This is what happens when you let politicians run the show

Instapundit.com -:

"RON BAILEY on world food prices: 'If surging demand is not the problem, what is? In three words: stupid energy policies. Although they are not perfect substitutes, oil and natural gas prices tend to move in tandem. So as oil prices rose above $100 per barrel, the price of gas also went up. Natural gas is the main feedstock for nitrogen fertilizer. As gas prices soared, so did fertilizer prices which rose by 200 percent. . . . Even worse is the bioethanol craze. Politicians in both the United States and the European Union are mandating that vast quantities of food be turned into fuel as they chase the chimera of 'energy independence.'' You can make methanol -- and, now, ethanol -- from kudzu. Forget corn."