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06/02/2008: "Brazil says biofuel production not to blame for food crisis"

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has challenged critics who claim biofuel production is contributing to high food prices and demand, arguing the problem lies instead in poor agricultural and distribution models.

"It is not ethanol that is causing food prices to rise, because Brazil, which produces more biofuel also produces more food," he has said. That view has support among government analysts.

The food crisis "is a problem of wealth distribution, a political problem," said Giselle Ferreira de Araujo, who works for the state National Council for Scientific and Technological Development.

The United States had helped trigger the fears of biofuel production affecting food output by "confusing public opinion to suggest there is no difference between ethanol from sugarcane and from corn," argued Rubens Ricupero, a former head of the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

[ The biofuel from corn presumably does affect food prices - but Brazil makes a good point. None of this excuses their destruction of the rainforests, which is another issue entirely. ]

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