I’m keynoting the workship on Food, Ethics, Politics at 4:00 with a reception to follow. My talk, “”Food, Ethics, Politics: The View from 2022,” will be in the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Maeder Hall, Room 002. This event is part of the University Center for Human Values (UCHV) Conferences, Workshops & Special Events. To register to attend, click here.
by Marion Nestle
Apr
7
2011
Cassava for biofuels?
It’s bad enough that corn is grown for ethanol, but cassava? Many populations depend on cassava for food.
According to today’s New York Times, cassava is the new “go to” crop to burn for fuel. Doing this, of course, prices cassava beyond what people can afford:
It can be tricky predicting how new demand from the biofuel sector will affect the supply and price of food. Sometimes, as with corn or cassava, direct competition between purchasers drives up the prices of biofuel ingredients. In other instances, shortages and price inflation occur because farmers who formerly grew crops like vegetables for consumption plant different crops that can be used for fuel.
The Times graph of the increase in use of food for biofuel is sobering:
New York Times, April 7, 2011
The rise in food prices has stopped temporarily, but prices are still an astonishing 37% higher than a year ago, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.
None of this makes sense to me. We need a sensible food policy and a sensible energy policy.
