Study: Other factors, not ethanol, chief culprit in food price jumps

Des Moines Register
by PHILIP BRASHER & DAN PILLER • business@dmreg.com • April 12, 2009

The bulk of last year's increase in food prices should be blamed on factors other than ethanol, according to a new study from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The budget office estimates that ethanol was responsible for 10 percent to 15 percent of the increase in food prices between April 2007 and April 2008. Put another way, ethanol contributed 0.5 to 0.8 points of the 5.1 percent increase in food inflation during that period.

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