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The group announced the launch of Growth Energy with the release of a policy brief and an ad campaign to "set the record straight on food prices."

"Big Food and their Washington lobbyists have been trying to blame the rising cost of food on American ethanol producers and the cost of corn. Well, now that the price of corn has dropped more than fifty percent since the summer, we ask the Big Food industry to explain to the American people why food prices are still so high," said Jeff Broin, CEO of POET (the world's largest ethanol producer).

"The lies the Big Food lobby have been spreading about clean, green biofuels have finally been exposed as an intellectually dishonest smear campaign. It's wrong and we're coming together to ask Big Food to give struggling Americans a break."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the price of basic foods in the United States is currently rising at twice the rate of inflation and is expected to continue to rise in the future.

Noting the rising food prices this past spring, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) planned an attack in a leaked PR memo to "distract Americans from the rising cost of food" by mounting a campaign against American ethanol producers. Their argument centred on the premise that biofuels production increased the demand and cost of corn which forced food producers to raise food prices for consumers.

"The assertion by critics that ethanol production is the root cause of high food prices has been proven false," said Dave Vander Griend, CEO of ICM. "Corn and commodities prices are significantly lower now so according to GMA's argument, if biofuels were forcing food prices up previously, the lower cost of corn should have already brought food prices back down.

"All indicators show that the cost of food will remain high in the months to come, proving Big Food's argument is fundamentally flawed. Our current lowpriced corn, high-priced food economic situation shows that the experts were right - biofuels production does not lead to increased food costs."

Wayne Hoovestol, CEO of Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. said:
"We believe ethanol is America's best renewable fuel, reliable and affordable right now. American ethanol is high-tech, homegrown and on the verge of innovative breakthroughs that will make it even cleaner and greener for the long-term."