Corn is a popular food throughout the world in many forms. It is used in breakfast cereals in the Western world (as corn flakes) and it is a grain that can be eaten raw off the cob, although it is usually preferred cooked. It may be fed to animals or humans. In the United States, for economic reasons such as government subsidies, corn is the basis of many products, in the form of high fructose corn syrup, in favor of cane sugar. A genetic variant that accumulates more sugar and less starch in the ear is consumed as a vegetable and is called sweet corn. When ground into flour, maize yields more flour, with much less bran, than wheat does. It lacks the protein gluten of wheat and, therefore, makes baked goods with poor rising capability. Corn kernels are used as pelletized fuel for pellet stoves and furnaces. Corn kernels are a natural pellet, which gives them an economic advantage over other man-made biomass pellets and wood pellets. The use of corn and other grains as a renewable biofuel may have environmental and cost benefits, compared to other energy sources, and may create additional forms of revenue for farmers and other economic industries. However, the use of corn as a fuel stock may increase the price of corn and have adverse effects on corn as a food stock. In the United States, 5.6 million bushels of corn were used for ethanol production out of 14.6 million bushels produced, according to preliminary 2018 USDA data. According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center, "The increased ethanol [production] seems to have come from the increase in overall corn production and a small decrease in corn used for animal feed and other residual uses. The amount of corn used for other uses, including human consumption, has stayed fairly consistent from year to year." This does not prove there was not an impact on food supplies: Since U.S. corn production doubled (approximately) between 1987 and 2018, it is probable that some cropland previously used to grow other food crops is now used to grow corn. It is also possible or probable that some marginal land has been converted or returned to agricultural use. That may have negative environmental impacts. Part of the production increase is also due to higher yields. Achieving higher yields may entail greater use of irrigation, fertilizers, and controversial herbicides.