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Nestle CEO: Biofuels Threaten Global Food Supply

03/25/2008
The head of the world's largest food and beverage manufacturer is warning that the increasing use of biofuels is putting the world's food supply in peril. "If as predicted we look to use biofuels to satisfy 20 percent of the growing demand for oil products, there will be nothing left to eat," Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the chair and CEO of Nestle, told the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag. "To grant enormous subsidies for biofuel production is morally unacceptable and irresponsible." He also warned that while competition is driving up the price of maize, soya, and wheat, land for cultivation is becoming more rare and water sources are under threat. His remarks echo those raised by a United Nations expert on the right to food, who last year called for a five-year moratorium on biofuel initiatives to avert food shortages. At that time, diplomats from nations pursuing biofuels expressed doubt about his forecasts.

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