Industrial Agriculture:CornCorn

Where does our food come from?

• Fruits and Vegetables--easy to trace

• Meat--more complicated

• Processed foods--very complicated

Corn

• Corn is used in animal feed• This means that many animal products essentially

contain corn• Corn is also used in human food directly and under

other names including: – Lecithin, mono-, di, and triglycerides, high-fructose corn syrup

(HFCS), modified and unmodified starch, glucose syrup, maltodextrin, crystalline fructose, ascorbic acid, dextrose, lactic acid, lysine, maltose, MSG, polyols, carmel color, xanthan gum, etc..

• Corn is even used in non-food products- Wax, pesticides, wallboard, linoleum, fiberglass, adhesives, etc..

• The average American consumes a ton of corn a year

Corn• A.k.a. Zea mays• A grass native to Central America• Corn was recognized by settlers for its ability to produce the most

food per area in the New World• Genetic variability allowed it to adapt to many regions• Due to its husked ear, corn is dependent on humans for survival and

is completely domesticated• Humans have cultivated corn and saved seeds for thousands of

years• Modern industrial corn has been engineered so that farmed corn

cannot reproduce successfully and farmers must buy seeds to plant each year.

• Modern industrial corn is essentially inedible and requires extensive processing

Corn

• Corn is often genetically modified to increase yields• Current corn productivity is often 10 times 1920’s

levels• Increased productivity results from increased

tolerance of crowding • The only other cultivated organism to have such an

increase in productivity is the Holstein cow• Corn now lives in dense corn cities and has stronger

stalks and roots to live in such conditions and tolerate mechanical harvesting

Soy Beans

• Second leg of industrial food system

• Feeds livestock and is in 2/3 of all processed foods

• Grown alternatively with corn to fix nitrogen by some farmers

Changes in Farms

• Family farms used to be less dense and included other crops and livestock (e.g., cattle, chickens, hogs, apples, hay, oats, potatoes, cherries, etc…)

• This lead to cultivation for a larger portion of the year and the production of directly consumable foods

• The high profitability of corn led farmers to gradually produce more and more of it and less of other products

• Overproduction of corn led to a decrease in price, which led to more production to maintain profits

• This led to corn being very cheap and resulted in it being incorporated into many new foods and processes

Fertilizer

• Chemical fertilizers were first spread on crops as a way to use left-over ammonium nitrate from WWII– War military machine peacetime industrial machine

• (Nitrogen in fertilizers is also found in explosives.)• Corn rapidly consumes nutrients and fertilizer due to its

fast-growing productivity• Without synthetic fertilizers it is estimated that 2 out of 5

individuals today would not be alive• For this reason, chemical fertilizers are arguably the most

important invention of the 20th century

Nitrogen

• Nitrogen is necessary for amino acids (the monomers of proteins) and nucleic acids (the monomers of DNA)

• The atmosphere is 80% N2

• Nitrogen must be “fixed” to become usable to life• Nitrogen is naturally fixed by soil bacteria in the roots of

legumes• Nitrogen is artificially fixed for chemical fertilizers (and

explosives) by the Haber-Bosch process:

N2(g) + 3H2(g) 2NH3(g), Ho = -92.4 kJ/mol

Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen and Oil

• Synthetic fertilizers eliminate the need to rotate crops (legumes are not needed to fix nitrogen)

• The Haber-Bosch process requires heat and pressure supplied by electricity

• This electricity is often derived from fossil fuels– Petroleum food

• Tractors, pesticide production, corn transportation, and corn processing all use fossil fuels

• Much of this spread nitrogen leaches and runs-off contaminating water supplies making them unsafe to drink

• These processes are ecologically expensive, but economically cheap• Corn essentially allows us to convert fossil fuels to food. Cattle then

lets us turn this corn into meat. A steer will essentially eat 35 gallons of oil in its lifetime before slaughter

Economics of Corn

• Previously, government farm programs were designed to limit production and support prices (and therefore farmers)

• Under Nixon, secretary of agriculture Earl Butz revolutionized American agriculture in response to record high food prices by driving down prices and vastly increasing output– He pushed consolidation and to “get big or get out”– He removed the floor from the grain market and paid farmers directly

for part of the decrease in price, which encouraged them to sell at any price

• As a result of low prices, it costs $2.50 to produce a bushel of corn, which is sold for $1.45 (the government makes up some of the difference)

• Corn receives a biological subsidy in the form of synthetic fertilizer and also receives economic subsidies!

Corporate Corn

• Cargill and ADM buy around 1/3 of all corn grown in America

• These two companies provide the pesticides and fertilizers used to grow corn, operate most grain elevators, broker and ship most exports, mill the corn, produce ethanol, feed livestock and then slaughter them, and produce high fructose corn syrup

• Such corn refiners secured import tariffs on sugar making corn sweeteners cheaper and therefore more prevalent in American foods

The Feedlot:making meat

Corn-fed Animals

• The tremendous production of corn has led to corn being fed to animals that never use to eat it before including cows and salmon

• Salmon are actually carnivorous, so this is a particularly large change in diet. Neither animal is well suited to consume corn, which can cause considerable health problems

• This has allowed for the concentration of animals into small pens without grass

Beef• Young cattle are raised on grassland ranches• They are then transferred to a feedlot where they are fed corn

to quickly gain weight for slaughter• Furthermore, feedlot cows are fed liquefied fat, protein

supplements, vitamins, synthetic hormones, antibiotics, alfalfa hay, and silage

• Grass-fed cows take 5 years to mature to slaughter weight, on corn and steroids like they are now, it takes only 14 months!

• The fat is often derived from animals (often cattle), which means that these herbivores are being turned into carnivores. This is one way that mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) was transmitted through cattle in England

Beef• Feeding cows corn leads to less healthy meat—it contains more saturated fat and less omega-3 fatty acids than grass-fed animals

• This meat causes heart disease, cancer, and poor digestion in humans

• Cows have evolved to feed on grass, and eating grain can cause serious health problems—antibiotics are administered to try to keep the cattle alive until slaughter

Sick cattle Sick People

Antibiotics• The majority of antibiotics

sold in America end up in animal feed

• This tremendous administration of antibiotics (to all cattle—not just sick ones) promotes the development of antibiotic-resistant superbugs that can cause human diseases

• Antibiotics would be unnecessary if the cows were fed their natural food: grass

Feedlot wastes• Feedlots produce entire lagoons

of manure and urine• These wastes contain high levels

of nitrogen, phosphorous, heavy metals, and hormones

• These wastes are not spread on crops as they would kill the plants

• These wastes have been found to cause endocrine disruption and other health problems

• Feedlots turn what would be a source of fertility into toxic waste!

Animal Efficiencies• Cattle: 8 lbs food 1 lb flesh

• Chickens: 2 lbs food 1 lb flesh

• Cattle are less efficient and more costly

16 lbs baby = 8 lbs flesh

The Processing Plant:making complex foods

Milling

• The industrially grown corn is wet milled and processed as it is inedible to humans otherwise

• The corn is separated into its botanical and chemical parts for use in other processes and products

• Starch from corn is processed into high-fructose corn syrup that imitates sucrose (table sugar) for use in many products

Processed Foods• Originally, processed foods were produced

to improve taste and prevent spoiling• Corn is incorporated in many processed

foods because of its low price• Corn provides the carbohydrates in

processed foods and soy provides the protein, both provide fat

• “Artificial” vitamins and minerals are added to replace those lost during processing and give a sheen of healthfulness

• Often the ingredients are extraordinarily cheap, which means big corporate profits

4¢ corn $4 of cereal• Making food from basic components also

allows for easy substitution if the price of ingredients change

Eating Corn• Americans eat 1 ton of

corn a year, most of which is not in “corn” form (e.g., we eat 160 lbs of corn syrup)

• Even our cars “eat” ethanol from corn

• Corn accounts for most excess calories consumed in America

A McDonald’s Meal• Soda (100% corn)

• Milk Shake (78% corn)

• Salad dressing (65% corn)

• Chicken nuggets (56% corn)

• Cheeseburger (52% corn)

• French fries (23% corn)

(And, of course, this is true of most fast-food chains)

A Republic of Fat• Because of our diets:

3/5 of Americans are overweight

1/5 is obese

1/3 chance of developing diabetes

Type II diabetes rates in children have increased

Life expectancy shorter than previous generation, which is the first time this has ever happened in modern public health

or

Changing Practices

McDonald’s is actually working to change the fast-food industry

• Organic coffee, Newman’s products

• Changing packaging: biodegradable cups

• Antibiotic leadership

Leader of positive change

Changing Practices

Food chain

•In the processes of living and growing, much of the energy in corn is lost by converting it to meat

•Further processing (e.g., into soda) uses additional energy

•If we ate lower on the food chain, we could feed more people

Is Corn Really Cheap?

• Although the actual price of corn may be cheap, it doesn’t take into account the public health concern of antibiotic resistance, obesity, and hormone disruption, farm subsidies, or any environmental costs

• There are a great many externalities, and corn is actually costing us a lot

• Full cost accounting: cost to society, cost to ecosystem, cost to future generations

Sustainable farming• Places emphasis on

environmental stewardship, farm profitability, and prosperous farming communities

• Sustainable agriculture refers to the ability of a farm to produce food indefinitely, without causing irreversible damage to ecosystem health

• Often avoids monoculture• Often imitates natural

processes

• By imitating natural processes, waste can be eliminated or at least minimized

• For example:– Cows eat grass in a pasture– Chickens eat the insects from cow waste and the grass

in the field– The chickens prevent cow infections and the wastes

from both animals fertilize the land growing more grass– Eggs, chicken, beef, and milk can all then be

sustainablely harvested from these animals• In nature there is no waste problem

Feed to

Fertilize

No Waste Necessary

Feeds

Produces

Alternative sustainable practices

• Geese are used as an organic form of weed control

• Chickens and turkeys can consume other pests

Efficiency• Large-scale industrial farms are “efficient” in that

they use economies of scale and apply technology and standardizations to produce large amounts of food

• Sustainable farms are efficient in a natural sense—no waste is produced as a result of coevolutionary relationships and reciprocal loops

• While industrial farms specialize in simplification, monoculture, and mechanization, sustainable farms are based on complexity and interdependence

• Which is better? It depends on how you define “efficiency”

Industrial Organic• “Organic” refers to products made

without the use of conventional pesticides or artificial fertilizers

• Livestock are reared without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones

• Much of the organic food bought in the supermarket is produced industrially (e.g., Earthbound and Grimmway Farms in California dominate the organic produce market)

• This can make organic food cheaper and more available, but also sacrifices community and stewardship ideals—is this an acceptable trade-off?

Food safety

In the News:Tomatoes Salmonellosis Outbreak

• Salmonella is a type of bacterium. • Fruits and vegetables that come

into contact with Salmonella may become contaminated with it, causing illness if eaten.

• Salmonella lives in the intestinal tracts of some animals, and can live in soil and water for months.

• The Salmonellosis outbreak in May/June of 2008 sickened hundreds and resulted in Tomatoes being pulled from store shelves and restaurants