Headline: April.14.2008 – Riots, Instability Spread as Food Prices Skyrocket – Impoverished peoples around the world have taken to the streets protesting rapidly rising food prices and runs on staple commodities like rice are causing shortages even in developed countries.  The reasons for the crisis include high fuel prices and demand on food crops like corn for ethanol fuel production.

As the following video explains, government subsidies for ethanol production have exasperated the situation, raising feed costs and prices for all meat, dairy and egg products, in addition to cereal grains and other foods.Biofuel Backlash

Ironically, corn is actually a poor choice for ethanol production and has other consequences for the environment. Sugar-rich plants like Sugar Beets and Cane yield more fuel than starchy corn, while corn makes high demands on the water and land.  Many experts now believe that ethanol should be made from cellulose, especially in climates where sugary plants do not grow. And what plant did the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommend as a superior choice for long-term cellulose production? Decades ago, the government knew that Cannabis Hemp yielded four times more cellulose than pine trees over twenty years.

Craig Lee, from the Kentucky Hemp Museum and Library, explains how hemp hurds could provide stock for Cellulosic Ethanol production, as well as highly nutritious Hempseed food and oil products that would actually supplement food supplies and provide economic stability in his native Kentucky – where his family had grown hemp for generations.Hemp for Cellulosic Ethanol

In America, President Bush has called for increased production of Ethanol, despite it’s economic fallout and damage to the land, bowing to the large agribusiness corporations that benefit enormously from the rising demand and profits from corn, supplemented by taxpayer funds. Yet, under his administration, the DEA has refused to issue permits for farmers in North Dakota wanting to grow industrial hemp, like their neighbors to the north in Canada.

In this video, courtesy of Vote Hemp, the North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture explains why his state could benefit from returning Cannabis Hemp to it’s traditional place in the crop rotation.North Dakota’s Agriculutre Commissioner Backs Hemp

In addition to cellulose from the pith of the stalk (hurds), Cannabis Hemp provides another source of fuel – biodiesel from hemp seed oil! The following video of the “Hemp Car” at the at an Ohio County Fair shows how micro-biodiesel facilities can utilize hemp seed oil.Hempseed Biodiesel Car at Ohio County Fair

“Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere.” -President George Washington, 1794

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