Letter to Congress
The Honorable Ruben Hinojosa
Washington, DC Office
2262 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Hinojosa:
I am writing this letter to you as a World Hunger Activist who is against the ethanol production that will contribute to global hunger. We can all agree that the increase of oil prices started a rising demand for food-based fuels. Many say this action can have the "potential to wean developed nations off of their oil addictions." However, as Lester Brown writes, the increasing production of food-based fuels could cause more people to suffer from hunger and add to global political instability.
Do you know what is going to claim the increase in world consumption this year? Cars, not people. The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol will feed one person for a year. The grain needed to fill that same tank every two weeks over a year will feed up to 26 people! Yes, there are places where we help satisfy hunger, but this food runs out! Not everyone gets to eat, and you are trying to take what little food we have for them and convert it into fuel! You must understand the consequences that this decision can bring.
The over use of corn can affect us as well. Fuel has run out, and corn will too. Sure, we can plant the in our many acres of land but that does not change the fact that we are going to be depending on the weather. Livestock and poultry producers fear that there may not be enough corn to produce meat, milk and eggs. And according to Lester Brown, since the United States supplies 70% of world corn exports, corn-importing countries are worried about their supply as well. The is a line between food and energy sectors, and since almost everything we eat can be converted into fuel for automobiles; (including wheat, corn, rice, soybeans and sugarcane) that line is starting to disappear.
Simply put, we are at a stage of competition between 800 million automobile owners and food consumers. Have
Washington, DC Office
2262 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Hinojosa:
I am writing this letter to you as a World Hunger Activist who is against the ethanol production that will contribute to global hunger. We can all agree that the increase of oil prices started a rising demand for food-based fuels. Many say this action can have the "potential to wean developed nations off of their oil addictions." However, as Lester Brown writes, the increasing production of food-based fuels could cause more people to suffer from hunger and add to global political instability.
Do you know what is going to claim the increase in world consumption this year? Cars, not people. The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol will feed one person for a year. The grain needed to fill that same tank every two weeks over a year will feed up to 26 people! Yes, there are places where we help satisfy hunger, but this food runs out! Not everyone gets to eat, and you are trying to take what little food we have for them and convert it into fuel! You must understand the consequences that this decision can bring.
The over use of corn can affect us as well. Fuel has run out, and corn will too. Sure, we can plant the in our many acres of land but that does not change the fact that we are going to be depending on the weather. Livestock and poultry producers fear that there may not be enough corn to produce meat, milk and eggs. And according to Lester Brown, since the United States supplies 70% of world corn exports, corn-importing countries are worried about their supply as well. The is a line between food and energy sectors, and since almost everything we eat can be converted into fuel for automobiles; (including wheat, corn, rice, soybeans and sugarcane) that line is starting to disappear.
Simply put, we are at a stage of competition between 800 million automobile owners and food consumers. Have
Cited: Brown, Lester. “Starving for Fuel: How Ethanol Production Contributes to Global Hunger.” The Globalist. 02 August, 2006. Web. 10 April, 2013. Daschle, Tom, C. Ford Runge, and And Benjamin Senauer. "Food for Fuel?"Foreign Affairs. N.p., 1 Sept. 2007. Web. 11 Apr. 2013. Yeatman, William. “Ethanol’s Adding to Hunger in U.S.” Competitive Enterprise Institute. The Portland Tribune. 22 April, 2008. Web. 10 April, 2013.