Let’s grill carrots this summer

In the unintended consequences file, the Complete Las Vegan turns your attention this fine Monday morning in Las Vegas to thoughts of pigs, cows and ethanol -- all of which are made of corn.

As the price at the supermarket for pork and beef shoot through the roof, we'd do well to remember the stupidity of the federal government that caused it.

The Bush Administration set targets to increase ethanol use, which doubled the price of corn. California exacerbated it by mandating the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline from 5.7 percent to 10 percent.

More corn dedicated to ethanol production dramatically raised the price of feed for hog and cattle growers, who were then forced to cut costs by cutting the size of their herds.

Which means you will pay substantially more this summer for meat.

Of course, without the federal government propping up the ethanol industry and then mandating a market for it, it would fall from the weight of its own faulty premise, thus erasing the artificial (some say immoral) link between food and the automobile industry.

But don't expect that to happen anytime soon. There are some powerful political forces at work (like the Iowa primary) that will never make common sense and ethanol good partners in a political debate.

In the meanwhile, until common sense is returned to Congress, clean off the barbie and get ready to grill something other than pork chops and T-bone steaks this summer.

Carrots, anyone?