rapuda
02-28-2008, 02:52 PM
I'm not an expert on ethanol or alternative fuels, but I have made some observations.
Since our country started using ethanol on a larger scale, food prices have sky rocketed.
I watched a news program that explained how using ethanol on a larger scale is affecting our food prices. I found it very interesting.
Basically more corn is being used to make ethanol which means less corn is available for food production. That in turn causes the price of corn to rise(supply and demand). Everything that has corn in it, or a by product of corn, now costs more to produce. Also, many feeds that farmers use for live-stock contain corn, which means the cost of pork, chicken, eggs, milk, and beef increase.
Now that corn is worth more money, more farmers are planting corn instead of wheat. That in turn causes less wheat to be produced which means wheat goes up in price. Wheat is at it's highest market price ever.
High wheat prices mean high flour prices. That means all kinds of breads cost more money. Most live-stock eat feed made of grain, which is wheat and corn.
So is ethanol such a good idea after all? Is it worth using less oil if our food prices are going to increase so much? Our main food staples have all increased noticeably. Milk, bread, flour, eggs, meat and poultry.
Factor in record oil prices with high corn and wheat and you have a recipe for disaster for the wallet at the check-out line.
Any thoughts people?
Since our country started using ethanol on a larger scale, food prices have sky rocketed.
I watched a news program that explained how using ethanol on a larger scale is affecting our food prices. I found it very interesting.
Basically more corn is being used to make ethanol which means less corn is available for food production. That in turn causes the price of corn to rise(supply and demand). Everything that has corn in it, or a by product of corn, now costs more to produce. Also, many feeds that farmers use for live-stock contain corn, which means the cost of pork, chicken, eggs, milk, and beef increase.
Now that corn is worth more money, more farmers are planting corn instead of wheat. That in turn causes less wheat to be produced which means wheat goes up in price. Wheat is at it's highest market price ever.
High wheat prices mean high flour prices. That means all kinds of breads cost more money. Most live-stock eat feed made of grain, which is wheat and corn.
So is ethanol such a good idea after all? Is it worth using less oil if our food prices are going to increase so much? Our main food staples have all increased noticeably. Milk, bread, flour, eggs, meat and poultry.
Factor in record oil prices with high corn and wheat and you have a recipe for disaster for the wallet at the check-out line.
Any thoughts people?