ARTICLE: "Why the World Can't Afford Food: And why higher prices are here to stay," by Jackson Dykman, Time, 19 May 2008, p. 34.

Poor harvests and restrictive trade policies +

Increasing price of oil +

Diversion of crops for biofuels +

Increasing demand, especially in China =

Record prices worldwide.

Bottom line on corn ethanol: "U.S. farmers are devoting more land to corn at the expense of other crops and turning more of the corn into ethanol. It's a double whammy: both corn and grain for food become scarcer, further driving up prices."