Cornholio aka the Almighty Bungholio

Last year, when I was in a more scientific state of mind, I blogged about fighting global warming and the importance of being an earnest biker. These days -- months upon months really, I've been smeared by a sh#t-storm of work, and haven't had the time to contemplate, much less post coherent sentences about what's currently at stake in the world. But speaking of inclement weather, how about these gaddam rising food prices, and what United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon describes as the impending "widespread hunger, malnutrition and social unrest on an unprecedented scale"?



I am fully aware that my grasp of global economic/socio-political affairs is weak at best, but hasn't the scientific community already firmly established that corn-based ethanol is, quite frankly, BS? (Apparently in early studies, somebody did the math wrong, and the correct numbers say that corn ethanol not only fails to produce less carbon emissions than regular old fuel, but actually doubles it over the course of 30 years. And on top of that, the giant amounts of corn we're now producing (by government mandate) offsets land for other foodstuffs, like soy, resulting in the jacked up prices, the catastrophic success suggested by Mr. Moon, and clearing of the Amazon rainforest as well.

Anyway, the whole changing legislation stuff is also a bit over my head, so I'll leave that to those who do have their act together. For me, it all goes back to riding our bikes. It's fun. It's spring. And maybe cook yourself a nice dinner tonight with fare purchased from your local farmer's market. Or walk somewhere, like the library. Simple stuff.

You can view more info graphics here at the BBC. The NY Times recently did a big series on rising food costs as well. And if you're really motivated, check out David Tilman's research on cellulosic ethanol and prairie grass.