(automatically updated/inserted from The Big Biofuels Blog)


Food prices are rising and this is putting increasing pressure on food aid, according to the United Nations, and reported in yesterday's Guardian. That report, which has a list of food hotspots, says:

"We will have a problem in coming months," said Josette Sheeran, the head of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP). "We will have a significant gap if commodity prices remain this high, and we will need an extra half billion dollars just to meet existing assessed needs."With voluntary contributions from the world's wealthy nations, the WFP feeds 73 million people in 78 countries, less than a 10th of the total number of the world's undernourished. Its agreed budget for 2008 was $2.9bn (£1.5bn). But with annual food price increases around the world of up to 40% and dramatic hikes in fuel costs, that budget is no longer enough even to maintain current food deliveries.

In a BBC TV news report yesterday the UN stressed that there is enough food to feed the world but increased wealth in developing countries is helping to increase demand for crops to feed food animals and also the use of grain for biofuels is helping to drive costs up. At least in the short term.

More (from The Big Biofuels Blog)...

When you consider just about every step of food production requires fossil fuel, and fossil fuel cost is rising I think its a bit silly to say its biofuels which is causing food prices to rise....

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cheers
Chris.
1990 landcruiser 80, 1HD-T two tank, copper pipe HE+ 20 plate FPHE, toyota solenoids and filters. 1978 300D, elsbett one tank system. 1979 300D veg oil/ diesel blend for now.

Not silly , Chris Echidna. Just ask the poor Mexicans who struggle to afford their staple tortillas made from US corn , much of which goes to susbsidised, carbon positive ethanol.Or Indonesians who cant afford cooking oil , which goes to European biodiesel.Not to mention straining land and water supplies for food farming.

I still think its more, Just ask the poor Mexicans who struggle to afford their staple tortillas made from US corn , As the seeding, plouging and harvesting and irrigation, transport equipment all runs of diesel, which price is rapidly increasing. Or Indonesians who cant afford cooking oil , but their government will supply troops to guard and chauffer the haliburton employees around, while the company takes vast wealth in the way of oil and gas out of the country. Not to mention straining land and water supplies for food farming.

Or is the problem that there are people in the world who cant afford food, especially bad as the majority of food production relies on diesel, which is rapidly increasing in cost?

__________________
cheers
Chris.
1990 landcruiser 80, 1HD-T two tank, copper pipe HE+ 20 plate FPHE, toyota solenoids and filters. 1978 300D, elsbett one tank system. 1979 300D veg oil/ diesel blend for now.

We still use huge quantities of vegetable food to produce a small quantity of meat food.
We grow more than enough vegetable food to feed the world but we waste huge quantities just to maintain the high price. Then we give dollars as aid rather than giving food and complain about the fact that the dollars don't buy enough because we are maintaining the high price for the sake of profit.
Talking of profit, this is the reason for oil companies putting out this sort of rubbish - to protect their profit from the attack of biofuels.
The Mexicans and Indonesians are not starving because of biofuels. They are starving because of 'western' greed for profit.

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