food insecurity – Moe Lane

Heck of a thing when the Europeans are adjusting to reality and when we’re not. Then again, they’re farther down the road. Walter Russell Mead has the report:

Getting rid of biofuel programs would cut Europe’s food costs in half by 2020, and lower global food prices by 15 percent. That’s according to a new report, commissioned by the EU’s own Joint Research Center (JRC), released ahead of a critical European Parliament vote on Wednesday to cap biofuels’ contributions to the EU’s 2020 green targets.

Current EU targets have more than half of the continent’s vegetable oils going towards biodiesel production in 2020. The new paper points out that global food prices are “strongly driven” by their end use. As Euractiv puts it, “[w]hen more soy and palm oil are used for biofuels production, less is available for food use and the resulting scarcity drives food price inflation.”

Continue reading European Union shying away from man-killing food-based biofuel programs.

[UPDATE]: Welcome, Instapundit readers.

Count me in with Glenn Reynolds about the overwhelming smug that covers this oh-so-pensive worry by a foodie over What Food Says About Class in America. Judging from the article, the first thing that it says about class is that people who make a fetish over what they’re having for dinner often come across as utterly lacking any.

Here’s an especially infuriating bit – which comes from a woman who spends twelve grand a year on food:

“This is our charity. This is my giving to the world,” says Alexandra, finally, as she packs lunchboxes—organic peanut butter and jelly on grainy bread, a yogurt, and a clementine—for her two boys. “We contribute a lot.”

No, this is your indulgence, Alexandra. You’re calling it a ‘charity’ because it makes you feel better. And you aren’t contributing; you’re patronizing… well, I was going to add “…a class of specialized vendors who are happy to cater to your own, luxurious needs” to the end of that sentence, but it works just as well if I don’t. Continue reading The Smug is strong in this foodie article.