US food report criticises biofuel policies
Agriculture secre tary Edward T. Schafer is preparing to walk into a buzzsaw of criticism over American biofuels policy when he meets with world leaders to discuss the global food crisis next week. Mr Schafer took the offensive at a press conference on Thursday that discussed the food summit, planned for Rome. He said an analysis by the agriculture depart ment had determined that biofuel production was responsible for only 2 to 3 per cent of the increase in global food prices, while biofuels had reduced consumption of crude oil by a million barrels a day.