World’s hungry could be worst hit by biofuel boom

America’s appetite for fuel ethanol could take food away from some of the world’s poorest people.

The price of corn and other crops is soaring because of the demand for grain to make ethanol, a gasoline additive, and that means the government’s budget won’t buy as much food as it used to. The price of corn alone, a key food in Africa, has more than doubled in the past year.

The pinch is already being felt.
Americans, and especially American farmers, take pride in feeding the world’s hungry, but the truth is that the government’s food-aid programs historically have at least as much to do with helping U.S. agribusiness interests as helping the poor.

Clarion Ledger