Nestlé: Biofuels will Increase Food Prices

Food prices are set for a period of “significant and long-lasting” inflation, in part because of demand from biofuels, according to the head of global food giant Nestlé.
Peter Brabeck, The Nestlé chairman cited population growth, rising demand from “the phenomena of India and China” and the use of food products by biofuel producers as causes of pressure in international food markets.

Corn prices have risen about 60 per cent and wheat about 50 per cent over the last 12 months.

Meanwhile a report by 11 civil society groups argues that the rush for ‘biofuels’ is already causing serious damage.
The report finds that biofuels from agriculture –called agrofuels – threaten to greatly accelerate climate change through the destruction of ecosystems and carbon sinks on which we depend for a stable climate. The rush to agrofuels encourages intensive, industrial agriculture at the expense of sustainable food production.
“Monoculture plantations have been doing serious damage around the world for decades, but agrofuels represent a further intensification of the process, endangering what remains of global forest cover and climate. They also threaten the food sovereignty, cultural, human and land rights of indigenous peoples and local communities”, says Helena Paul of Econexus, one of the authors.