Food First

Quite a few of us have voiced our concern over the rush to bio-fuels. Like the new economic paradigm where billions can be sloshed around the world in seconds, with disruptions predictable, the rush to convert food crops to fuel crops has been done too fast with too little forethought. It’s a wonder what a few riots will do, however….

…reaction is building against policies in the United States and Europe to promote ethanol and similar fuels, with political leaders from poor countries contending that these fuels are driving up food prices and starving poor people. Biofuels are fast becoming a new flash point in global diplomacy, putting pressure on Western politicians to reconsider their policies, even as they argue that biofuels are only one factor in the seemingly inexorable rise in food prices.

In some countries, the higher prices are leading to riots, political instability and growing worries about feeding the poorest people.

Fuel and Food

Rioting in Cairo, Egypt is just one of many protests in the last weeks.

Thousands of demonstrators angry about rising prices and stagnant salaries hurled bricks at police who responded with tear gas Sunday in this gritty northern industrial town as Egyptians defied government warnings and staged a nationwide strike.

Egyptians Riot

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