|
Ethanol Policy & Human Food Waste Under Scrutiny |
|
_POSTED_BY admin
|
|
Thursday, 08 May 2008 |
|
The US is coming under increasing pressure to review its corn-ethanol policy. Once praised as a progressive policy the US's decision to divert one quarter of its corn for ethanol production has drawn worldwide criticism of late as food prices have rocketed and now the UN and the World Bank are siding with poorer countries and insisting that the US take account of how the race to produce more ethanol in this way is pushing up food prices.
The US favours corn-based ethanol, which can be used as a substitute for gasoline, as a means to reduce it's dependence on oil from unstable countries.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said the US:"has to assess the effect of corn based ethanol on the overall set of humanitarian issues in terms of the price of food products,"
Congress last year passed legislation that would require the country's gasoline supply to include 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022. The US would seem to be locked into a corn ethanol driven future yet the calls for more analysis and debate are gathering momentum and the UK Government is already reviewing its biofuels policy and will report on its findings in May. Another UK study published today by The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) found that people are needlessly throwing away 3.6m tonnes of food each year in England and Wales. WRAP found that salad, fruit and bread were most commonly wasted and 60% of all dumped food was untouched.
The study analysed the waste disposed of by 2,138 households.
Environment Minister Joan Ruddock said the findings were "staggering" at a time of global food shortages and WRAP added it was an environmental issue.
The study also found that £9bn of avoidable food waste was disposed of in England and Wales each year and that it was mostly food that could have been consumed if it had been better stored or managed, or had not been left uneaten on a plate. With the era of cheap food over how we consume and use food is going to come under increasing scrutiny as more and more people in developed as well as poorer countries struggle to make ends meet .
place your links here
hey it costs some to keep this site going so if you have a dollar or two to spare we would sure appreciate it. Click Here to DonatemfBeer Joomla! Plugin
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 10 June 2008 )
|
