GoodFuels

Grassley slams GMA lobbyist

With all the fervor over biofuels supposedly causing food prices to rise earlier this year, now that gasoline and ethanol prices have plummeted, shouldn’t food prices be moving the same way?

They aren’t. So if there is no tie between ethanol production and food price, then why all the manufactured hysteria back in April? That’s a question many are asking, and Senator Chuck Grassley is among them.

According to Food Price Truth’s blog, Senator Grassley has written to GMA’s president, C. Manly Molpus, demanding that food prices be lowered, in addition to taking offense to comments that one of their lobbyists made (Politico’s blog Shenanigans also has a piece on this).

The lobbyist in question, Scott Faber, publicly commented recently that their “anti-ethanol campaign was launched by GMA to “protect the bottom line of grocery manufacturers and processors.”

Food Price Truth has the letter in its entirety here. It’s nice to know that there are some legislators paying attention out there, and that they’re willing to stick up for the domestic ethanol industry.

Thanks Senator Grassley!  

Image courtesy of ninjapoodles.

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal published a piece this morning (subscription required) on this very topic. They talk to food companies like Kellog and Kraft to try to get to the bottom of why both companies reported higher than expected quarterly profits, yet still insist on charging high prices for their goods. There has been some pushback from food retailers regarding prices increases. Interesting read.