U.S. The Cost of Hunger - Drought Only One Factor Behind High Food Prices.

U.S. The Cost of Hunger - Drought Only One Factor Behind High Food Prices.(Spiegel).By SPIEGEL Staff. The severe drought in the US has been blamed the rising prices of agricultural commodities. But that is only part of the story: Biofuels, financial speculation and changing dietary habits are also playing a role. The global food supply faces pressure from all sides.Today German farmers use 2.2 million of the 16.7 million hectares they farm to grow plants for the production of biofuel. German fields are bright yellow in the spring, from rapeseed plants, while corn dominates the landscape in the fall. The amount of land devoted to such crops could grow to 4 million hectares by 2020. Several politicians from Merkel's conservatives are supportive of Niebel's call for a ban on E10 sales. "It's unacceptable that people all over the world are suffering from hunger, while we incinerate biomass to make inefficient energy," says senior conservative parliamentarian Michael Fuchs.Hmmmm....Anyone thinking that Obama will listen to the U.N. and grant an Ethanol waiver? I've got a bridge for sale.Read the full story here.