The Food not Fuel Petition

The use of food for fuel is taking land and livelihoods away from our planet's most vulnerable people. Evidence now suggests that biofuels are increasing food prices, making it harder for poor people to buy food. Land in developing countries is being converted to biofuel crops, preventing food from being grown for local communities, and destroying the biodiversity that thrives in many family farmers' fields.

The tide of public opinion is turning against the biofuel craze, with more and more people recognizing that they may be bad for the poor. Evidence suggests that in many cases biofuels use more fossil fuels than they offset, and generate the same if not more greenhouse gas emissions. The name agrofuels has been adopted to reflect the fact that these fuels are not necessarily good for the environment - and are closely linked to industrial agriculture.

But on June 26, 2008, the Canadian government adopted a law (Bill C-33) which would allow the federal government to implement regulations that would require 5% average biofuel content in gasoline by 2010. Subsequent regulations would also require 2% average renewable content in diesel and heating oil by 2012. Regulations are now being written which will determine whether and how fuel at the pump will takes food away from poor countries.

Learn more at http://usc-canada.org/what-you-can-do/agrofuels-overview/ . Take action today to share your concerns about the use of food for fuel -- sign the food not fuel petition. Hundreds of Canadians have been signing up on big corn cob petitions at public events around the country. Now, the petition goes online - make your voice heard before the fall comes, when Canada's position on biofuels will be taken!

The use of food for fuel is taking land and livelihoods away from our planet's most vulnerable people. Evidence now suggests that biofuels are increasing food prices, making it harder for poor people to buy food. Land in developing countries is being converted to biofuel crops, preventing food from being grown for local communities, and destroying the biodiversity that thrives in many family farmers' fields.

The tide of public opinion is turning against the biofuel craze, with more and more people recognizing that they may be bad for the poor. Evidence suggests that in many cases biofuels use more fossil fuels than they offset, and generate the same if not more greenhouse gas emissions. The name agrofuels has been adopted to reflect the fact that these fuels are not necessarily good for the environment - and are closely linked to industrial agriculture.

But on June 26, 2008, the Canadian government adopted a law (Bill C-33) which would allow the federal government to implement regulations that would require 5% average biofuel content in gasoline by 2010. Subsequent regulations would also require 2% average renewable content in diesel and heating oil by 2012. Regulations are now being written which will determine whether and how fuel at the pump will takes food away from poor countries.

Learn more at http://usc-canada.org/what-you-can-do/agrofuels-overview/ . Take action today to share your concerns about the use of food for fuel -- sign the food not fuel petition. Hundreds of Canadians have been signing up on big corn cob petitions at public events around the country. Now, the petition goes online - make your voice heard before the fall comes, when Canada's position on biofuels will be taken!

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

As Canadian citizens concerned by the impacts that the production of biofuels may have on the environment and the poor, we the undersigned would like to urge relevant authorities to reconsider Canada's biofuel policies. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, the World Bank, IMF, OECD, and a number of other organizations have indicated that the recent increase in food prices is directly linked to the diversion of food for use in fuels.

Government mandates and subsidies in the US and the EU have led these regions to use their domestic crops for biofuels, reducing the amount of food they grow. This has been a major factor in reducing global grain stocks to the lowest levels in decades, as food is being used for gasoline in wealthy countries. And in developing countries, land is being taken away from small farmers to satisfy the demand for biofuel crops. Critical ecosystems like tropical forests, wetlands, and semi-arid lands are being converted to vast biofuel plantations.

Three out of four of the world's poor people live in the rural areas of developing countries. Taking land away from them robs them of their sources of livelihoods and sustenance. It violates their right to shelter and food, worsening hunger, eroding biological diversity and creating social unrest.

We, the undersigned, urge your government to seriously consider the changing tide of public and expert opinion on biofuels. We urge your government to develop regulations for Bill C-33 that ensure that biofuel content requirements are realistic, feasible, do not reduce Canadian food exports, and do not involve imports from countries where biofuel crops compete with forests, family farms, and wetlands.

As Canadians use the most energy per person in the world, we have a moral responsibility to find ways to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. We urge you to invest seriously in reducing climate change -- but by supporting solutions to this challenge which are more economically, socially and environmentally viable than biofuels. We owe it to our children and our planet.