75% Worldwide Increase in Food Prices Due to Biofuels

The report contradicts US policy statements that the increase due to biofuel cultivation was 3% and that increased demand from China and India was the real culprit.

he report argues that production of biofuels has distorted food markets in three main ways:

* It has diverted grain away from food for fuel, with over a third of US corn now used to produce ethanol and about half of vegetable oils in the EU going towards the production of biodiesel.

* Farmers have been encouraged to set land aside for biofuel production.

* It has sparked financial speculation in grains, driving prices up higher.