Today in Biofuels Opinion: General Mills CEO says food inflation caused by “a little bit of this…a little bit of that”

July 22, 2008

Republican congressional candidate Grant Bosse: “Our current ethanol policy drives up gas prices, drives up food prices, hurts the environment, and taxpayers get to pay $6.3 billion a year for the privilege. It’s time to end the ethanol boondoggle once and for all.” Bosse named the ethanol subsidy as the first of his 50 Ways in 50 Days to reduce federal spending.

Ken Powell, chairman and chief executive officer, General Mills: “We began to see inflation input costs really at the beginning of this decade. And it was a little bit of this, it was a little bit of that. One year it was corn, one year it was oil, one year it was packaging, but the trend was that the general inflationary pressure that we were seeing. We see the fundamental cause as growth in global demand, for all commodities, really, food grains, energy metals — you name it. Nobody predicted $140 oil, nobody predicted the corn issues in the Midwest this year — for a variety of issues it spiked this year, but we think we will be able to mostly manage it.”

US confirms $200 million in food aid, more available; says energy prices, not biofuels, leading to food inflation

In Washington, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed that the US view is that rising energy costs are the cause of food inflation, while Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said that the U...

Today in Biofuels Opinion: New York Times essays food vs fuel finger pointing; UK protests as Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation takes effect

The New York Times ran an article titled "Fuel Choices, Food Crises and Finger-Pointing" on the pressure building for Western governments to rescind biofuels targets in the face of a global food crisi...

India’s Punjab state to revive six sugar mills for ethanol production; will provide power to the grid

In India, the Punjab state government will restart six cooperative sugar mills and will produce ethanol. The government said that operations at nine other sugar mills in the state would not be affecte...

Today in Biofuels Opinion: “Biofuels were developed in response to a very serious problem, they weren’t invented just for fun.”.

UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs John Holmes told AFP:Â "I think we should avoid a knee-jerk response. Biofuels were developed in response to a very serious problem, which is the...

Today in Biofuels Opinion: “The RFS has caused feed ingredient prices to spiral out of control, inflicting extreme economic damage on food companies”

J. Clinton Rivers, CEO of Pilgrim's Pride: "We are extremely disappointed by the EPA's announcement that it has rejected Texas Governor Rick Perry's request for a partial waiver of the 2008 Renewable ...

North Dakota Corn Growers Association blames inflation, not ethanol, for food price hikes

The Minot (N.D.) News reports remarks by the executive director of the North Dakota Corn Growers Association and Utilization Council blaming inflation, not corn, for the recent rise in food prices. "W...

Written by Jim Lane · Filed Under Opinion