What Happened To The Food Crisis?

Back in February I made a post about one of the many articles from that time that were accused ethanol of leading to the global food crisis. Here is how one article from that time summed things up.

AMERICANS, WHO mainly can afford it, are paying more for food these days, but as a new U.N. report reminds us, there are poor people around the world who can't afford the rising prices.

They are going hungry, are rioting in some countries — are even resorting to eating mud cookies in Haiti — and maybe you are wondering why.

Ethanol, that's why.

But the situation seems to be easing. As an article in Bloomberg noted yesterday, the food crisis seems to be ending due to higher agricultural production.

A worldwide food crisis that sent prices of wheat, rice and corn to records and sparked riots from Haiti to Ivory Coast may be over after farmers boosted plantings, a top official in India's food ministry said.

The article also notes that food prices have begun to fall.

Rice has tumbled 29 percent from its record, while wheat and corn have dropped 35 percent and 26 percent from their peaks.

So the food crisis seems to be going away and commodity prices have fallen. All at a time when ethanol production continues to climb.

I guess we can have food and fuel too.