If You Repeat A Lie Often Enough

Today, the National Council of Chain Restaurants (NCCR) - which includes representatives from Dominos Pizza, White Castle and CKE Restaurants (parent company of Carl's Jr) - will end a two-day visit to Capitol HIll where it has spent time lobbying congress on a variety of issues, including reforming the RFS.

According to a report today by the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), the NCCR discussed at length the RFS with several notable congressmen, inluding Minnesota's very own Rep. John Kline. OPIS adds that the NCCR has previously supported efforts to repeal the conventional biofuels portion of the RFS (ie: ethanol produced from corn) by blaming ethanol for high food prices.

As the saying goes, if you tell a lie often enough, people will believe it.

And that's exactly what the NCCR and like-minded organizations have done and continue to do so despite the abundance of evidence that clearly shows there is no corelation between food prices and ethanol production.

In fact, it appears to be a little too much of a coincidence that NCCR would visit congressional representatives over this issue just one week after the Renewable Fuels Association released a new report that further debunks the "Food vs Fuel" myth.

Among the various points highlighted in the report include how retail food prices for dairy, pork, poulty, eggs and beef have remained steady despite a decline in corn prices.  It even quoted Citibank's futures specialist, Sterling Smith, who said : "Corn prices may have come down 50 percent (from their highs), but that doesn't mean a box of corn flakes will fall 50 percent in price. Much of the price of food comes from the processing and movement of food."

In fact, one only has to look at current corn prices to see how detached it is from retail food prices. Despite a decline in recent weeks, (it was $3.41 per bushel today) food prices have remained steady. Furthermore, this idea that ethanol is the main driver of corn prices has been refuted many times by many credible sources. Even the USDA's announcement last month indicated that corn usage for ethanol this year is estimated at 3.55 billion bushels or 25 percent of the total supply.

But, as the saying goes, never let the facts get in the way of a good lie. 

For more on the Food vs Fuel myth, check out our page here