Food for thought
'FEEDING THE car' has never been closer to the literal truth as the latest figures show that one-quarter of all grain crops grown in the US in 2009 ended up as biofuel for cars.
The amount of grain used to produce ethanol biofuel for cars in the US was the equivalent of feeding 330 million people for one year.
This trend in agricultural production is set to continue apace - a legacy of George Bush, who encouraged farmers back in 2007 to shift from food production to biofuels to reduce the US's dependency on foreign based oil supplies.
Consequently, world grain prices reached record highs in 2008 as both US and European farmers switched production. In fact, according to a leaked World Bank report, the switch to biofuels resulted in food prices rising by a massive 75%, despite deflationary pressures of the current economic recession.
In the same period the number of hungry people in the world increased to over one billion according to the UN.
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In The Socialist 27 January 2010:
Prosecute the war criminal Blair
Credit crunch
Bonuses for bankers but recession for workers
Outrage against bankers spurs Obama on
Unemployment figures don't tell the full story
Socialist Party election campaign
Lewisham Socialist Party prepares for election
Support for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) grows
Socialist Party news and analysis
Haiti: Survivors shackled by huge debt and poverty
Cadbury's bosses opt for a sugary takeover
Socialist Party workplace news
Unison black members reject witch-hunt
South Yorkshire fire dispute Negotiations go national
Building the fight against education cuts at Leeds
Glasgow City Unison fights back against cuts in jobs and services
Temperature rises at British Airways
Ticket office staff strike again
Socialist Students
University of Gloucestershire staff fight back
Cuts at Cardiff University must be fought
Socialist Party feature
Workplace Feature: IT workers in mini strike wave
PCS members at Hewlett Parkard strike in Lytham St Annes and North Tyneside
Seventh day of national strike action at Fujitsu IT
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