While researching the reasons for and long term and short term effects of the current world food crisis, I came upon some statistics and information headed “Rich countries wrongly play down impact of Biofuels“. ”Rich countries”, translated, is the United States of America, where the current president contests the fact that biofuels have contributed to more than 3% of the global food price increase. In a confidential World Bank report, however, it states that plant-derived fuels have forced food prices to rise by 75%. President Bush’s understanding of our global emergency is that the USA’s contributing role in this crisis has been minimal, while attributing the rising food prices to the growing demand in China and India.
Again, however, the World Bank report blatantly disputes Bush’s reasons for the hike in prices, stating that the increase in global grain consumption wasn’t a primary factor, that it’s not responsible for the excessive rise in prices. Currently more than one third of US corn crops goes to biofuels with the EU using more than half of its vegetable oil for the same purpose.
The most shocking fact here is not that the production of biofuels is such a major contributor to the food crisis, but the fact that first world countries are not stepping up to the plate to accept responsibility and, frankly, it reminds me of the way people in high school deal with problems. It is not all that comforting to think that the most powerful people in politics are cowards who refuse to look the starving masses in the eye. Perhaps though, we should be more sympathetic, because I know I would have a problem with telling the world that the primary cause of the most severe food crisis in over a generation could be found in the blood on my hands.
