The food fuel debate

I made some calls today about the food-fuel debate. I'll have some coverage in The Packer about bio fuels and their impact on food prices, and the tangential news related to the U.N. Food Summit in Rome. One economist I talked with today said there has been no study that he has seen that does a thorough job of providing a number - a measure of how production of corn-based ethanol impacts food prices - and then backing that number up with deconstructing the various economic factors. More on that later...

Hope to have a Fresh Talk keyboard chat tomorrow morning with David Mitchell of The Packer, who has been the lead writer on the tomato/salmonella coverage.

Also extended an invitation to Kathy Means and Amy Philpott to participate in Fresh Talk as guest bloggers. That offer also goes out to any other association executive/industry leaders out there who would like to add some reasoned perspective to the news of the day. Email me at tkarst@thepacker.com if you are interested.