Today in Biofuels Opinion: “Where did the other 95 cents go?”

Josh Tickell, director of the award-winning biofuels documentary Fields of Fuel: “Corn may be environmentally detrimental, but it is difficult to pin the systemic problems in our international markets solely on biofuels. One need only look at the escalating costs of the world’s other staple commodities, such as cement, steel, and coffee to reveal that escalating costs are not restricted to corn or corn-based products. By far the largest commodity price increase is not in corn or wheat or soy or housing — but rather in oil.”

Senator Christopher “Kit” Bond of Missouri: “According to the USDA, a box of cornflakes consists of less than a dime’s worth of corn and is accountable for less than 5 percent of the … price. Today at Gerbes grocery in Columbia, Mo., a 24-ounce box of cornflakes costs $3.69, which is up more than a dollar. If the corn in the cornflakes increases a nickel, why did the box of cornflakes increase over a dollar, and where did the other 95 cents go?”

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