Does Ethanol Fuel Provide A Free Lunch?

Not hardly.

This is the problem with the "solutions" to market "problems" crafted by politicians---they wind up screwing the little guy while simultaneously lining the pockets of bigtime political contributors like the agribusiness giants pushing alternative fuels.

You can make a lot more money selling corn to power cars than you can selling it to feed the starving.

Whenever some politician, often having spent not 10% of their adult lives in the private sector, claims to "solve" an economic problem, you must respond reflexively, "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch."