Is the ethanol mandate raising food prices?
By. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) The prices of basic necessities—fuel and food—are through the roof. Corn was $2 a bushel when many ethanol plants were built two years ago. It hit a recent high of $7. Over a fifth of the corn produced in this country last year went to create seven billion gallons of ethanol, but the U.S. was still able to meet our domestic needs for corn, increase exports, and stockpile a surplus. This year, over a third of the U.S. corn crop will be converted to ethanol. We now find ourselves trying to balance access to affordable food and sustainable energy. Concerns have been raised about further expansion of corn-based ethanol to meet the targets set for biofuel production, and many have questioned if the ethanol mandate is raising food prices. It is a law of economics that high demand drives up prices. However, other factors besides ethanol production may have a bigger effect on food prices: the increased demand from developing nations; stocks at generational lows; pre
