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Food vs. Fuel
The food versus fuel debate connects two of the most significant sustainability problems that we face today. First, the growing world population requires an ever increasing food supply to keep up with demand. Second, increases in the standard of living around the world along with the growing population have caused energy consumption to grow exponentially. The core of this debate lies at the use of biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Although biofuels are a renewable source of energy that are produce less pollution, there are many problems that David Pimentel and his colleagues describe in their paper, “Food Versus Biofuels: Environmental and Economic Costs.” As fossil fuels become more expensive, biofuels become economically competitive for farmers to produce instead of food crops. Therefore, the world’s food supply will be decreased unless additional land is cleared for farmland, which could only be sustained for a short time because much of the world’s fertile cropland is already being farmed. Already, the world’s population is increasing at a greater rate than the world’s food supply and more than half of the world’s population is malnourished. Pimentel argues that there is simply not enough land worldwide to provide enough biofuel to meet the demand for energy, even if no land was used for food production. Further, no current biofuels, such as those made from corn, cellulose, soybeans, canola, and oil palms, contain more energy than it took to produce them. In other words, if biofuels were used to power every machine used to produce biofuel, there would not be enough fuel and the additional energy would have to be provided by another source, most commonly fossil fuels.

Many people and organizations are affected by this debate between food and biofuel production. Farmers must decide what crops to grow on based on which is the most economical. Less fortunate people will struggle to afford enough food. Food companies may also be forced to increase prices due to the increased cost of basic ingredients such as corn. On the other hand, people who use fuel for energy, particularly transportation, will be forced to find alternative sources of energy. Further, regulatory organizations that have set standards such as the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) must re-think the impacts of these standards.

Because there are so many factors that are involved in this problem, the most effective way to solve it is to address as many factors as possible. For example, finding ways to prevent population growth would eliminate the need for a continuously increasing supply of food. Promoting the use of alternative energies such as electricity in place of fuels would reduce the demand for fossil fuels and biofuels. Also, reconsidering regulations that create artificial demand for biofuels would further reduce the demand for biofuel. Additionally, any way of making food crops more economical than biofuel crops where biofuel production is currently more economical, particularly in depressed areas in Africa, would help reduce malnutrition and starvation in those areas.

Fingerman, K. (2011, September 5). Food vs. Fuel: Current Research and Policy Implications. //Nexus//. Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://www.water-energy-food.org/en/news/view__35/food-vs-fuel-current-research-and-policy-implications.html

Pimentel, D., Marklein, A., Toth, M. A., Karpoff, M. N., Paul, G. S., McCormack, R., … Krueger, T. (2009). Food Versus Biofuels: Environmental and Economic Costs. //Human Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Journal//, //37//(1), 1–12. doi:10.1007/s10745-009-9215-8

The Transportation Nexus: Ethanol Is a “Food vs. Fuel” Issue. (2013, July 10). //Wharton University of Pennsylvania//. Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-transportation-nexus-ethanol-is-a-food-vs-fuel-issue/