June 12, 2008

US agricultural groups launch food before fuel campaign

Around 20 agricultural groups comprising of processors, retailers and environmentalists launched the "Food Before Fuel" campaign.

The groups urged the US congress to re-evaluate and restructure the country's food-to-fuel policies.

The US congress currently allocates one-third of the US corn stock for ethanol conversion.

The groups said that these policies have contributed to record food price inflation.

National Chicken Council president, George Watts, said that the price of corn that companies use to feed chickens has skyrocketed, costing billions of dollars.

CEO of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, Cal Dooley, echoed the concern of Watts, saying it is time to acknowledge the reality of the problem and begin a serious, bipartisan effort to fix it.

Other groups and companies involved in the campaign are the American Meat Institute, National Cattlemen's Beef Association and Pilgrim's Pride Corp.