WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency was urged here yesterday to freeze federal food-to-fuel mandates for 2008 and 2009 at the U.S. production levels for 2007, in a letter sent by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, American Beverage Association, Snack Food Association and other industry groups. Food and feed prices, severe weather, social unrest and the environmental costs of fuel derived from food crops were cited as grounds for a revision of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. “The rapid expansion of corn ethanol and biodiesel has increased demand for corn and vegetable oils, increased the price of products which use corn and vegetable oils as ingredients, and increased the price of other crops that compete with corn and soybeans for acres,” the letter reads. “Between 2006 and 2008, U.S. corn ethanol production accounted for 75 percent of the growth in global demand for coarse grain and 50 percent of the growth in demand for all grains.”

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