Tuesday, December 22, 2009 by Justin Rohrlich
According to a recent Congressional Budget Office report, the increased use of ethanol is responsible for a rise in food prices of approximately 10 to 15 percent.
Why?
We’re turning corn into fuel — a highly inefficient one, at that — instead of food.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy points out that "mixing food and fuel markets for political reasons has done American consumers no discernable good, while producing measurable harm."
However, perhaps summing up the issue most succinctly is Mark J. Perry, professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan-Flint:
Anytime you have Paul Krugman agreeing on ethanol with such a diverse group as the Wall Street Journal, Reason Magazine, the Cato Institute, Investor’s Business Daily, Rolling Stone Magazine, the Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, John Stossel, The Ecological Society of America, the American Enterprise and Brookings Institutions, the Heritage Foundation, George Will and Time magazine, you know that ethanol has to be one of the most misguided public policies in US history.
But Brazil seems to have made it work. Using just 1 percent of its arable land, Brazil produced 6.57 billion gallons of sugar ethanol last year, roughly half the annual oil production of Iraq. Ethanol accounts for about 50 percent of Brazil’s automotive fuel. General Electric and Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer are working to develop ethanol suitable for powering commercial aircraft, with a test flight possible by early 2012. Most importantly, Brazil relies on imported oil for only 10 percent of its energy needs today — due in large part to its ethanol industry.
So, what’s Brazil doing right?
The answer is simple. Unlike the United States, Brazil makes its ethanol from sugar, which yields over eight units of energy for each unit invested, whereas corn-based ethanol yields a paltry one and a half units of energy for each unit invested.
Hawaii Agriculture Posts
French body says Monsanto maize needs more study – Yahoo! News UK
Tuesday, December 22 06:38 pm
More research is needed into Monsanto’s genetically modified maize MON 810, the only biotech crop commercially grown in Europe, to assess its environmental impact, a French advisory body said.
The opinion given by biotech committee HCB, published on Tuesday, was requested by the French government, which last year banned cultivation of MON 810 citing environmental concerns.
In an debate about whether to renew the license for the maize type, France and other European Union states have criticized as insufficient a favorable opinion in June from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
HCB called for further studies to evaluate potential drawbacks in MON 810, such as damage to non-targeted insects or the development of resistance to the crop among targeted pests.
"The only way to highlight … a significant increase or decrease in populations of non-targeted invertebrates is to implement monitoring over several years," the HCB said.
Early ag lands identified – Starbulletin
Research determines acreage Hawaiians used for growing
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 21, 2009
Combining technology and traditional archaeology, scientists have identified thousands of acres of land farmed by early Hawaiians.
The findings also have implications for crop self-sufficiency in Hawaii — that is, the possibility of ending the need for agricultural imports.
"At the peak of Hawaiian population, there were perhaps a million people," said Samuel M. Gon III, ecologist, cultural adviser and senior scientist with The Nature Conservancy. "It takes thousands and thousands of acres to feed all those people. Where was all that farmland?"
He said scientists began collaborating to find the answer to that question and the findings have broad implications for anthropology and conservation biology.
Early Hawaiian language newspapers referred to agricultural systems that aren’t known today, either because they were abandoned, destroyed by sugar and pineapple cultivation or "they’re in places where no one has looked," the researchers said.
Minority farmers seek redress, claim USDA discrimination – Washingtonpost
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 21, 2009In November, the Agriculture Department began negotiations with Native American farmers in a class-action suit alleging systematic discrimination in the agency’s farm loan program. About 15,000 black farmers have received almost $1 billion since the settlement of a similar class-action suit, known as the Pigford case.
Hispanic farmers who have filed similar lawsuits hope this means the government may settle with them, too, even though a federal judge has denied them class certification. Female farmers also filed suit but have been denied class certification.
All four groups allege that they were denied farm loans and given loans with impossible conditions because of their race or gender.
Alberto Acosta, a New Mexico chili farmer, sought help a decade ago from the loan program meant as a last resort for farmers who cannot secure private financing. In 1998 and 1999, he was granted $92,000 in loans by the department.
But because Acosta speaks Spanish, a USDA loan officer was required to sign off on every significant expense. That meant he had to drive 260 miles each way to the office whenever he wanted to buy a piece of farm equipment, and he had to pay for and provide his own translator for each visit.
These conditions ultimately proved so taxing that Acosta’s home and farm went into foreclosure, he said in a sworn declaration.
"I feel that this discrimination would not have occurred if I were Anglo," Acosta stated.
Palin defends hiding McCain’s name | The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Palin defends hiding McCain’s name
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said she cut short her Hawaii vacation because of paparazzi, who photographed her wearing a sun visor with the name of John McCain blacked out.
“In an attempt to ‘go incognito,’ I Sharpied the logo out on my sun visor so photographers would be less likely to recognize me and bother my kids or other vacationers,” Palin said in a statement. “I am so sorry if people took this silly incident the wrong way. I adore John McCain.”
Palin defends hiding McCain__146_s name | The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, Ind.
The Amazing Maze of US Health Care » The Silenced Majority
The Silenced Majority
Howard Dean says the health bill would do more harm than good.
Bill Clinton says “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
How did we get this close to health care reform legislation, but many progressives believe that it could actually do more harm than good.
Because the “progressive” position was already a compromised position?
Because “single payer” was never on the table. Because political operatives and policy makers didn’t trust the American people.
The current health care debate certainly demonstrates the power of money over popular sentiment. But could it be that the power of money was so intimidating to some reformers that they chose to misrepresent public opinion?
Hawaii and Related Agriculture Daily Charts for the week ending 12-18-09
The annual charts have bee updated. CLICK HERE to view. The 360 day comparative price, line and histogram charts, page has been updated also. CLICK HERE to view.
Alexander and Baldwin (ALEX) 12-18-09
Monsanto (MON) 12-18-09
Syngenta (SYT) 12-18-09
DUPONT E I DE NEM (DD) 12-18-09
GM corn health risks identified – General – North Queensland Register
16 Dec, 2009 03:45 PM
AN INTERNATIONAL study of three Monsanto genetically manipulated maize (corn) varieties shows clear evidence of health risks, according to anti-GM lobby group Gene Ethics.
It says that the study analysed data from 90-day rat feeding trials of: insecticide-producing Mon 810 and Mon 863 GM maize; and Roundup herbicide tolerant NK 603 GM maize.
Adverse impacts were found on the kidneys, livers and the dietary detoxifying organs of experimental rats, and also some damage to heart, adrenal glands, spleen and the haematopoietic system.
The research was conducted by French scientists from the universities of Caen and Rouen and is published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences.
According to Gene Ethics, the report shows the GM maize events contained novel pesticide residues that will also be present in human food and animal feed where they may pose grave health risks.
EU, Latin American Accord Ends Banana-Import Dispute – Bloomberg.com
EU, Latin American Accord Ends Banana-Import Dispute (Update1)
By Jennifer M. Freedman
Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — The European Union and Latin American countries including Ecuador and Guatemala reached an agreement over the EU’s banana-import policies, settling the longest-running dispute at the World Trade Organization.
Under the deal secured today, which also has U.S. backing, the EU will cut duties on bananas from Latin America to 114 euros ($166) a metric ton from 176 euros over seven years, the European Commission said in a statement from Brussels. The change means banana prices in the EU will drop 11 percent while Latin American producers will see exports climb, said Giovanni Anania, a professor at the University of Calabria in Italy.
“The clear winner will be the Latin American countries, because they will expand their exports to the EU by roughly 17 percent,” he said in a telephone interview. “Total exports of bananas from Latin America to all markets will increase by 3.2 percent” while producers in African and Caribbean countries will see shipments of the fruit to the EU decline 14 percent.
Companies and consumers in the U.S. will also be affected, Anania said. Exports from companies such as Dole Food Co. and Chiquita Brands International Inc. that grow and ship bananas from Latin America will increase while the supply of the fruit in the U.S. will drop, “driving up prices minimally,” he said.