US Now Consumes More Corn For Fuel Than For Food

You call it "corn", we call it "fuel" -- at least in the United States. Recent statistics show that, for the first time in history, America is using more corn to fill gas tanks than to fill the bellies of either humans or livestock.

Corn in history

For Americans, corn has long been tied to our national identity. In grade school textbooks, we're presented with drawings of Native Americans teaching Pilgrim settlers how to raise corn in quantity. Ears of it spill out of Thanksgiving cornucopia. Images of corn fields are a common metaphor for the U.S. heartland (and also, horror films.) And of course, corn is a staple food at that most cherished American feast, the summer barbecue.

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Joe_Limon - 10/12/2011 12:41:02 PM

+1 Boost

That's a lot of corn, especially considering the bulk of America's sugar production comes from corn. I do have a question though. How much of this fuel was from the corn waste stalks that otherwise would have been disposed of? and how much from the food part?

Agent009 - 10/12/2011 1:10:54 PM

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It appear (via youtube) it is made from corn meal which is from the kernel. The stalk can be fed to farm animals.

g2ok - 10/12/2011 12:50:16 PM

+9 Boost

This ethanol is killing my engines.

cdoke - 10/12/2011 1:04:00 PM

+5 Boost

Fuel-food competition (to say nothing of Joe Limon's excellent question) is a terrible idea; read Jared Diamond.

LexSucks - 10/12/2011 5:40:25 PM

-3 Boost

The same reason why you shouldn't be killed.

LexSucks - 10/13/2011 5:11:49 PM

-3 Boost

"God gave man dominion over the plants and animals of this earth."

- Is that what you think? Equating a living Animal with a plant? Why do people use God's name to justify BS? God didn't give you dominion over anything. We are all living beings. God didn't give anyone the right to exploit another lifeform. Get a clue. Religion is BS. Now I know why you are the way you are. You are incapable of independent thought and rely on a 2000 year old book (written by folks who thought that the world was flat) for inspiration. LOL!! Your Bible is full of crap.

Joe_Limon - 10/14/2011 3:37:42 PM

+1 Boost

Lexsucks, are you vegan? Who are you to say killing a whale is any less ethical then killing a cow.

The only reason why killing whales is shunned is due to limited numbers. Not because they have some superiority over any of the other living beings.

Steve - 10/12/2011 5:45:12 PM

0 Boost

Is it just me, or is anyone else uncomfortable about using food to fuel gas-guzzling SUVs, while several thousand fellow humans starve to death each day in other parts of the world?

truckman - 10/13/2011 3:40:00 AM

+5 Boost

One reason to stop using corn as fuel, it drives the cost of food way up! Has anyone noticed the cost of food? It is way too high, Corn is also not as efficient as whatever Cuba grows for fuel, I avoid using any gas with ethanol if I can help it, why does our governments allow us to be constantly robbed by corporate/government greed?

bjones682001 - 10/13/2011 11:25:16 AM

-1 Boost

I think there is a lot of misinformation here. When ethanol is made they basically remove the oil from the corn, and the leftover starch and protein is sold as distillers grain that is feed to livestock. So it's not correct to say that we are robbing corn to make ethanol and now there isn't enough to feed the animals we eat. Very little "extra" corn is used to feed animals because of ethanol...the animals are feed either whole corn or the distillers grain. Either way basically the same amount of corn is used.

You'll also note that there are tens of millions of surplus corn in storage every year...no on is going hungry because we are running out of corn because it went to ethanol. You do realize that the canned corn you buy in the grocery store is not the same type of corn being used to make ethanol, right?

And when it comes to higher food prices, yes....higher corn prices have caused food to go up. But do you realized a $4 box of corn flakes cereal has approximately 25 cents of corn it it!?!? So the cost of many corn-based food products has gone up, but at a rate that's many, many times over the increase of the actual corn in it. So why such high prices? Well only a very small % is do to the increase of corn costs. The USA has the cheapest food in the world.

You may certainly not like ethanol, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. But basing your dislike on the premise that it starves the world and dramatically increases food costs is completely misguided......