Corn Popping Headlines

This headline…

“Uprising Against the Ethanol Mandate”

…in today’s New York Times grabbed my attention while I waited at Faz’s Tex Mex here in Huntington to pick up my lunch. It said rising food prices due to crops grown going toward the production of Ethanol prompted the Gov. of Texas asking that Federal Ethanol Mandates be changed to ease this problem.

Of course there are arguments being made pro and con. I don’t know his true motivation since accusations have already been made about his reasons for wanting this. I must say after reading a few articles in the past I’m on the pro change side.

I also can’t figure out how we continually get to this point.

Let’s see, in Algebra I learned X + Y = Z.

So follow my simple corn math equation

If we have X (Land in Acres) + Y (Crop Yield per Acre) = Z (Total Crops Yielded) then what is so hard to figure out?

If Z (Total Crops Yielded) was going to market as a food source and now some of it is going to Ethanol Production there has to be an increase in either X (Land In Acres) or Y (Crop Yield per Acre) to keep food prices constant.

Isn’t that what I learned in Economics - Supply & Demand?

That said, supply to the food market is now down, food market demand is constant or up – so guess what, that usually equals higher prices.

Since I’m new to Ethanol Production and Farming game, maybe I’m missing something. Or maybe those who fought for the mandates, while I’m sure well intentioned, forgot to do this math equation before fighting for it.

As a society it might be helpful to go back to basics; using simple Math, Language and Reasoning skills as a way to develop our strategies.

Here are a few easy ones for us to try out…
Treat people fairly – good reasoning
Tell the truth – good reasoning
Total dependence on one finite energy source – bad reasoning
Taking food from someone’s mouth to fill a gas tank – bad reasoning

I think our Politicos can use our help, so feel free to send you elected officials some reasoning exercises you thing would be helpful for them work on.

Tom Pellicane – Publisher, canvas Magazine