Congressional Budget Office Report Says Ethanol Is Minor Factor In Food Price Increases
National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) reports:
National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Bob Dickey released the following statement on the Congressional Budget Office’s April 8 report, “The Impact of Ethanol Use on Food Prices and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions:”
“We applaud this report, the next chapter in a growing narrative that shows ethanol is not principally responsible for higher food prices despite what food companies have tried to make consumers believe during the past 12 to 18 months.
“The report found that the increased use of ethanol accounted for 0.5 to 0.8 percentage points out of the 5.1 percent increase in food prices between April 2007 and April 2008, representing 10 to 15 percent of total food price increases.
“We note that the impact of higher energy costs on food prices represented 36 percent of the overall food price increase. We hope that those who are truly concerned about increased food prices will look to those causes that have played a more significant role, and join grocers and others who are holding food manufacturers accountable for increased food prices at the same time commodity prices " even those for energy " have dropped.”
The report is available for download at the Congressional Budget Office Web site, http://www.cbo.gov