AFP: Burning up more food for fuel


[Skip to the end]

The monetary system will burn up the world’s food supply for fuel until the marginal individual about to starve to death has enough political influence to stop the process.

I’m pretty sure that’s not the millionth one to die of starvation. And probably not the ten millionth.

As more and more acreage goes to biofuels, expect the real price of food to continue to rise.

Lula and Indonesian president pledge biofuel cooperation

by Zulhefi

(AFP) Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Indonesian counterpart pledged cooperation on biofuels during talks here Saturday in a bid to take advantage of surging oil prices.

Lula and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed off on an agreement to share knowledge on biofuel technology after meeting at Jakarta’s presidential palace.

The Brazilian leader called spiralling global commodity prices a “great opportunity” for developing countries such as Indonesia and Brazil, both of which are major producers of biofuel.

“The developing countries that have the characteristics that Indonesia and Brazil have should not analyse this crisis as only a problem. We have to see this moment as a great opportunity,” Lula said.

“We have land, we have sunlight, we have water resources, we have technology and, thanks to God, the poor of the world have started to eat more, three meals a day, so they will demand more food production.”

The two leaders signed memoranda of understanding that would see the countries exchange experts and students to share knowledge on biofuels. Yudhoyono will also make an official visit to Brazil in November.

“In the energy sector, both countries are cooperating in the field of alternative energy. Brazil has succeeded in developing bio-ethanol and Indonesia can learn from Brazil to develop bio-ethanol,” Yudhoyono said.


[top]

Bloomberg: ‘Silent Famine’ as Food Soars

Seems they still think it is about money.

Probably an actual shortage at this point.

The political response will be to give people more funds to buy food that does not exist and drive prices ever higher.

`Silent Famine’ as Food Soars, WFP Warns

by Jason Gale and Paul Gordon

(Bloomberg) A “silent famine” risks emerging in some Asian countries where food prices including rice are escalating beyond the reach of the poorest people, the World Food Program warned.

“There is food on the counters and on the shelves in stores but there is a certain population that cannot afford that food,” Paul Risley, a spokesman for the United Nations agency, said today. “There’s a risk of a silent famine.”

Record prices for rice and wheat are ratcheting up the cost to aid agencies of providing relief, Risley said from Bangkok. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said yesterday that rising food costs may hurt economic growth and threaten political security.

“In Asia, supply is not the main constraint, but the huge price increases are,” said Rajat Nag, managing director at the Asian Development Bank. “That has a very massive impact on the poor and we need to focus on the huge price increases.”

`We’re Struggling’
“We find we can’t buy as much rice as we thought we would be able to buy,” Risley said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The agency feeds 28 million of the poorest Asians across 14 countries. “Because of the high prices right now, we’re struggling,” he said.