What % corn are you?: The explosion of the corn industry
- Rosie Levaillant
- Apr 8, 2023
- 3 min read
The majority of corn grown today is inedible and can only be used once processed. It is genetically modified (GM) to have high starch content and grow in close quarters to each other increasing yield per acre. Farmers can grow huge amounts with less land, and less manual labour because it is GM to be resistant to potent chemicals such as glufosinate. This allows large amounts of the herbicide to be sprayed killing all weeds and life except the corn. Other biotech giants such as Syngenta and Monsanto also do this with the world's biggest crops such as Roundup sprayed onto corn, soy and wheat. The crops withstand these toxic chemicals and are then harvested and fed to animals and humans. In 2022/23 corn was grown worldwide more than any other grain, producing 1,151.36 million metric tons (Statista).
Inedible corn is either turned into sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup as well as ascorbic acid, dextrin, maltodextrin, dextrose, MSG, citric acid, sorbitol, xanthan gum, xylitol, and more which are all processed into the packaged products we consume today, anything from biscuits, bread, juice, sodas and pasta sauce. Due to the huge surplus of corn about half of each acre grown (10,000lbs of corn) is fed to livestock, this high starch food feeds up livestock quickly in around 5-6 months and allows animals to be slaughtered around 1.5 years earlier than grass fed animals, and has coincided with the increase of confined feedlots. This also means that animals are not moving as much and are eating constantly producing meat with a high fat content, around 60% of calories from a beef patty today comes from fat. After 90 days eating corn, cows develop acidosis (high acid state in the body producing irritation, disease, tumours, cancers) as well as ulcers in the stomach. To counteract this they are increasingly fed antibiotics to live long enough to get to slaughter age.
About 32% of each acre is used to create ethanol for vehicles, which ties corn prices to oil prices, distilleries are subsidised as well as corn which diverts money and food away from people, prices for other foods which are not subsidised also become more expensive. Grain was originally grown to meet demand and a more modest supply kept costs high and the market stable but the U.S. government made the Farm Program and encouraged farmers to grow more GM corn with corn subsidies, this drove the cost of corn down and production up exponentially. Corn fields have replaced the majority of crop fields in the USA today. The use of corn in products rose and further fuelled cheap processed foods and sodas which are widely responsible for the obesity epidemic in the U.S. and other parts of the world today.
A French study on GMOs saw rats developing tumours after three months on GM corn and with a safe level of roundup in their water, the most used chemical on crops today. The second most used chemical, Atrazine made by Syngenta, created frogs with smaller genitals, fertility problems and both male and female reproductive organs. Hair analysis studies show the carbon in people's bodies is being replaced with GM corn carbon. These chemicals are also well known for being hormone disruptors and studies show they may be able to reactivate in the gut and feed harmful bacteria.
Resources and references:
King Corn. King Corn Full Documentary - YouTube
Dark waters
One man, One cow, One planet.
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