Comments on: UN Sec-Gen calls on world leaders to attend Food vs Fuel summit; new UN Food head calls biofuels a “scandal”, as USDA projects 2008 corn prices lower than futures market http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2008/05/13/un-sec-gen-calls-on-world-leaders-to-attend-food-vs-fuel-summit-new-un-food-head-calls-biofuels-a-scandal-as-usda-figures-projects-2008-corn-prices-lower-than-futures-market/ The world's most widely-read biofuels daily Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:30:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: simplicator http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2008/05/13/un-sec-gen-calls-on-world-leaders-to-attend-food-vs-fuel-summit-new-un-food-head-calls-biofuels-a-scandal-as-usda-figures-projects-2008-corn-prices-lower-than-futures-market/comment-page-1/#comment-1480 simplicator Wed, 14 May 2008 21:31:02 +0000 http://biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2008/05/13/un-sec-gen-calls-on-world-leaders-to-attend-food-vs-fuel-summit-new-un-food-head-calls-biofuels-a-scandal-as-usda-figures-projects-2008-corn-prices-lower-than-futures-market/#comment-1480 Ban Ki-moon is Bank-ing big money from Big Oil. Biofuels and food prices are only remotely connected. There is a much more direct link between the cost of petroleum and the cost of food. We transport all food using petroleum in trucks, trains, ships and planes. Farmers use petroleum in their tractors and other farm machinery and most fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are petroleum-based. Even the plastic to wrap our food comes from petroleum. The world's economy is based on petroleum, so in a year when petroleum increases by more than 50%, food prices also rise by over 50%. Hummm... gee maybe there's a connection! I wish the biofuels industry was big enough to affect anything, but right now it is not. Biofuels still take a far back seat to petroleum, weather destroying crops and increased demand for meat. Ethanol used about 12% of the USA corn supply, while almost all of the rest went to feed livestock, not people. Producing meat takes about ten times as much land and resources to than vegetables, fruits and grains for direct consumption. We've exported our bad habit of eating meat to China and India and prices are increasing accordingly. If we all cut back on Big Macs food prices would fall. Biodiesel is mostly made from soy oil in the USA. The oil is about 10% of the bean and is removed in preparing the soy meal for livestock consumption. The oil has no nutritional value and is not even classified as food. Not too long ago soy oil was thrown into land fills as an unwanted byproduct. As we increase the amount of soy oil we use, we increase the amount of meal produced and this increased supply should reduce soy meal prices, not increase them. None of what I've said is a big secret, it's pretty basic economics. We do not ship our corn and soybeans to the 3rd world, therefore it has little or no bearing on their hunger issue. If the UN and other "experts" really want to resolve world hunger, they wouldn't fixate on unrelated issues. Not one of these guys has mentioned the increased price of petroleum and its affect on food prices. My simple math leads me to believe that these people are either being paid off or they are drastically under-qualified for the lofty positions they currently hold. Either way, it's time for a change. Ban Ki-moon is Bank-ing big money from Big Oil. Biofuels and food prices are only remotely connected. There is a much more direct link between the cost of petroleum and the cost of food. We transport all food using petroleum in trucks, trains, ships and planes. Farmers use petroleum in their tractors and other farm machinery and most fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are petroleum-based. Even the plastic to wrap our food comes from petroleum. The world’s economy is based on petroleum, so in a year when petroleum increases by more than 50%, food prices also rise by over 50%. Hummm… gee maybe there’s a connection!

I wish the biofuels industry was big enough to affect anything, but right now it is not. Biofuels still take a far back seat to petroleum, weather destroying crops and increased demand for meat. Ethanol used about 12% of the USA corn supply, while almost all of the rest went to feed livestock, not people. Producing meat takes about ten times as much land and resources to than vegetables, fruits and grains for direct consumption. We’ve exported our bad habit of eating meat to China and India and prices are increasing accordingly. If we all cut back on Big Macs food prices would fall.

Biodiesel is mostly made from soy oil in the USA. The oil is about 10% of the bean and is removed in preparing the soy meal for livestock consumption. The oil has no nutritional value and is not even classified as food. Not too long ago soy oil was thrown into land fills as an unwanted byproduct. As we increase the amount of soy oil we use, we increase the amount of meal produced and this increased supply should reduce soy meal prices, not increase them.

None of what I’ve said is a big secret, it’s pretty basic economics. We do not ship our corn and soybeans to the 3rd world, therefore it has little or no bearing on their hunger issue. If the UN and other “experts” really want to resolve world hunger, they wouldn’t fixate on unrelated issues. Not one of these guys has mentioned the increased price of petroleum and its affect on food prices. My simple math leads me to believe that these people are either being paid off or they are drastically under-qualified for the lofty positions they currently hold. Either way, it’s time for a change.

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