European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

What is the mileage of your last lunch?

by ceebs
Fri Jul 4th, 2008 at 08:11:18 PM EST

[editor's note, by ceebs]Heres the slightly reworked version. Any changes anyone wants to suggest before it gets thrown up to the big orange place? (oh and whats the best time to do that for the most impact)?

A variety of the mainstream media today are reporting on a confidential world bank report on the effect of Biofuels on food prices. The initial figures of a 75% increase appear large, but what do they actually mean? If we look into it we find that Biofuels are in effect concealing an increase in transportation costs inside the family shopping budget.

From an outline of the World Bank report we get the following figures

Biofuels cause 75pc increase in food prices, report says - Telegraph

"The basket of food prices examined in the study rose by 140% between 2002 and this February. The report estimates that higher energy and fertilizer prices accounted for an increase of only 15%, while biofuels have been responsible for a 75% jump over that period."
The report was drawn up in April but has remained unpublished prompting speculation that it had not been released to save President Bush from embarrassment.

I’ve worked this out in UK figures, but have checked it against several other countries prices, mileages and distances, and all work out to within 10% of the same figure.
Current family shopping budgets are worked out at £6250 per annum so with these figures the 2002 family shopping budget would work out at £2604 and the 75% increase attributable to biofuels works out at £1953 per year. The average distance driven by a UK family is calculated at approximately 10,000 miles, so we’re talking about an increase of roughly 20p per mile travelled and if you factor in car mileage rates and a conversion to litres you’ll see that we are paying roughly an extra £7.37 per gallon. now that’s £1.61 for every litre of fuel brought during the year, at current food prices! ( 2.04 Euro) or if you want it converted to US prices that’s $14.60 per US gallon. So US consumers are paying European prices for Fuel, just hidden inside their shopping baskets These figures hold roughly the same in the USA even if you factor in US shopping patterns, annual driving distances, and vehicle mpg figures.

The US government argues that biofuels are responsible only for 3% of the increase in food prices, but even if you take that figure to be correct, that still means that there is an additional 56 cent per gallon charge hidden in the nations shopping baskets. These insane figures will impact the poor disproportionately, a larger percentage of their income is used in buying food, plus for those too poor to afford a car, they are in effect subsidizing the lifestyle of the car driver.

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Bioenergy: Fuelling the food crisis?

Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director General Jacques Diouf agrees.
He says it is incomprehensible that "$11bn-$12bn (£5.6bn-£6.1bn) a year in subsidies and protective tariff policies have the effect of diverting 100 million tonnes of cereals from human consumption, mostly to satisfy a thirst for vehicles".
It is a viewpoint shared by Oxfam's Barbara Stocking, who told the BBC News website: "It takes the same amount of grain to fill an SUV with ethanol as it does to feed a person. We don't want any more subsidies for biofuels. This rush to biofuels is absolutely dreadful."

We frequently see people kicking and screaming about a modest rise in the price of heating oils, or a minor rise in the price of car fuel. I understand that this will result in a few people will die from this as their budgets are stretched tight with the current economic situation, but removing 100 million tons of cereals from the market place to fuel cars is driving the price of food up to the point where far more people will die from starvation and malnutrition effects.

. Home
. About
. Contact
. New User Guide
. FAQ
. Search
. Search (Google)
. Archives (Wiki)
Art, Economics, Energy, Environment, EU Politics, Mech & Tech, By Country

Username:
Password:

. Make a new account
. Reset password

What is the mileage of your last lunch? | 24 comments (24 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: A small calculation (none / 0)

£7.37=$12.11? The exchange rate is about $1.98/£, so ~$14.60.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Sat Jul 5th, 2008 at 12:17:27 AM EST

Re: A small calculation (4.00 / 3)

yes, must have converted it from Euros at 2 in the morning.

D'oh

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Sat Jul 5th, 2008 at 04:25:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A small calculation (none / 1)

There's very little (if any) contingency in the budget for those on a very low income, which makes it almost impossible to cover the rising costs without seriously cutting back on quality/quantity of food.

Public employers are resisting allowing pay rises (which would help some to meet these additional costs) because of the impact this could have on inflation and the argument that increasing pay will mean job cuts.

I imagine that similar arguments are being used in the private sector too, but the threat of redundancy and lack of unionisation and collective bargaining agreements makes this possibility even more acute for workers. Yet the unfairness of it is that the ones at the top will still keep receiving their bonuses and disproportionately large pay packets.

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sat Jul 5th, 2008 at 05:16:45 AM EST

Re: A small calculation (4.00 / 4)

and its those at the top, with large cars that are being disproportionately subsidised by everyone else.

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Sat Jul 5th, 2008 at 05:46:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A small calculation (none / 0)

we are paying roughly £7.37 per gallon now that's £1.61 per liter of fuel

Is that in addition to what's paid for fuel already?

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jul 5th, 2008 at 05:21:32 AM EST

Re: A small calculation (none / 1)

yes, that's just the increase due to biofuels secreted inside your food budget

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Sat Jul 5th, 2008 at 05:41:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A small calculation (4.00 / 2)

Just run the calculations through again with US mileage rates, driving distances and shopping budgets, and even if You take the US governments 3% figure for the proportion that biofuels contribute to food price rises, then it works out as just over 56 cents per gallon.

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Sat Jul 5th, 2008 at 07:33:55 AM EST

This sounds highly plausible ... (4.00 / 3)

... by wide consensus a majority of the energy in corn-starch ethanol is greenwashing fossil fuels via energy intensive monoculture. With such poor real returns as an input, there's got to be some bennies for the corporations to explain the political success, and using it as leverage to tap into the price-inelastic portions of the family food budget is an obvious target.

Utsukushikereba sore de ii

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sat Jul 5th, 2008 at 02:30:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A small calculation (4.00 / 7)

Excellent diary, ceebs! In my opinion, it deserves to be disseminated.

I think we should try to send it to the media, maybe after reworking the presentation.

And you should cross-post it on dKos (title: What is the mileage of your last lunch?)

"Ne te courbe que pour aimer..." René Char

by Melanchthon on Sat Jul 5th, 2008 at 08:35:05 AM EST

Re: A small calculation (4.00 / 3)

I'll grab a few more quotes and rework it then see what people think

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Sat Jul 5th, 2008 at 11:10:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What is the mileage of your last lunch? (none / 1)

Just decide which article you want before posting, if you haven't already.

From the an outline of the World Bank report...

I only put this in because I know how easy it is to see what you intended instead.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

by ARGeezer (argeezer a in a circle yahoo dot com) on Sat Jul 5th, 2008 at 11:03:28 PM EST

Re: What is the mileage of your last lunch? (none / 1)

Well that's the broken words removed. I chose that source because the Telegraph is very much the house paper of the Tory party, so can hardly be accused of being a left wing spin on the report.

the one thing I'm unsure of does the last paragraph make it so when its posted over at the Orange place, will it descend into arguments about a lack of European understanding of the US situation? would it be better to rewrite it and take that out?

anyone have any other suggestions as to changes that should be made? and what time is the best to put it up there for it to be seen?

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Sun Jul 6th, 2008 at 05:34:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: What is the mileage of your last lunch? (4.00 / 4)

Now in Orange

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Sun Jul 6th, 2008 at 06:35:38 AM EST

nutrition for dummies (4.00 / 4)

car eats our food, we can't eat oil.

car wins, game over

/sznark

Peace is not the absence of war -- peace is the absence of fear. Ursula Franklin

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sun Jul 6th, 2008 at 08:07:57 AM EST

Re: What is the mileage of your last lunch? (none / 1)

We frequently see people kicking and screaming about a modest rise in the price of heating oils, or a minor rise in the price of car fuel. I understand that this will result in a few people who will die from this as their budgets are stretched tight with the current economic situation, but removing 100 million tons of cereals from the market place to fuel cars is driving the price of food up to the point where far more people will die from starvation and malnutrition effects, even in developed countries. (My suggestions in italics.)

If you really want to disarm US-centric critics for the Kos, you might consider adding, "In the UK we frequently..." Then they can't think you are having the temerity to criticize the US.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

by ARGeezer (argeezer a in a circle yahoo dot com) on Sun Jul 6th, 2008 at 01:46:24 PM EST

100 buck fill-up (none / 1)

At $100 for Tank of Gas, Some Choke on `Fill It'

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Jul 6th, 2008 at 01:49:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: 100 buck fill-up (4.00 / 2)

Oh, we are definitely feeling it. There is a similar article in the Baxter Bulletin on the price of propane and the agony of a local dealer who knows lots of his customers who live in mobile homes in the boonies can't afford the new prices on Social Security. The suggestion was made pursuant to his request, at least as I understood it.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

by ARGeezer (argeezer a in a circle yahoo dot com) on Sun Jul 6th, 2008 at 02:48:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: 100 buck fill-up (none / 1)

Amazingly there was no comment on that.

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Sun Jul 6th, 2008 at 04:03:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: 100 buck fill-up (4.00 / 2)

There are more articles. I saw this yesterday, but didn't take the time to post the link.

The article from our local paper was on Thursday and I can't get an electronic copy, so I'll quote a bit:

An area propane seller is mad about the high price of his produce and he's trying to do something about it.
"We have elderly customers who live alone on fixed incomes--citizens who have worked all of their lives and now can't afford the things they need to live on because of these traders and the loopholes they have in our markets." said Jewel Johnson, owner of Pioneer Propane....Johnson has been in the propane business since 1970. He said it's breaking his heart to see so many of his customers forced to choose between propane, gasoline, food or medicine.

The impact of gas prices is mentioned in articles on elimination or reduction of service to Arkansas airports, on job losses in the auto industry and elsewhere.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

by ARGeezer (argeezer a in a circle yahoo dot com) on Sun Jul 6th, 2008 at 07:09:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: 100 buck fill-up (none / 1)

of his product, of course.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

by ARGeezer (argeezer a in a circle yahoo dot com) on Sun Jul 6th, 2008 at 07:11:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

World Bank Report (none / 1)

Double Jeopardy: Responding to High Food and Fuel Prices

Preliminary estimates suggest that up to 105 million people could become poor due to rising food prices alone. A recent World Bank study in eight countries estimates that the increase in food prices between 2005 and 2007 increased poverty by 3 percentage points on average. Extrapolating these results globally suggests that, as a result of the rise in food prices, total world poverty may have increased by 73 million to 105 million people (lower and upper bounds depend on assumptions on the extent to which world prices are passed through to local prices.

"Ne te courbe que pour aimer..." René Char

by Melanchthon on Mon Jul 7th, 2008 at 06:42:45 AM EST

Re: World Bank Report (4.00 / 2)

so following on, from the world bank report, biodiesel has pushed somewhere between 36 and 52 million people into poverty if the logic follows through.

Even at the US governments lower figure that's between 1.5 million and about 4 million.

How many children did you starve with your last fill-up?

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Mon Jul 7th, 2008 at 06:56:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World Bank Report (4.00 / 3)

How many children did you starve with your last fill-up?

I don't have a car...

"Ne te courbe que pour aimer..." René Char

by Melanchthon on Mon Jul 7th, 2008 at 09:45:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World Bank Report (4.00 / 3)

Communist ;-)

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Mon Jul 7th, 2008 at 10:32:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

What is the mileage of your last lunch? | 24 comments (24 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Go to: [ European Tribune Homepage : Top of page : Top of comments ]