Today in Biofuels Opinion: “People who blame high food prices on US policies…are flat out wrong” says DOA Secretary; Tyson CEO, Mad Money’s Jim Cramer crusade against ethanol

A release by Poet quotes U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer:  “Secretary Schafer said only about 25 percent of the corn crop goes to make ethanol and that the forces driving rising prices in corn and other commodities has more to do with energy costs, increased consumption around the world and weather-related production problems. Critics who blame high food prices on US policies they claim encourage corn to be diverted from food and livestock feed to alternative fuels are “flat out wrong”, Shafer said.”

Jim Cramer on Mad Money said “I’m in his camp. I’m for Tyson Foods and its crusade against ethanol,” following comments by Tyson CEO Richard Bond , who said “It is inefficient because it raises the price on feed stocks to artificially high levels, which increases costs for other uses, such as food. It is inequitable because higher food costs disproportionately affect the people who can least afford it. Essentially, it’s a regressive tax on the poor, and not only the poor in America. Ethanol mandates and subsidies along with tariffs on ethanol imports are causing a world food crisis.”

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