Re: Food Prices Up - A Result of Biofuels?

We grow tobacco up in Canada where the sun don't shine much.  It's a weed that will grow in soil that will not support anything else.  It's full of nicotine which kills bugs and it's a controlled substance.  Growing it is a no-brainer, but then it gets tricky. Tobacco farmers can't find labour to pick the stuff and the buyers are real fussy and you could get stuck with moldy product.

Farmers really can't switch from one crop to another.  It usually requires a bank loan and a re-education.  Larger farms have specialized in a single crop to appreciate economies of scale. 

Potatoe farmers for example are serfs for the chip industry giants who supply the seed and buy the crops.

Then we have the Agricultural Stabilization Act which protects the farmer by guaranteeing him a price for his product - the average price over the past 5 years - and protects the consumer when prices are high by importing product.  The farmer is effectively excluded from the benefits of real market forces. 

Food prices are up because oil price is up.  Believe me please.  Take oil out of the equation and it will cost you the same to grow a carrot in your back garden as it did last year.