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"It’s ironic how the
world’s appetite for meat is
causing global food shortages,
huh?And that is just the tip of
the iceberg. The incredible
backward-ness of our industrial
food complex knows no bounds of
absurdity."
One Green Planet February 26,
2014
Read the whole story
here:
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/whos-eating-the-worlds-grain/
How the Global Industrial Food
Complex Leaves People Hungry and
Undernourished
By Kate Good
The United States is the
largest producer of corn in the
world. Close behind corn,
soybeans and wheat toe the line
for the most popular crops in the
country. Referred to by the
United States Department of
Agriculture as “commodity
crops,” the bulk of American
agricultural land has been
designated to grow these
crops.
There is no denying the
dominance of these crops in the
United States. It is estimated
that corn covers 80 million acres
of farmland, soybeans cover over
70 million acres and wheat is
designated 45 million acres. In
comparison to these giants, the
next largest crop produced in the
U.S., cotton, only covers 9.5
million acres.
As Michael Pollan says,
“If you are what you eat,
and especially if you eat
industrial food, as 99 percent of
American’s do, what you are
is corn.” And if you
aren’t corn, then you must
be soy or wheat…
The trends shown in U.S.
agriculture are reflective of
growing agricultural trends
across the globe. According to
the Earth Observatory, over 819
million tons of corn were
produced around the world in 2010
and over 60 percent of the
world’s energy intake is met
by corn, wheat and rice.
But while the majority of the
foods we consume are variant
forms of wheat, soybeans, or
corn, it doesn’t seem to
appear that people are
responsible for eating these HUGE
stores of grains.
In fact, despite the abundance
of these crops grown at a global
scale, one in eight people suffer
from chronic undernourishment.
The world does produce enough
food to feed everyone on the
planet at least 2,720
kilocalories per day, so where
does the discrepancy between the
amount of crops produced and the
number of people fed begin?
Of course, there is
disproportionate distribution of
food among the world’s
wealthy nations. But there is a
growing problem with the
world’s agricultural system
that is much simpler than that:
most of the world’s crops
aren’t grown to feed
people.
Corn, wheat, and soybeans
grown around the world seldom
reach the mouths of the
world’s hungry people. In
fact only about 20 percent of the
corn grown in the United States
is used to feed people. Argentina
is the largest producer of
soybeans in the world, but nearly
97 percent of soymeal exported by
Argentina is not sent to feed the
world’s people. Only about
six percent of the world’s
soybeans are directly used to
feed humans.
So, what is happening to the
world’s grains? How can such
high-volume production of these
crops yield so little nutrition
for the world’s people?
Where is does all the grain
go?
Livestock. Plain and simple.
The majority of the world’s
grains are processed and turned
into animal feed. It’s
ironic how the world’s
appetite for meat is causing
global food shortages, huh?
And that is just the tip of
the iceberg. The incredible
backward-ness of our industrial
food complex knows no bounds of
absurdity.
As industrial feedlots replace
small farms across the world,
animals that would naturally
graze on grass and small shrubs
(even chickens naturally eat
grass, not corn as portrayed by
mainstream media and Big Ag
companis) are locked up in
thousands of indoor pens and fed
a man-made mixture designed to
fatten ‘em up quick. Cows
that maintain a natural grass-fed
diet take four or five years to
reach market weight, where an
industrial-raised cow pumped with
animal feed reaches market weight
in 14 months.
Most animal feed is composed
of corn and soybeans. These
protein rich grains accelerate
the growth of animals to get them
to reach market weight quickly at
a low cost. As a result, nearly
47 percent of soybeans and 60
percent of corn grown in the
United States is consumed by
livestock.That’s over half
of the country’s corn and
just under half of its soybeans.
Wow.
But it get’s worse. Cows,
sheep, goats, pigs and chickens
have not evolved to eat soy or
corn and doing so can cause
serious digestive problems. Cows
that are fed corn can only stand
to live on a feed-lot diet for up
to six months, after that if they
continue to eat corn they develop
ulcers, liver disease and can
even suffocate from excessive
bloating. Chickens that are fed
soy have trouble absorbing
necessary nutrients and vitamins.
Not to mention the fact that
people who eat industrially
raised meat are exposed to the
hormones, antibiotics, and
pesticides mixed into animal
feed.
We’re using the majority
of our grain stores to raise sick
animals that make people sick.
And that’s not where it
ends…
But what else is
happening?
The ubiquity of corn, soy,
wheat and other commodity crops
grown globally puts a tremendous
strain on the environment.
Michael Pollan refers to corn
fields in the U.S. as the
“second great American
lawn.” Are our industrial
monocultures the new amber waves
of grain?
Arguably, yes. By replacing
native plants and diverse crop
fields with millions of acres of
a single crop we’ve set
ourselves on the edge of a pretty
slippery slope. Monocultures
deplete soil of minerals and
nutrients requiring large amounts
of synthetic fertilizers and
pesticides to maintain constant
planting cycles. These chemicals
contribute to air and water
pollution and have been shown to
exacerbate climate change and
threaten drinking water.
Industrial soybean production
is a leading cause of
deforestation in South America.
In Argentina, more than 100
million hectares of native forest
have been cleared for Big Soy.
Soy production poses a serious
threat to the Amazon rainforest
and the deforestation caused by
soybean plantations in Brazil is
responsible for the release of
473 million tons of carbon
dioxide.
Corn is native to North
America but can now be found
across the globe. Corn occupies
90 percent of cultivated land in
Malawi and has been planted in
across East Africa. Corn crops
require a lot of water and are
highly susceptible to droughts
that are common in these regions.
By replacing native, diverse
crops that can withstand regional
weather patterns with
monocultures that cannot, these
area are subject to famine if
crops fail.
What Can We Do?
The best thing you can do to
stop this crazy cycle is to stop
or greatly reduce your
meat-eating. By decreasing the
global demand for meat we can
stop the excessive cultivation of
grains used for animal feed
(there are also MANY other
benefits of going meat-free).
You can also stand-up to
industrial agriculture by:
Only buying local, organic
grains and produce
Avoiding products owned by
Monsanto and other Big Ag
companies (click here for a list
of brands to avoid)
Signing the Environmental
Working Group’s Healthy and
Sustainable Farm petition
Supporting the World Wildlife
Fund’s effort to combat
soy-related deforestation
The more you support
small-scale farming in your area,
the more you are helping to end
our global reliance on industrial
farming and safeguarding the
future of our food supply!
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