The poor and hungry of this world don't eat corn. Period.

Unfortunately, that's simply not true. Corn is a staple foodstuff in many regions of the world, including Africa, where it is made into a porridge known as 'Pap'. Maize flour is the primary ingredient used to make tortillas.

Last year thousands of Mexicans took to the streets in protest at a 400% rise in the price of corn flour which was threatening the diets of millions.

Poor Mexicans, who normally expect to set aside a third of their wages for corn flour, had always been particularly vulnerable to price fluctuations in the corn market, but a four-fold increase was both unheard of and potentially catastrophic.

The reason for such a substantial increase in the price lay north of the border. In order to wean itself off its addiction to oil, the US was turning to biofuels made from industrial corn like never before. Farmers in Mexico and America had been replacing edible corn crops with industrial corn that could then be processed into biofuels, leading to a decrease in the amount corn available on the open market.