Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Food or fuel?

Grown as a food staple since prehistoric times, corn is today the most widely grown crop in the Americas. But not all is grown as food. In recent years corn has increasingly been used to produce corn ethanol for use as a fuel or fuel additive.

Today 40% of the corn crop is used for biofuel production which critics content is a waste of valuable farmland that is contributing to higher cost for food production.

Anyway, it makes me happy when corn season comes along. Food or fuel? I pick food.

1 comment:

  1. I occasionally see corn growing in the UK, but not nearly so much as oil seed rape. I'm not sure, but I've always assumed that it was grown for cattle fodder. It never seems to produce very lush corns although the plants get quite tall. I suspect that it's a bit too wet and cool here.

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