Do Not Read This Blog Post: Part 3

So let's talk about corn.

How did the US develop into a country with a corn-based food system?

1. In the early 20th century American corn breeders figured out how to make a hybrid corn seed that ensures a large crop of corn per acre. However, the seeds this hybrid corn makes produces crappy corn, so farmers who use it are forced to buy new seeds every year.
2. 1947 marked the end of the war. All that leftover ammonium nitrate, previously used to create explosives, made perfect nitrogen for plants, and especially for the afore-mentioned hybrid corn which consumes more fertilizer then any other crop.
3. In the fall of 1972 Russia purchased 30 million tons of American grain, pushing the sale and price of corn sky high.
4. In 1973 the inflation rate for food was so high that housewives were protesting at the supermarkets.
   
5. In response, the Dept. of Agriculture pushed farmers to grow more and more, and changed the earlier practice of giving loans to farmers during down seasons into a plan of direct payments to farmers.
6. With these new subsidies in place, it didn't matter what price farmers set on their corn, the government guaranteed they would make up the rest. Since the government was subsidizing every bushel of corn, farmers were encouraged to flood the market and grow as much as possible.
   
7. Today, it costs roughly $2.50 to grow a bushel of Iowa corn, and it's being sold for $1.45 a bushel. So, the more the farmer grows, the more money he'll get in subsidies. Thus...lots and lots and lots of corn.

So, now the government had solved the issue of farmers going out of business. Of course, now that everyone was growing corn instead of other produce we had to start shipping the other produce across the country because local selection was now very limited, but that's another day and another problem. Let's talk about what the real problem is...what do you do with all this friggin corn? I mean, it's not the sweet stuff that we butter, salt and pepper and serve with our corn...er, I mean steaks. This is mostly feed quality stuff and we've got more than we know what to do with. What on earth could we possibly make it in to? I'll tell you.

• Corn is fed to steers (steak), chicken, turkey, pig, lamb, catfish, tilapia, and salmon. (Salmon are carnivores but are being genetically modified to eat corn to help us deal with the surplus.)
• Milk, cheese and yogurt come from cows that eat corn, so are essentially of corn.
  
• Eggs, from corn.

Then there's:

• corn flour,
  
• corn oil,
  
• licithin,
  
• mono-, di-, and triglycerides,
  
• citric acid,
• high fructose corn syrup,
  
• beer (alcohol fermented from glucose refined from corn),
• modified and unmodified starch,
  
• glucose syrup,
  
• maltodextrin,
  
• crystalline fructose,
• ascorbic acid,
• dextrose,
  
• lactic acid,
• lysine,
• maltose,
• MSG,
  
• polyols,
• caramel color,
  
• xanthan gum,
  
• the shine on the cover of your magazine,
• the vegetable wax on your cucumbers,
• the ethanol in your automobile.

Have you ever seen these ingredients before? Well, I think you should look a little closer at what's in your cupboard. (Actually, that's not true. I don't think you should look. I don't even think you should really be reading this at all. I can't stress this to you enough , but I sense that I am not getting through.)

• Ninety percent of the bread in the bread aisle at your grocery store contain as the second or third ingredient High Fructose Corn Syrup (yes, even your whole wheats).
  
• It's in your Kraft Mac & Cheese as Citric Acid and Lactic Acid.
  
• Coco-Cola? about 50% corn.
  
• Your ketchup has High Fructose Corn Syrup and Corn Syrup.
  
• Ruffles should be all potato, right? Well, it depends on which oil is currently cheepest so it could very well be Corn Oil (that's why it says "Contains One Or More Of The Following").
  
• Hood Ice Cream Sandwiches also have High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Mono and Diglycerides.
  
• Old El Paso "Flour" Tortillas: Mono and Diglycerides, Corn Syrup Solids, Corn Starch.
  
• Cheerios: Modified Corn Starch, Corn Starch.
  
• The first two ingredients of Log Cabin "Maple Syrup" are Corn Syrup and High Fructose Corn Syrup.
  
• Stove Top Stuffing: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Protein, Caramel Color, Citric Acid. Yup, we're stuffing our corn chickens with corn stuffing.
  
• Oreos: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Cornstarch.
  
• Betty Crocker Potatoes Au Gratin: Corn Starch, Maltodextrin, Modified Corn Starch, Mono and Diglycerides, Lactic Acid.
  

In fact, if you look at the ingredients in the snack aisles of your grocery store you'll find that eighty percent of the products contain corn in one form or another. None of our food is actually made of food anymore. It seems like it's just broken down, reformulated, enriched flour, random chemicals, and corn in all of its various forms. And we just keep growing more.


So now you know how we came to the corn thing. If you read the first post that I specifically told you not to read, you'll understand why I personally have come to the conclusion that corn is not so good for cattle. Here is one more reason why our corn-based agriculture system is not such a good idea:

Add together the natural gas in the fertilizer used on the hybrid corn we grow, with the fossil fuels it takes to make the pesticides, drive the tractors, and harvest, dry, and transport the corn, and what you find is that every bushel of industrial corn requires the equivalent of between a quarter and a third of a gallon of oil to grow it; around fifty gallons of oil per acre of corn. Think about that the next time you hear someone touting the wonders of ethanol as an alternative to our oil consumption problems!




*I'm in everything image originated by NatalieDee.