It has taken me far too long to follow up on my last post. Thank you Amber for nudging me back into the world of the blogging.
The day after I posted I discussed the issue with my father the agriculturalist, educator, and small-scale biofuel producer and came to some not-so-surprising (but interesting nonetheless) conclusions which I will share with you.
- It is not "greedy" of the United States (or the rest of the so-called 1st world) to use corn and other grain crops to produce biofuels. Granted, we may not have considered the unwitting side effects that would be detrimental to the poor of our world. However, I do not consider it "greedy" for us to produce a fuel that is better for our environment and actually costs those who use it more than regular petrol.
- Semantics aside, according to my very knowledgeable father, it is not possible for the globe to produce sufficient crops to feed the world AND provide biofuels (from edible agricultural crops) to the entire world. Obviously our usage of grain crops to produce biofuels does effect the amount of food available to the rest of the world. Thankfully there are other options for producing biofuels. For example, scientists and agriculturalists are currently experimenting with algae for eco-friendly fuels - a very sustainable option which would hopefully not be as detrimental to the poor and starving in the world. There are several other agricultural-esk options currently in the works, but I can't remember the specifics of them all. The important point here is that we can move away from using edible crops for fuel production, and toward capturing what would otherwise be waste and turning it into a solution for our fuel-thirsty nation.
- The production of biofuels is certainly not the only, or even the main, reason for food price increases. The cost of fuel in general has risen considerably in recent years, making the transportation of food more costly. Farmers did not have as high of yields as expected worldwide - some areas of the agricultural world were hit hard by drought, others by severe storms. This drove yields quite low. These reasons and others have caused the soaring food prices that hit the poorest of the poor the hardest.
Any further thoughts on this topic from all you other knowledgeable and thoughtful people in my loyal blog readership?!
Seeking "tranquila" for soul, relationships, community and world.
2 comments:
Fabulous post, Kendra. I appreciate hearing from Uncle P's perspective as a bona fide farmer and educator, and person I respect! I am forwarding this to my biofuel friend, Kathy.
Great insights, Kendra. We drive an old diesel VW Golf, which runs perfectly and gets very good mileage on biodiesel. We switched to this car from the old 17 mpg mommy-van, not to save money (since diesel at the time was more expensive than gasoline), but to put less carbon into the atmosphere.
The cost of biodiesel has ballooned (over $5 a gallon today), but we persist. It makes me aware when I'm driving more than I want to be.
The thing that has been distressing to me lately is what I've heard about why the price of biodiesel has climbed so high - that it has to do with those who are speculating in corn & soybean futures on the stock market. And therein lies the greed, I think. Because driving the price up that way makes the corn and soybeans expensive for everyone, regardless of whether you're eating them or driving them - and the money is not going into the pockets of the farmers who are doing the labor - rather into the bank accounts of people who do nothing more than say, "Buy!" and "Sell!"
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