Yes, ethanol is the American equivalent. If we ever have a food shortage due to widespread extreme weather or similar, the president can nix the ethanol mandate to eliminate the food shortage.
The world does not have caloric food insecurity. We might be insecure in terms of specific nutrients or specific foods, but the modern world is not insecure in terms of human food calories.
If food was a problem in the US we wouldn't be putting corn in our cars or our cows.