Quote:
Originally Posted by theholycow
What part of "farmers aren't getting much more money for their corn" don't you understand? What part of "farmers aren't making more profit, which is what they'd do if price went up due to demand, because they're spending all that money on petroleum-based fertilizer, energy for their operation, and fuel for their equipment" don't you understand? The small amount of increase in price that the farmers are getting is not as much as their increase in energy costs to make it. Demand hasn't increased price, cost has increased price.
"Partially hydrogenated corn syrup", yes, I'm familiar with it. It's in the ingredients list of almost every sweet food and non-diet soda in the US. However, it's just not a big enough part, and the price of corn has not risen enough, to have a big effect on the packaged food product price. Now, the energy that goes into shipping the corn to the processing plant, processing the corn into partially hydrogenated corn syrup, shipping the other ingredients' materials, the energy required for making the other ingredients, the energy required to ship all the processed ingredients, the energy required to make food out of those processed ingredients, the energy required to pack it, the energy required to ship it, and the energy required to store it...that adds up pretty quick.
Yup, old technology, kept down possibly by cost to develop and possibly by collusive behavior in the energy industry. Also, a new method has been discovered to make gasoline from wood scraps and tires:
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3846 |
WOW Look what I found in only 2 minutes. An article about the negative effects Ethanol is having on our food prices and inventory and an article about record profits in the farming industry. There were actually countless articles about farmers making record profits if you look, I just do not have tome to post them all for you.
Bottom line is farmers are making record amounts of money along with every other commodity. You can follow the two links below for the articles referenced above.
Ethanol Comes Under Fire for Rising Food Prices
http://www.ewg.org/node/26725
As food prices spiral, farmers, others profit
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24840735/