Higher Food Prices: An Unintended Consequece of the Ethanol Craze

Every food shopper has noticed that chicken, beef and pork prices are headed up. One reason is that corn prices, the basic ingedrient for ethanol, are at an all-time high. Not long ago corn sold for $2 per bushel but now it fetches over $4 per bushel. And these higher corn prices are passed along to consumers through higher meat prices.

Will thanol lower the price that we pay for gasoline at the pump? Prbably not. Gasoline prices are set in large part by supply and demand, not by the cost of ethanal.

Corn farmers love ethanol because it pushes up the price of corn and the price of farmland. The Corn Grwoers Asssocaition touts the benefit of ethanol. But before long consumers will see that

cellulose based ethanol

Ethanol, the latest craze that is touted to allow the American public to continue purchase and drive gas-guzzling cars, SUVs and trucks

Updated March 10, 2007.