Why Does My Food Cost So Much?

Blame ethanol.  Actually, blame the idiots who are pushing idiotic ethanol mandates on us.  In this country, ethanol is made from corn.  However, corn is also a staple grain in our food supply.  So, the mandates result in a higher demand for corn.  The higher demand results in higher prices.  Higher corn prices mean that more land is being used for corn production as farmers react to the market.  More land being put into corn production results in less land being used for wheat, soy, and other staple crops.  As a result, the cost of those crops also goes up.  Since corn and soy are used for feed, this means that the cost of raising cattle, chickens, ducks, etc. goes way up.  It has gotten so bad that Maple Leaf Farms has been forced to close a local processing plant because the increased cost of feed makes raising the ducks cost more than they can get back selling the ducks.  It is not stated in the linked article, but in another article (which I could not find on-line), a spokesman for the company directly blames our government's idiotic ethanol policies.

So, our stupid obsession with trying to use our food for fuel is obviously causing pain for food producers and their employees.  It is also resulting in a disproportionate amount of pain for this countries poorer people, for whom food is already a huge part of their budget.  To make matters worse, ethanol does nothing to make our fuel cheaper or cleaner.  Furthermore,  when the fuel consumption, and related pollution, associated with full production cycle of ethanol is factored in, using ethanol for fuel may even have a negative environmental impact when compared to petroleum.

All of this pain, and who actually gains from this?  Some farmers.  Farmers who are growing grains for cash obviously like the higher prices.  However, farmers who have to buy those grains to feed livestock are not exactly enjoying this.  Mostly, the only people who gain here are companies like ADM and BP.  The rest of us just suffer.