Burning Corn To Stay Warm Isn’t Raising The Cost Of Your Groceries

(HIT) - Mike Haefner was driving through South Dakota last fall when he stumbled upon hundreds of thousands of bushels of corn dumped on the ground because the farmer had no place to store it. "How can this be?" he thought, when the media claims the burning of corn for ethanol and home heating is to blame for the high price of corn worldwide. As President of American Energy Systems Inc/manufacturer of alternative energy burning appliances, this sight along with numerous conversations with farmers leads Mike to believe this spoilage takes place throughout the country.

Travis Haefner in front of a pile of corn dumped on the ground because there was too much corn and not enough storage.

The media has unfairly painted the use of corn and other agri-fuels as a "food versus fuel" situation, so much so that USDA Secretary Ed Schafer felt it necessary to hold a press conference on May 19th to set the record straight. "... while bioenergy generation does have some effect on prices, it is not a major effect; it’s not even a big effect" he said." He explained that "essentially a 50 percent increase in corn prices would raise the CPI (cost of food) less than 1 percentage point above the normal rate of food price inflation."

So what is really raising the price of food? "Higher oil prices mean higher costs of transportation, processing, packaging and distribution, and all other intermediary steps..." the secretary claims. "Those steps account for approximately 80 cents on every dollar that is spent on food here in the United States." While he listed several factors driving higher food prices like droughts, labor costs, advertising and tariffs, he sites the growing prosperity in developing nations as one of the positive trends creating a greater demand for food.

Mike Haefner reminds us "As developing nations climb out of poverty, they will compete for resources. Their desire to better their standard of living is no more understandable than America’s desire to be more self-sufficient with our energy supplies. With the price of crude oil over $120 a barrel, we need to encourage alternative energy, not ignore it."

"We have a tremendous ability to grow crops in this country, enough for food and fuel. But we have to figure out our transportation and storage systems so farmers don’t have to dump their yields on the ground. With our products, the spoilage from that one pile of corn in South Dakota alone would have heated more than 200 homes for an entire winter."

At a time when the cost of food and gas for cars is making it hard for Americans to pay their heating bills, Mike Haefner doesn’t want misleading headlines steering people away from a viable way to save a great deal of money. The fact is, alternative/renewable energy burning stoves, furnaces and fireplace inserts reduce our need for petroleum - the number one culprit driving up the price of food.

For more information on the subject of "food versus fuel", go to www.usda.gov. For more information on alternative/renewable home heating appliances, go to www.magnumheat.com.

USDA Source: Article from the www.usda.gov regarding the May 19th, 2008 "USDA Officials Briefing with Reporters on the Case for Food and Fuel USDA".

About American Energy Systems, Inc.:

In 1973, from a small town in South Dakota, Mike Haefner began American Energy Systems Inc. with the simple goal of providing a safe source of home heating for his customers. 35 years later, his mission remains the same, and American Energy Systems Inc.'s MagnuM and Country Flame lines remain leaders in the alternative energy home heating industry.

American Energy Systems Inc. has grown to 18 MagnuM models and 13 Country Flame models of stoves, furnaces, fireplaces and fireplace inserts sold through a global network of dealers. For more information, go to www.magnumheat.com and www.countryflame.com.
Courtesy: Home Improvement News and Information Center