Thanks to Congress, Ethanol and Biofuel Mandates Cause Food
Prices to Soar by Dana Joel Gattuso Thanks to U.S. policies
mandating ethanol and biofuel usage, bountiful meals this
holiday season will probably cost you. For the past four
decades, food prices have remained fairly stable, lagging far
behind inflation.1 But as the USDA reports, food prices this
year are soaring, rising twice the rate of inflation - the
highest annual increase in over a decade.2 Corn prices, which
doubled since last year,3 are close to $4 a bushel. Eggs are up
44 percent from last year,4 while milk, up 21 percent, has
jumped to $3.83 a gallon - the highest retail price since World
War Two.5 What's driving record food prices? Federal policies
mandating more food for fuel are a big factor. Requirements that
we use more ethanol over oil for energy use are causing us to
divert larger amounts of farmland from food to corn-based fuel,
contributing to record food costs. In 2000, we were using a
modest 6 percent of our cropland for ethanol