UN expert decries turning food into fuel

Source: Associated Press/Houston Chronicle

UN expert decries turning food into fuel
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
47 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS - A U.N. expert on Friday called the growing practice of converting food crops into biofuel "a crime against humanity," saying it is creating food shortages and price jumps that cause millions of poor people to go hungry.

Jean Ziegler, who has been the United Nations' independent expert on the right to food since the position was established in 2000, called for a five-year moratorium on biofuel production to halt what he called a growing "catastrophe" for the poor.

Scientific research is progressing very quickly, he said, "and in five years it will be possible to make biofuel and biodiesel from agricultural waste" rather than wheat, corn, sugar cane and other food crops.

Using biofuel instead of gasoline in cars is generally considered to cut carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming, although some scientists say greenhouse gases released during the production of biofuel could offset those gains.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071026/ap_on_re_us/un_food_vs_biofuel;_ylt=A9G_RnoTXiJHWgwBswiyFz4D

that is by far the most efficient conversion, and sugar barely qualifies as food.

Making it out of garbage and other wastes is still better.

Corn is a waste of water, fuel, and has an enormous carbon footprint.

They shut down any and all discussion of biofuel when enviros started popping up saying that it was a bad idea (about a year ago) waited for the new year and came out acting like everyone thought it was the best idea ever. No enviros allowed on the air anymore either.

ag hemp is way over due, as a fuel it can free us from foreign oil

they can't seem to grasp the notion that we, the people, are not completely naive children who don't understand the difference between plant species. We can understand that a shitake mushroom is different than a hallucinogenic mushroom; one is legal and common, another will send you to prison. Yet they don't think that we can figure out the difference between industrial hemp (a crop of our founding fathers) and reefer? Or are the corn and timber lobbies so powerful that hemp can't even get a vote?

It's a question of distribution and will.

epidemic in africa and elsewhere.. 20 to 24% of children in the usa are malnourshed... it is raising the cost of all food when food producing land is taken off food production to grow corn..

the price here in nc of eggs has increased 50% already

ag hemp will produce fuel and fiber, plywood products, resigns, plastics, and seed oil and meal is a complete food also.. hemp grown on 20% of land logged annually will provide all the fiber the trees cut would.

hemp can be grown on marginal land, the roots are inoculated with fertilizer producing bacteria, corn is fuel/fertilizer intensive produce.. it isn't efficient as a fuel

climate changes Will eliminate corn as an alternative later anyway

world's entire beef industry with one strain. Tactical food manipulation is not new.

Source: BBC News

A United Nations expert has condemned the growing use of crops to produce biofuels as a replacement for petrol as a crime against humanity.

The UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, said he feared biofuels would bring more hunger.

The growth in the production of biofuels has helped to push the price of some crops to record levels.

Mr Ziegler's remarks, made at the UN headquarters in New York, are clearly designed to grab attention.

He complained of an ill-conceived dash to convert foodstuffs such as maize and sugar into fuel, which created a recipe for disaster.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7065061.stm

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There really are no good solutions currently to satisfy our energy needs.

classic example of a blind hog finding an ear of corn every now and then.

In any event, places where you used to see cotton fields you now see corn fields. Very interesting.

It uses more than its share of water and chemicals, and ruins the soil. Its energy in/energy out ratio is poor.

Then what is? Enriching the corn lobby and the big factory farmer.

And isn't that what's really important?

Visit to Cuba by UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
http://www.cubaheadlines.com/2007/10/27/6668/visit_to_cuba_by_un_special_rapporteur_on_the_right_to_food.html

Jean Ziegler, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, will visit Cuba at the invitation of the island's government from October 28 to November 6.

The visit of the rapporteur is in keeping with Cuba's willingness to resume such cooperation on human rights matters with United Nations apparatuses that are universal and non-discriminatory. It comes after the UN Human Rights Council decided in June of this year to end the spurious mandate of the so-called personal representative of the High Commissioner on Human Rights for Cuba.

Mr. Ziegler will visit several projects and programs Cuba is developing to guarantee the food supply of its population and to continue building an increasingly supportive, fair and equitable society, even under the difficult conditions imposed by Washington's economic, commercial and financial war against the country.

Mr Castro is one of the few heads of state willing to speak out on this deadly issue.

on edit: added below article link..

THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF GENOCIDE - by Fidel Castro
http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2007/ing/f030407i.html


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a crime against humanity? That is where our money goes. To petro states that waste money on a monumental scale. So I would rather my money go to farmers here in the us that the scum who sell us oil (canada and mexico not in that company).

In 2006, the US produced approximately 5 BILLION gallons of ethanol. Sounds like a lot, right?

A barrel of oil holds 42 gallons, so the US produced the equivalent of 119 MILLION barrels of oil, volume-wise (I'm not even going to go into the lower BTU's/gal of ethanol vs. oil). 119 million barrels of oil is a lot, right?

The US uses 20 MILLION barrels of oil PER DAY.

So, in 2006, the millions of bushels of corn converted into ethanol produced, at best, enough fuel to run the US economy for 6 DAYS!!!

Still sound like a lot?