Corn

"From the toothpaste you use in the morning to the book you read at bed time, corn plays a part in nearly every aspect of our lives."

(Corn Refiner's Association web site home page (1))

Corn is in nearly every part of our food system as well as the rest of our lives. We feed it to our livestock and our pets. We use it to make, sweeten, or preserve our processed foods or drinks. We use it as a grain in cereals, tortillas, and other things. We use it's oil to fatten and flavor our food. We use it in our vitamin and pill casings. We even use it for in inedible things like our books, our makeup, and for purposes like creating ethanol, a "natural" substitute for gasoline. According to the Corn Refiner's Association, we now have 6,257 uses for corn-based derivatives like high fructose corn syrup and starch (2).

So what? Corn is a natural substance right? We can reproduce it, doesn't that mean that this is sustainable? On a very basic level this is true, but in our current system, corn is not a sustainable ingredient. There are several reasons why, perhaps the most important being that it takes a great deal of fossil fuels to grow corn in our current food system and it takes even more fossil fuel to refine it. The Green Revolution, which lead the way to the unsustainable food system that we have in the U.S. today, took a food system that was based on sunlight as a source of energy and created a food system with fossil fuels as the source of energy. We now rely on fossil fuels to grow our food, which leads to a system where each American consumer is "eating" 400 gallons of fossil fuels each year (3). It takes 400 gallons of fossil fuel just to grow, with our current industrialized food system, the amount of food that each of us eats in a year. This number does not include the amount of fossil fuels that are used during food processing. When we grow our food using massive amounts of pesticides and fertilizers, use machinery to spread them, and transport our food across the country, we expend a great deal of fossil fuel. When we process this food we use even more.

Most types of corn grown in the U.S. only produce one to two ears of corn per stock (4). This gives you an idea of how much land must be used to grow the corn that we use. We use about 86 million acres of land to grow corn (5). The next largest land use for a crop is soy using 63 million acres, then wheat at at 50 million acres, then cotton at 10 million acres (5). To put this in perspective, we use only 2 million acres to produce organic production, and only 4 million acres to grow vegetables (5). This helps us get a good idea of how much of our land we are dedicating to growing corn, a good deal more than any other crop.

Corn, because we use it in so many goods, is often grown using monocropping techniques. Monocropping is the practice of growing a single crop year after year on the same land without growing other plants in the off seasons in order to replenish the soil (6). In 1900, the average American farmer was growing about 5 different types of crops on a single farm. Now, the average American farmer is growing barely more that 1 type of crop on a single farm (7). This is a very dangerous practice both economically and agriculturally because it depletes the soil and leaves the farmer relying on the economic conditions for one single commodity for his or her livelihood (8). We can see, from the acreage of corn in the U.S., that there are many farmers that are relying solely on corn for their own economic livelihood. There is one obvious problem with this; the market price of corn is right at, or below, the production cost of corn, and has been for some time now (9). This is one of the reasons that there are so fewer farmers in the U.S. than there were in 1900 (7). In 1900, nearly 40% of the U.S. population lived on a farm; now, about 1% lives on a farm (7).

With corn farmers unable to make a significant profit on their own, two things happened. First the government must subsidize corn so that fewer farmers loose their farms (9). Second, because corn production has a high fixed cost, the profit per bushel increases the more bushels the farmer produces in a season. So farmers choose to grow more and more corn each year in order to make a profit (9). This perpetuates the problem of low-priced corn because it increases the supply of corn in the market overall. This system leads struggling farmers to depend even more intensely on the very crop that they already must receive subsidies for to break even on.

So what can we do about it? Most of us are not corn farmers and don't feel like we are a part of this system. There are a few things that we can do. First we can advocate for our political figures to address this problem. One of the best ways to do this is to advocate for the changing of the farm bill. The farm bill is discussed and renewed in the U.S. congress every five years, and it includes the plan for allocating subsidies for corn as well as other crops. The farm bill is currently being negotiated in Congress, giving us a great opportunity to advocate for changing the way that our food system works. The farm bill could be designed to give opportunities for farmers to change what they grow without taking great risk. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has a great deal of information about the current debate on the farm bill and what we can do to change it (10).

Another thing that we can do is change what foods we eat. We can eat fewer processed foods, eat more fresh food, and buy foods that we know the origin of. The most important thing is knowing what is in our food. Information is power. In our economy we vote with our dollar whether we want to or not. The money we spend makes a profit for a corporation. At the very least we should know what is in the product that we are voting for. Unfortunately this is also the hardest part of the process of eating better, however, taking it slowly can make it doable. Start with one ingredient. Is there something like corn syrup that you already know of that is easy to identify? Take the first step and notice if any of the food you eat has that particular ingredient in it. When you get the hang of that, add another ingredient, and so on. It takes time to build these habits but it is well worth it. If you decide that you don't want to eat some of the ingredients in your favorite processed foods and can't find them without it, try making them yourself. Again, start with something simple like cookies or mac-&-cheese. Once you make it a few times yourself, you will be surprised by how easy and quick it is. After mastering one processed food, move on to another, and so on. This is a learning process and starting small is the best way to develop lasting change and new habits. Every little bit helps!


Note: Thank you to my sister who was kind enough to help me turn the information I gathered into a nice pretty chart! Thanks Claire!

(1) http://www.corn.org/
(2) http://www.corn.org/publications/statistics/food-industrial-uses/
(3) http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/100303_eating_oil.html
(4) http://extension.usu.edu/htm/faq/faq_q=96
(5) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhrkUuVeap6tdEdKMjJtY3FEWlUxM3VjX0RYVkJNSWc
(6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocropping
(7) http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib3/charts.htm#fig1
(8) http://dairynutrient.wisc.edu/468/page.php?id=165
(9)http://www.agmrc.org/renewable_energy/ethanol/tracking_the_profitability_of_corn_production.cfm
(10) http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/farm-bill-hangs-in-balance/?utm_source=roundup&utm_medium=email

Processed Foods

Where to start... Processed foods of all kinds are a foundation of the food system in the U.S.  If you look at the ingredients on the processed food that you eat, chances are that either corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, or some other type of corn product will be somewhere on the label.  The Corn Refiners Association would have you believe that high fructose corn syrup is "made from corn, it's natural, and like sugar is fine in moderation" (1).  Some of this is true.  The molecules in corn syrup have reasonably similar properties to sugar and are probably not much worse for you than sugar (2).  The real problem is that this product has been highly processed, and perpetuates a system of food where our farmers are going bankrupt and our eaters are getting obese and diabetic.  Corn does contain sugar, but high fructose corn syrup is not derived from a simple juicing process like sugar is.  Corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup are both made through an extensive extraction process involving the use of molds to ferment the sugar out of corn starch (3).

But this is not even the most troubling part of corn syrup.  If you investigate the Corn Refiners Association web site (4), you will see that we find corn in many of the things that we eat or use daily.  Why have we found so many uses for corn? Because we have an overproduction of corn.  Corn is a commodity that defies the "laws" of economics.  Economists would say that if too much corn is produced, and there is a larger supply than demand, then the price will fall, which happened.  But economists would also say that when this happens, fewer farmers will produce corn because it has become unprofitable, which will cause the supply to lessen and the price to come back up (5).  This, however, is not what happens with corn.  When the price of corn falls, the government steps in and picks up the slack (6).  The government pays the farmers money for growing corn to help them break even, and to prevent farmer bankruptcy.  This creates a situation where the result of the price of corn dropping is an even greater production of corn.  Uses had to be created, and were profitable to create, for this unrealistically low cost commodity.

So what does this have to do with high fructose corn syrup?  This product and many others found in processed foods are a new found use for corn.  This sounds great until you think about the farmers growing the corn and the $4 billion per year that the government spends subsidizing corn (6).  Farmers are going bankrupt, and the government is spending lots of money so that we can eat highly processed corn in our highly processed food.  We do not get the full nutritional value of the corn this way because it has been broken down, and we also add a good deal of fossil fuel use to our food system in the processing procedures.

So what do we do?  Process our own food! Can your own food, make your own frozen dinners if you must, or just eat freshly cooked food.  If you make a habit of buying the raw ingredients for the things that you eat, then you can have canned beans without corn syrup and salad without preservatives.  Take the time to enjoy cooking food with your family.  Make your own bread. These are all options, and you should find some that work for you and your family.  My fiance and I now can some of our own food, and prepare many of our meals fresh.  We don't yet make our own bread, but hopefully we will have time for that soon.  You don't have to do it all at once! Try cooking one meal with your family, if it works make it a habit, if it doesn't try something else.  Dig grandma's pressure cooker out of the cupboard and read the instructions on canning.  Take the time to find something that you can do.  If you aren't able to do this, then at least find out what is in the processed food that you do eat.  Read the ingredients list.  The first step to any of the changes that need to be made is awareness.  We should ALL be aware of what we are eating, whether processed or fresh, cooked or raw, healthy or not.  Know what you are putting into your body, that is the most important part.

My sister and mother and I canned beans this weekend.  It was fun and pretty easy.  There are some websites attached that explain how pressure canning works and how canning is done (7-11).  Enjoy!


(1) -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl9vZYj-aJ4
(2) -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wffhlkxaXJE&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL3D0A23DD7CFC488E
(3) -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup#Production
(4) -http://www.corn.org/
(5) -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand
(6) -http://farm.ewg.org/progdetail.php?fips=00000&progcode=corn
(7) -http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_home.html
(8) -http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/clay53.html
(9) -http://www.simplycanning.com/#axzz1vRTZEfgr
(10) -http://www.canningacrossamerica.com/who-we-are/
(11) -http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/uga/using_press_canners.html

What's the story here?

The food movement is a movement in support of good food.  It is not a vegetarian or vegan or strict scary diet.  It is about good food and access to it.  It is obvious to some, and not others, that we have a serious problem with food in this country.  Our poorer citizens no longer starve, they suffer from diabetes and obesity, and even in a wealthy town it can be hard to find fresh produce that has not been smothered with chemicals.  Our food system needs some revision.  I am not a firm subscriber to the idea that we are to vote with our money and buy organic food, nor do I want to leave this movement up to politicians.  There is a middle ground.  We can change how we eat and advocate for a change in the system at the same time.  That is what I aim to do in this blog, I want to entice you to eat better, tastier food and join the movement in any way you can.

My first semester at UC Merced, I was assigned the book "Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan.  I started to read it but found the unending complaints about corn in our food system to be overwhelming.  Now that I have been introduced to good food more slowly and have been able to learn more and more about our food system and the food movement, I am voluntarily reading the same book.  With this blog, I hope to give people a starting point to understanding the food movement and why it is important.  I have changed the way that I do things because of what I have learned, but I have a long way to go before my life is sustainable.  I hope to give you some simple and fun alternatives to the way that many of us live.  I want to share knowledge, help others, and gain more knowledge.  I have learned that the only thing that I can truly change is myself.  It does no good to tell you to stop eating corn-fed beef if I don't do it myself.  For this reason, this blog will be a documentation of my own journey to a sustainable lifestyle.  I plan to write from that perspective, and the solutions that I find may only work for me.  But I hope you use the information I give to find solutions that work for you as well. I hope to give as many reverences and sources for the information that I post as possible, but some of it is more along the lines of common sense. I hope to share my journey and help you with yours.  I hope you enjoy this blog!