Ethanol hiked prices on food and public nutrition programs

The increased use of ethanol as a fuel led to higher livestock feed prices over the past year, which resulted in higher retail food prices and put the squeeze on many Americans.

“Federal spending on public nutrition programs including food stamps and school lunch will be $600 million-$900 million higher this fiscal year due to ethanol, said the Congressional Budget Office. Higher food prices will add $5 billion to the overall cost of the programs,” reports Charles Abbott for Reuters. Full story: Reuters