NBB Clears the Air on Biodiesel and the Food Supply
Applauds Senators for Confirming That Biofuels Are Not to Blame for Rising Food Prices

WASHINGTON, D.C.– "Don’t buy what the grocers are trying to feed you." That's the message from Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, in response to the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s campaign to blame biofuels for rising food costs.

"The feeding frenzy on biofuels as the reason for higher food prices has got to stop. The GMA's anti-biofuels campaign is not based on sound science, but rather on their desire to find an easy target for defending their profits," Jobe said.

The NBB applauded Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), John Thune (R-SD), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Kit Bond (R-MO), and Ken Salazar (D-CO), who joined today in sharp criticism of GMA's public relations plan to discredit biofuels. They said the grocers' attempts to blame biofuels for food price increases are not based on sound science, sound economics, or common sense. The senators expressed strong support for continued federal programs that encourage biofuel production and use.

Biodiesel is a sustainable fuel that can be produced from non-food crops and waste sources such as used restaurant grease. Even with biodiesel made from soybean oil, Jobe said, "more than 80 percent of each soybean is still used for animal feed or food. Biodiesel's effect on the food supply is minimal, and to claim otherwise is nothing short of intellectually dishonest." Jobe noted that less than five percent of the world's soybeans are used for U.S. biodiesel production.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released economic analysis that shows high energy prices, increasing global demand, drought and other factors are the primary drivers of higher food costs. USDA has posted economic analysis and charts (www.usda.gov) that document that "even with the current uptick in food price inflation, it is much lower than it was in the 1970s and early 1980." (www.usda.gov/img/content/4LG.jpg).

"Let's not lose sight of all the benefits biodiesel has to offer," Jobe said. "It is a green fuel, creating green jobs and beefing up our national energy security. We should continue to support biodiesel as part of our long-term energy strategy.

The NBB is the national trade association of the biodiesel industry and is the coordinating body for biodiesel research and development in the U.S. Its membership is comprised of biodiesel producers, state, national, and international feedstock and feedstock processor organizations, fuel marketers and distributors, and technology providers.

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