Is corn food?

A story on NPR this morning caught my attention.  American farmers plan to plant 93 million acres of corn this year, with more than 50% slated to go to ethanol production.  In a world where billions of people go hungry every day, we put fuel production ahead of food.  What does this say about the priorities of our country in the 21st century?  Most of the rest of the corn will either feed animals, or be processed into high fructose corn syrup for the soft drink industry.  The logical commentary about social responsibility to the rest of the world or the profit centered business model which produces an obesity rate of 60% or more of the population fails me.  Unbridled capitalism seems a social as well as an economic failure as we head into a pivotal election season.  Unfortunately, neither political party is willing to touch the blight that is American agriculture policy.  So we will continue to drive our gas guzzlers and continue to our unchecked consumption of corn based non foods for another four years.  Sorry about the sour mood of this post.  It only happens when I think about the "leadership" we inflict on ourselves.