The global recession has collapsed both oil and grain prices, putting the food v fuel debate on the back burner. However, when and as the world economy recovers, demand for energy will increase. At the same time, U.S. and EU policies ensure that demand for corn and other biofuel feedstocks will increase.

Anticipating renewed debate on food v fuel in the New Year, I attach several relevant studies that appeared during the past six months.

Bruce Babcock, Breaking the Link between Food and Biofuels, Iowa Ag Review, Summer 2008, Vol. 14, No. 3

Juan Delgado and Indhira Santos, The New Food Equation: Do EU Policies Add Up? Bruegel Policy Brief, Issue 2008/06 July 2008

Douglas Auld, The Ethanol Trap: Why Policies to Promote Ethanol as Fuel Need Rethinking, C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, No. 268, July 2008

Keith Collins, The The Role of Biofuels and Other Factors in Increasing Farm and Food Prices, Kraft Foods Global, Inc., June 19, 2008

Dennis Avery, The Massive Food and Land Costs of U.S. Corn Ethanol: An Update, Competitive Enterprise Institute, October 29, 2008

Thomas E. Elam, Biofuel Support Costs to the U.S. Economy: The Key Role of the RFS in a Feedstock Shortage Scenario, FarmEcon LLC, June 28, 2008

Michelle Perez, Biofuels and Bad Weather: America’s Food-to-Fuel Gamble, June 13, 2008

Philip C. Abbott, Christopher Hurt, Wallace E. Tyner, Farm Foundation Issue Report, What’s Driving Food Prices? July 2008

International Food Policy Research Institute, High Food Prices: The What, Who, and How of Proposed Policy Actions, Policy Brief, May 2008

International Monetary Fund, Food and Fuel Prices-Recent Developments, Macroeconomic Impact, and Policy Responses, June 30, 2008

World Bank, Rising food prices: Policy options and World Bank response, April 2008

Mindy L. Baker, Dermot J. Hayes, Bruce A. Babcock, Corn-based Biofuel Production under Acreage Constraints, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University, Working Paper 08-WP-460

Lihong Lu McPhail and Bruce A. Babcock, Short-Run Price and Welfare Impacts of Federal Ethanol Policies, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University, Working Paper 08-WP-468, July 2008

Oxfam Briefing Paper, Another Inconvenient Truth: How biofuel policies are deepening poverty and accelerating climate change, June 25, 2008

Renewable Fuels Agency, The Gallagher Review of the indirect effects of biofuels production, July 2008

Renewable Fuels Association, Estimating the impact of increased ethanol production on U.S. household spending, June 3, 2008

Richard K. Perrin, Ethanol and Food Prices - A Preliminary Assessment, University of Nebraska, 2008