Conservative Commentary/Opinion on Local, State & National issues. Hours 6am to 7pm to respond to comments
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Big Bad Corn
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Being a corn lover, but rarely buying it because of the expense, these facts intrigued me. The graphic was developed and sent to me by Sarah Wenger at LearnStuff.com.
Take corn away from the food chain and just try to replace it. We feed the world now, and with 34 million acres of CRP farmland available to grow even more crops, we can continue to feed the world for the next hundred years.
Obesity can be attributed to a lot of things, but corn is not one of them. Blame computers and game stations, etc. which have taken the place of playing out-of-doors. Also blame food stamps that take away all incentive to work and produce, and instead, to sit on ones butt for 24/7 playing those same games.
I do not like CRP or subsidies, but to blame a row crop for all of those things is simply ludicrous.
This "row crop" gets BILLIONS in my /our tax dollars. The facts are the facts,and it certainly is appropriate to place blame where blame belongs. The CORN LOBBY,of which you are a member ,has their tentacles up the backs of A LOT of U.S. policy makers.There are many plants that are NOT food crops that would be much more sensible and efficient to use for our energy needs,but ,as this article rightly points out,BIG CORN IS BIG MONEY !!
Anonymous 7:55 appears to be so caught up in defending a position that he/she fails to see that both commentators say much the same thing; and that is 'Neither likes subsidies'. That said, attacking row crops for obesity is just plain silly, but in this day and age, you must blame something. Eliminate corn from the food chain and we become much like Africa where disease and malnourishment is rampant.
So far as energy is concerned, take away subsidies for wind, solar and corn and replace it with investments in cold fusion, miscanthus, and algae and you would have a better and much more productive planet.
Great summary from LearnStuff. So you've found religion on Corn? Plenty of smart folks have been trying to get the USA to pay attention to this taxpayer-funded debacle for decades. Corn surpassed wheat as a staple crop a long time ago because of one thing: MUCH BIGGER PROFITS. And ethanol from corn for fuel was sold to dumb-ass Americans as GREEN was the baldest lie told. But they bought it.
Archer Daniels Midland is at the pointy end of big agribusiness' intention to create a world food monopoly, and they've succeeded. Everything you buy is touched in some way by that plan. The health issues are genuine... and the environmental impact more serious than most acknowledge. Besides the obvious, it's just stupid to burn food.
As to the tired, knee-jerk "lazy good-fer-nothins suckin' the food stamp tit" claim: it happens to be rural white non-Hispanic America, children and the elderly that are most dependent... read up.
I love corn on the cob especially white corn. The last time I wanted to buy some it was over a $1 an ear. I remember, and it doesn't seem that long ago, when I bought it for 10 cents an ear. We never seem to be able to buy produce grown in Florida any more.
Community agriculture is about making sure small farmers don't disappear, and being well fed as reward for supporting them. We've had high-quality fresh vegetables delivered to our door weekly since 2006, for less than the price of wrapped and sterilized grocery store veggies. Yes, you have to wash the dirt off the greens & tubers. But when did you last really TASTE a tomato? BTW, local sweet corn is the BEST.
Also available: grass-fed beef, goat and chicken. Plus eggs laid by hens that eat bugs and grain, just like they're supposed to.
I live in this City, and have been growing veggies for several years, coming from the North it took some time to get use to the Growing Season here in South Florida, but several books have taught me well. I buy seeds that are Heirloom so I can grow the best tasting vegetables, but would like to have Chickens, for eggs, and a goat for milk, and cheese. I know this is not a rural area, but WTF.
Take corn away from the food chain and just try to replace it. We feed the world now, and with 34 million acres of CRP farmland available to grow even more crops, we can continue to feed the world for the next hundred years.
ReplyDeleteObesity can be attributed to a lot of things, but corn is not one of them. Blame computers and game stations, etc. which have taken the place of playing out-of-doors. Also blame food stamps that take away all incentive to work and produce, and instead, to sit on ones butt for 24/7 playing those same games.
I do not like CRP or subsidies, but to blame a row crop for all of those things is simply ludicrous.
This "row crop" gets BILLIONS in my /our tax dollars. The facts are the facts,and it certainly is appropriate to place blame where blame belongs. The CORN LOBBY,of which you are a member ,has their tentacles up the backs of A LOT of U.S. policy makers.There are many plants that are NOT food crops that would be much more sensible and efficient to use for our energy needs,but ,as this article rightly points out,BIG CORN IS BIG MONEY !!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 7:55 appears to be so caught up in defending a position that he/she fails to see that both commentators say much the same thing; and that is 'Neither likes subsidies'. That said, attacking row crops for obesity is just plain silly, but in this day and age, you must blame something. Eliminate corn from the food chain and we become much like Africa where disease and malnourishment is rampant.
ReplyDeleteSo far as energy is concerned, take away subsidies for wind, solar and corn and replace it with investments in cold fusion, miscanthus, and algae and you would have a better and much more productive planet.
Great summary from LearnStuff. So you've found religion on Corn? Plenty of smart folks have been trying to get the USA to pay attention to this taxpayer-funded debacle for decades. Corn surpassed wheat as a staple crop a long time ago because of one thing: MUCH BIGGER PROFITS. And ethanol from corn for fuel was sold to dumb-ass Americans as GREEN was the baldest lie told. But they bought it.
ReplyDeleteArcher Daniels Midland is at the pointy end of big agribusiness' intention to create a world food monopoly, and they've succeeded. Everything you buy is touched in some way by that plan. The health issues are genuine... and the environmental impact more serious than most acknowledge. Besides the obvious, it's just stupid to burn food.
As to the tired, knee-jerk "lazy good-fer-nothins suckin' the food stamp tit" claim: it happens to be rural white non-Hispanic America, children and the elderly that are most dependent... read up.
I love corn on the cob especially white corn. The last time I wanted to buy some it was over a $1 an ear. I remember, and it doesn't seem that long ago, when I bought it for 10 cents an ear. We never seem to be able to buy produce grown in Florida any more.
ReplyDeleteFor real food grown locally, visit:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml
http://www.localharvest.org/search.jsp?map=1&lat=26.613876&lon=-80.054115&scale=9&ty=6&zip=33460
Green Cay Produce: http://www.veggies4u.com/
Community agriculture is about making sure small farmers don't disappear, and being well fed as reward for supporting them. We've had high-quality fresh vegetables delivered to our door weekly since 2006, for less than the price of wrapped and sterilized grocery store veggies. Yes, you have to wash the dirt off the greens & tubers. But when did you last really TASTE a tomato? BTW, local sweet corn is the BEST.
Also available: grass-fed beef, goat and chicken. Plus eggs laid by hens that eat bugs and grain, just like they're supposed to.
Screw big agribusiness. Eat healthy.
I live in this City, and have been growing veggies for several years, coming from the North it took some time to get use to the Growing Season here in South Florida, but several books have taught me well. I buy seeds that are Heirloom so I can grow the best tasting vegetables, but would like to have Chickens, for eggs, and a goat for milk, and cheese. I know this is not a rural area, but WTF.
ReplyDeleteVegetables I can see. Throw in a couple of fruit trees, Yes. But CHICKENS and A GOAT. What will you want next a PIG or 2?
ReplyDeleteI live on the Golf Course, you think I might be able to get a couple of Horses?
ReplyDelete