to it, while we DO eat far too much red meat as a nation, I don't really think that's the solution, in and of itself, to the bigger problem. It's limiting our FUEL consumption that is number one, and reducing our overall consumption of frivolous plastic crap that we don't need. That's how the tyrants get our money to begin with.

[Breukelen advocaat]

It should be a wake-up call for people to stop eating soy, gluten grains (wheat, barely, rye) and corn. They are toxic, the health risks of all these substances far outweigh the benefits, and for many they are completely intolerable. I am all for using them as fuel rather than food - provided that they do not harm the ecology more than oil based products.

[stinkyattic]

What about lentils? I love me some red lentil dal. Is that on your thumbs up list? Yum yum! But seriously, where do you personally prefer to get your protein? And I think actually that's a question with 2 answers, or 2 questions:

-Where do you get your protein in general, as a daily habit
-Do you feel you should be getting a higher percentage of it from other sources, and if so, what sources would those be?

I'll answer as an example:
Much of my day-to-day protein comes from cheese, black beans, and seafood. Clams if I can find good ones, fish n chips if I can't. I'm a sucker for mussels but only if I trust the source. When I go 'out', I'll admit I'm a St. Louis style ribs addict, and definitely eat a lot of burritos. Granted they usually have chicken in them, but the total chicken in a burrito is like half a breast, and there's 2-3x the weight in black beans along for the ride.
In a more efficient world, I'd be growing sweet potatoes and buying bulk dry lentils and black beans, cutting back on the cheese (subtly different from cutting the cheese), keeping chickens for eggs, and forgoing the ribs.
Somewhere in the middle is a more sustainable diet that I'd still be pretty happy with.

[Breukelen advocaat]

I get protein from egg (mostly) whites (the expensive "free roaming chickens" type), low-fat turkey slices and hot dogs, chicken, fresh veggie juice, small amounts in veggies, etc.

Lentils are another thing I avoid - too rough.

Cow's milk is something that I will never have again, including any product that contains casein. I use a product called DariFree, which is powdered potato with other ingredients, instead of milk. The casein in goat's milk is much healthier than the cow's milk type, but goat's milk is still high in cholesterol. It's very tasty and I drank it for a while, but ultimately gave that up as well. Milk actually can cause osteoporosis, but that's better explained by a professional. There are also different types of cows and different milk from them, some not as bad. We probably get the worst kinds. I get very zoned out from casein, even from small amounts consumed by accident.

My wife is currently experiencing menopausal "hot flashes" that could be alleviated by soy supplements, but soy wreaks havoc on the immune and hormonal systems so she's not using it. We used to be avid soy consumers.

The website of Dr. J, below, a vet, has most of the information that convinced me to avoid cow dairy, corn, soy, lentils and other foods in addition to gluten grains. He also has celiac disease, as I do, and is adamantly anti-gluten for everyone. He's finished a book, about food-related disorders, that is coming out soon.

The Answer

We are certainly the only species to drink the milk of another animal. To compound matters, look at the animal we chose to nurse: a huge beast that never moves. He is one of the most lethargic of earths mammals. The fact is that the composition of their milk fits their nursing period and their weight at adulthood. The universal truth is that all mammals nurse their young until they triple their birth weight. This ranges from three weeks in the guinea pig to three years in the elephant. Every other mammal is pretty much somewhere in between.
The Answer

[delusionsofNORMALity]

I've never heard the term 'comfortable poverty'

i'm not sure if i actually coined the phrase, but i've taken to using it more and more often. comfortable poverty is the end result of the new left's schemes of wealth redistribution and the socialist realignment of america. the gradual destruction of the middle and upper-middle classes so that they combine with the poor to be taken care of by that oh so benevolent government. it is a state where the masses are provided with just enough useless crap to make them forget that they have given up the freedom to decide their own destiny.

something tells me you'd get a kick out of my town were you ever to visit. It's practically a badge of honor to drive THE crappiest rattlebox with the most political bumper stickers, and see and be seen at Salvation Army shopping for jeans on a Saturday morning (OMG let's NOT go to the Gap!), and to subsist off vegan chili with textured soy protein and brown rice, and visit with friends at the farmers market while poking at all the local organic offerings. It's a very 'green' existence overall, and not NEARLY as many houses are for sale around here as in more affluent-appearing areas. Yankee hippies are VERY good with money, lol!

i've been living out here in the armpit of consumerism for way too long, trapped between quasi-liberal buffoons on the coast and uptight conservative soccer moms inland. this is the land of people who buy a new car every year living right next to folks who couldn't afford one if their lives depended on it. the bumper stickers here are sedate and mostly concern who's child is better at learning absolutely nothing and which school their doing it at. "green" is a buzz word they use to make themselves feel a little better about driving around in their excursions with the a/c on in the middle of december. they play at living a healthy lifestyle by shopping at henry's or whole foods and gossiping at the gym three times a week, but when the evenings are spent glued to the tv and downing copious amounts of their favorite alcoholic beverages their true way of life is quite evident. finally, this is the land where no one knows anyone and that's the way they want it. lonely individuals lacking individuality and reveling in the fact that, as long as no one knows them, their air of superiority remains intact. here i sit, an aging hippie with delusions of normality, feeding off the folly of a society in decline. what a trip.

It's limiting our FUEL consumption that is number one, and reducing our overall consumption of frivolous plastic crap that we don't need. That's how the tyrants get our money to begin with.

please don't confuse the real tyrants with those who merely finance and enable them. after all, we all do that to some extent. i'm in the midst of a long standing feud (in another place which will remain nameless) over the role of corporations in the downfall of america. it is the party line of the new left that corporate america is to blame for all the worst in this country, while any thinking person could plainly see that it is the bureaucracy and its devious agendas that are the real enemy of the people. business is all about making money and they make no bones about it. government, though they should be in the business of catering to the will of the people, has become centered on the consolidation of power and the defrauding of its constituency. blaming business for attempting to succeed is like blaming a fish for swimming. allowing government to grow unchecked is the road to totalitarianism.

[Stoner Shadow Wolf]

WHY CANT EVERYONE JUST STOP PAYING TAXES ALL TOGETHER ALL AT ONCE AND GO ON A NATIONAL STRIKE?!???!?!?! GOD DAMNED RETARDS!!!


*sorry everyone, i cant be a part of political crapola...*

[GreenDestiny]

The website of Dr. J, below, a vet, has most of the information that convinced me to avoid cow dairy, corn, soy, lentils and other foods in addition to gluten grains. He also has celiac disease, as I do, and is adamantly anti-gluten for everyone. He's finished a book, about food-related disorders, that is coming out soon.

The Answer

Thank you for sharing that link, I've only had time to read a little bit of it so far, but it's starting to concern me a great deal.... I have an allergy to many wheat products and am thinking its probably the gluten. Plus those symptoms of Celiac disease sounds more like what I've got instead of the Crohn's that I was diagnosed with...Being that my diagnosis was the "best guess" of the gastrointerologist, I'm willing to bet there's a good chance that it's not exactly what I have. Going back to hospitals for more guinea pig tests is not an option for me, so information like this will help me to find the things I need to avoid in my diets. And what a coincidence, I've been tested to have an allergy to soy also.... it seems I'm "allergic" to all things bad for the body.