No Logic Here

In reading a New York Times article about the coming ethanol boom, it occurred to me that this whole approach is short-sighted and makes little sense. Here, an excerpt from the article:

"In short, the ethanol boom is accelerating the inequity in the rural landscape. The high price of corn — and the prospect of continued huge demand — doesn’t benefit everyone equally. It gives bigger, richer farmers and outside investors the ability to outcompete their smaller neighbors. It cuts young farmers hoping to get a start out of the equation entirely. It reduces diversity in crops and in farm size."

By removing diversity in crops and turning over our farms to ethanol production, we are only trading the import of fossil fuels for importing foods. And, we've seen from China, our third largest imported food source, what that means for food safety and quality.

It's not a valid solution: risking your health and relying on imported foods so you can keep driving a Hummer to the grocery store that is a half mile away where your food has been shipped from thousands of miles away. There's just no logic here.

Comments

[Dave - WebMinion - KC Food Circle]

Yes, and the biodiesel industry (propped up by big oil on the other end of the soybean production process) is another short-term, end of the pipeline shell-game. It is time to slow down and reduce our fuel requirements, moving to other forms of energy and away from internal combustion.