food rant 1

Online radio lets me listen to the same radio station that I listened to when going to college. Today the DJs were babbling about the price of tortillas in Mexico being affected by the price of corn which was being driven up by projected demand for corn for fuel ethanol. At the time, I thought it was the DJs digging up crazy stuff from the back pages of the tabloids.

But the Washington Post seems like a credible source, like in this article.

So the American demand for corn to make ethanol is making it difficult for poor people in Mexico to eat healthy food (yes, tortillas are apparently healthier than the alternatives). I guess more careful analysis is needed to figure out how much is due to actual supply/demand adjustment and how much is due to speculation and corruption. If it's real, it is an amazing demonstration of the unpredictability of interrelated events and unforeseen consequences--I was about to type "of the consequences of globalization", but my jury is still out on globalization.

Still, the Corn Economy baffles me. Depending on who you believe, it may or may not require more fuel to make ethanol than could be replaced by the ethanol (implying just as much if not more CO2 goes into the air if a car runs on 100% ethanol)--who knows whose data is objective. It seems clear that corn-for-fuel is being pushed by farmers, ag-businesses, and their reps in government--oo, lots of subsidies for one side and votes for the other and they all get to have a back-slapping happy time--but do they have any concern when, if ever, it will do me any good?