Energy blamed more than ethanol for food prices

[depakid]

Ethanol bears some of the blame for last year's rising food prices, but oil and electricity bear more, according to a new congressional study of the food-versus-fuel debate.

The ethanol industry and its critics have been locked in a fierce argument over whether the alternative fuel, typically made from corn, pushes up food prices. Thursday's report from the Congressional Budget Office gives some ammunition to each side.

Researchers found that ethanol production was responsible for 10 to 15 percent of the increase in food prices between April 2007 and April 2008. As new ethanol biorefineries opened across the country, corn prices rose, causing a wave of price increases for everything from corn-syrup sweeteners to meat from animals fed with corn.

But ethanol production wasn't the only culprit.

Between 22 and 36 percent of the overall increase in food prices can be traced to the rising cost of traditional energy sources such as gasoline, diesel and electricity, according to the report. Virtually every step of food production - from planting to transportation to processing - consumes fuel or electricity. The period covered by the report also saw record-breaking oil and gasoline prices.

More: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/09/BUHL1704UL.DTL