Food & Fuel

NEW: Download fact sheet on gas prices and food prices

What's New:

• U.S. Corn Growers: Producing Food & Fuel
• Ethanol Economies from Ranch to Restaurant (CFDC, Fall 2008)
• EPA denies Texas request for an RFS waiver (8/7/08)
• EPA fact sheet outlining the decision
• Voters want more ethanol, according to new poll (July 2008)
• Official ACE comments to EPA in Texas RFS waiver request (June 2008)
• USDA, DOE examination of food-fuel in response to Senator Bingaman (June 2008) - agency analysis shows that 97% of the increase in food prices has nothing to do with biofuels, and that gas prices would be 20-35 cents per gallon higher without ethanol.
• Senator Bingaman letter to USDA, DOE Secretaries asking for a fact-based examination of food prices (May 2008)
• Virginia Governor: RFS waiver "would not have a meaningful impact on food prices" (April 2008) 

The Facts:

• Higher grocery prices have more to do with energy costs than corn costs.  Crude oil at these high prices makes it more expensive to process, package, and ship everything - including groceries.
• Research has found energy prices to have at least twice the impact on the Consumer Price Index for food than corn prices do.
• Less than 20 cents of your food price dollar goes toward on-farm costs like grain; more than 80% of the real cost of food comes from off-farm costs, energy-intensive costs like processing, packaging, labor, and transportation.
• Gas prices have more than doubled since 2002, costing Americans more than $250 billion annually.
• Analysts say oil and gas prices would be 15% higher if ethanol producers weren't expanding their output; at today's retail gas prices, ethanol is a value of about 50 cents a gallon to American consumers.

Research List:

• The Effects of Ethanol on Texas Food and Feed (Texas A&M University, April 2008)
• What's Driving Food Price Inflation?  (Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, April 2008)
• Ethanol and Food Prices - A Preliminary Assessment (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, April 2008)
• Analysis of Potential Causes of Consumer Food Price Inflation (Informa Economics, December 2007)
• The Relative Impact of Corn and Energy Prices in the Grocery Aisle (LECG, June 2007)
• Retail Realities - Corn Prices Do Not Drive Grocery Inflation (Food & Water Watch, September 2007)
• Issue Brief: Ethanol Production's Impact on Food, Feed, and Fuel (Clean Fuels Development Coalition, Summer 2007)

Latest News

ACE, South Dakota Corn Growers, and East River Electric to sponsor candidates forum at South Dakota State Fair read more

Corn growers honored for support of Blend Your Own Ethanol campaign read more

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