Well-known maker of peanut-butter and jelly products J.M. Smucker (NYSE: SJM) reported earnings for Q4 and the full fiscal year on Thursday. The market didn't like the report in the least. The stock closed down well over 8% at the end of yesterday's session.

Here's what happened. For the fourth quarter, net sales increased 20%, but that was little consolation to the bottom line, which dropped 11%, as earnings per diluted share came in at $0.67 versus $0.75 in the year-ago period. The top line also was the beneficiary of some inorganic growth based on acquisitions. If you adjust for certain items, bringing the earnings up to $0.73 per diluted share, the decrease in the bottom line improves to 3%, but a decline in this case is still a decline. Plus, earnings expectations were not met. The company came in five pennies shy of Wall Street's wishes, according to estimates posted at earnings.com.

For the fiscal year, J.M Smucker's top line increased 18%, also due in part to acquisitions. On both a reported and an adjusted basis, earnings per diluted share jumped 9% to $3.00. Margins really suffered during the quarter and the year. Input costs are inflating, and they're becoming difficult to manage.

Some people say that Americans need to look for "alternatives" to oil as prices generally increase and pollution concerns are trumpeted by environmentalists. The current hot topic is ethanol, a corn-based fuel that is already being used in automobiles on a small scale.

The new demand for corn is fantastic for farmers, who are seeing rising prices paid for their corn. It's not so good for consumers -- it's causing food prices to rise as the availability of corn is going down.

Looking for fuel alternatives is a good idea, but it has to be done strategically and smartly. Consumer needs for food should come before fuel. That's just common sense.

A bill passed the House of Representatives on Friday, mandating more widespread use of "biofuels," which are derived from plants. We currently consume about 6 billion gallons of ethanol and other biofuels, and this bill would force consumers to increase that to 36 billion gallons per year by 2022.

Leading cereal company Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) said Monday that third-quarter earnings rose 9%, thanks in large part to rising international sales. In its latest reporting period, the maker of Frosted Flakes, Nutri-Grain bars, Cheez-It crackers and Keebler cookies and crackers banked $305 million, or 76 cents per share, up from year-ago results of $281 million (70 cents per share). Analysts were expecting the firm to earn 73 cents per share.

Revenue jumped 6% during the quarter to $3 billion, edging past analysts' revenue target of $2.99 billion. Net sales in North America were up 3% as consumers scooped up frozen foods and specialty items. Cereal sales were unchanged amid higher-than-normal inventories. International net sales jumped 5%, with trends especially strong in the Latin-American region.

This positive earnings surprise transpired despite a backdrop of rising wheat, corn, dairy, and fuel prices that have challenged the food industry and spurred a broad price hike. In response, K has increased its prices by 1.8% for the 12 weeks ended October 6, compared with a 3.2% year-over-year price lift as of October 6.

I've been in love with natural foods grocers since I was a little girl, when Fred Meyer opened a little mini-store dedicated to raw peanut butter, tofu, wheat germ and a dozen different kinds of bulk grains. The store had candy bars made out of honey and I loved it. Since then, my understanding for and appreciation of the natural grocer has grown up with the industry; from the cute little small-town co-op where I shopped in college, to the Fresh Fields (acquired, and already assimilated by, Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFMI)) I fell in love with in Philadelphia during business school, to the discovery of the Portland, Oregon New Seasons chain when I moved "back home" in 2001. I noshed at every quick-service franchise that jumped on the healthy foods wagon, from spirulina-spiked smoothies to bagels loaded with sprouts and hummus.

Natural and organic grocers always seemed like the nice (if a bit militant) guys, interested in supporting the local farmer, providing non-toxic food and diapers for our babies, striving to make sure our bodies were healthy and our baths were perfumed with chamomile and lavendar. And then 2005 happened.

Suddenly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc (NYSE:WMT) was in the organic grocery game. Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY) started its own line of "O" organic foods. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) created a line of herbal-infused babycare products and Kellogg Company (NYSE:K) launched organic Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes. Big business had figured it out and suddenly it wasn't smelling much like chamomile and patchouli. No. It smelled more like war.

With the news yesterday that Whole Foods was set to acquire Wild Oats Markets (NYSE:OATS), the war seems ever more bitter.