The "food vs. fuel" debate may be difficult to resolve without letting the data ’speak’. We investigate the short and long-run relationships between food and fuel prices. Our analysis spans the period 1989-2013, covering the lead-up to the 2007-08 price spike, the sharp downward movement in the aftermath, as well as the period thereafter. This provides a more complete picture of the interaction between agriculture and fuel markets. Our results indicate the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between the prices in these markets. A closer examination of the dynamics between ethanol and corn, soybean, and sugar prices shows that the corn-soybean linkage plays a key role in shaping the long-run relationship between food and fuel prices. Although ethanol prices Granger cause corn prices, no individual agricultural commodity Granger causes ethanol prices. However, corn and soybean as a single group has an impact on the ethanol market
