“The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) must not allow itself to be captured by biofuels interest groups”, 80 civil society organizations, including Save Our Seeds, warn in an open letter issued on the occasion of the 40th annual plenary meeting of the UN-sponsored Committee, held this week in Rome. The CFS is discussing recommendations (a so-called Decision Box) on biofuels. On Monday and Tuesday afternoon, a round table with the topic ‘Biofuels and Food Security” was held. The signatories expressed concern that the recommendations in the current CFS draft Decision Box would not protect the right to food from existing biofuels policies and the growing demand for biofuels. “This should be an important opportunity for the CFS to respond to the overwhelming evidence that the artificial demand for biofuels is undermining the right to food, causing significant increases in food insecurity, malnutrition, and land grabbing”, they warned. As a recent report on Biofuels and Food Security published by the the Committee’s High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) showed, biofuels have been an important driver behind food price rises and food price volatility in recent years. This means, the letter goes on, that the CFS must call on governments to eliminate direct and indirect subsidies for biofuels, including blending quotas, acknowledge the conflict between biofuels and food and ensure that the objective to eliminate hunger and food insecurity is paramount.