USDA OFFICIALS BRIEFING WITH REPORTERS ON THE CASE FOR FOOD AND FUEL

Release No. 0130.08
Contact: Office of Communications (202)720-4623
USDA

May 19, 2008; USDA Headquarters - Washington, D.C.

SEC. ED SCHAFER: Thank you all for joining us. It's a great day in America, and we're glad to have you here in Washington, D.C., and especially at USDA today. As you can see, we have been talking a lot in the United States these days and globally actually about the food versus fuel situation. And we are going to make the case today for food and fuel.

We think the time has come for USDA to join in the public conversation about the relationship between food prices and biofuels. We want to offer our perspective on what is happening in the marketplace, to share our data, and the analysis of what is happening. That's why I am joined today by Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner; Joe Glauber, our chief economist; Tom Dorr under secretary for Rural Development; and Dr. Gale Buchanan, the under secretary for Research, Education and Economics.

One of USDA's missions is to make sure the American people have access to safe, abundant and affordable fuel supplies. We are very concerned about the impact on higher prices for everyday food, particularly at a time when Americans are also facing a rising cost of gasoline. In fact, one of the points we want to make today is that these two trends are very closely linked. Higher oil prices affect much more than just the cost of driving; they are actually one of the major factors behind higher food costs.

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