Editorial: Burning Dinner

Chicago Tribune
6:33 p.m. CST, February 24, 2011

It's stretching the point to blame ethanol for unrest in the Middle East. But high food prices have played a role in touching off the protests, and ethanol has indeed pushed food prices higher.

Unless America wises up, our policy of turning ever more corn into motor fuel could send prices much higher still — with severe consequences.

Food prices already stand at record levels, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Unfavorable weather has hurt grain production, and some countries have started building their strategic reserves through hoarding. At the same time, rising incomes in China and other fast-developing countries have boosted demand for livestock feed.

Read more