Economist: Ethanol affects grain prices more than food

aBY JOSH FUNK / The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 05:22:20 pm CDT

OMAHA — A Nebraska agricultural economist estimates that ethanol production is responsible for as much as 40 percent of the recent increase in grain prices but very little of the increase in U.S. food prices.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln economist Richard Perrin said Tuesday that ethanol accounts for about 1.2 percent of the increase in U.S. food prices because most of the increases in corn prices are not passed on to consumers.

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