Corn!

Everyone knows that the cost of food is going up; maybe as fast as the cost of gasoline. An article in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend focused on the cost of bacon. According to the piece by Mary Kissel, "A pound of sliced bacon costs $4.54 today versus $3.59 two years ago and $3.16 a decade ago." That's in increase of almost 44 percent. Kissel also reports that "Ground beef is $2.72, up from $2.27 in 2009 and $1.74 in 2001." Which is an increase of over 56 percent in 10 years. The article focuses on C. Larry Pope, the CEO of Smithfield Foods, "the world's largest pork processor and hog producer by volume." According to Pope the reason bacon has become so expensive - prohibitively expensive to many consumers - is because of the price of corn. "60 to 70 percent of the cost of raising a hog is tied up in "corn and … soybean meal," Pope says. And feed corn "has gone from a base of $2.40 a bushel to today's price of $7.40 a bushel," nearly three times what it was. Why? According to Pope a lot of it has to do with ethanol which is largely made from corn. Because of the Federal rules which mandate the amount of ethanol-mixed gasoline which must be sold in each state, "Now 40% of the corn crop is directed to ethanol, which equals the amount that's going into livestock food."...more

The next time you're in the grocery store be sure and thank your local enviro for the prices you're paying.