University of Illinois Researchers Develop Software to Demonstrate Food Vs. Fuel Factors

GrainNet.com
Date Posted: May. 12, 2008

Urbana, IL—Symptoms of the food-versus-fuel crisis are appearing regularly in the news but the underlying causes--and long-term implications--are poorly understood, said a University of Illinois agricultural economics professor.

"An important component of the food-versus-fuel debate that is not well understood is how increases in wealth for Asian consumers are dramatically affecting the markets for commodities worldwide," said Peter Goldsmith, director of the National Soybean Research Laboratory and an associate professor in the U of I's Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics.

To help fill that knowledge gap, Goldsmith, Tad Masuda, a postdoctoral researcher, and Barbara Mirel of the University of Michigan have built a 3-D computer model that visually conveys the interrelationship and impacts of income changes around the world on consumption, production, and markets.]

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