Corn, Fuel, and Frustration

Having previously read The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, re-reading about the prevalence of corn in the products we eat was not as shocking as the first time learning about it; on the other hand, this reading highlighted another aspect of our food production industry I may not have been actively thinking about before: the energy input required for the food industry. Of course, I had been aware that the transportation of food whether a large scale corporation shipping mangoes from Mexico to the US or from the small time farmer driving an hour to sell her local produce at the market energy is essential to the industry. With an increasing population the use of energy will obviously only go up from here. Is there an alternative to these practices? It seems like the answer may temporarily be “no.” If I need to sell my produce and I live thirty miles from town, one way or another my product has to travel.

What I was most surprised and honestly overwhelmed about learning was that even if we converted the corn to ethanol and started running all cars on it—it wouldn’t solve the issue. There would still be waste and pollution and excess. The gas we now use is mostly a bi-product of vinyl and plastic production, so even if we all started riding our bikes or riding electric city buses, the waste would still need to be disposed of. It seems that stopping the use of one product doesn’t eliminate it: we need to get creative. Let’s say we all switched to electric motors and bicycles, what do we do with the unused gas. How do we think of new ways to use old products? What can we do with all the excess corn?

Additionally, the idea that producing food is often more calories burned than consumed is just as frustrating and illogical. I felt that after readings this week I have more frustration and questions about our food industry than solutions or answers. I think my natural inclination is to question the evil team of scientists and nutritionists and government workers who put all of this in place, even though I know no one set out to corrupt the system; rather, the flaws today are the byproducts of unsustainable policies and practices. As enlightened eaters we have the question now of how do we fix the broken system. If it was an easy answer, it would have been done by now.