Corn in the USA

[toaster]

I just watched a documentary on the state of corn production in the USA and the effect on our nutrition as a result.

I'm going to swear off corn-fed beef, high fructose corn syrup, corn oils and all things corn.

We should be burning this crap in our cars instead of putting it in our bodies.

Corn has been turned into a crop engineered for maximum starch content and the government subsidizes the growers so that obesity and diabetes can become one of our biggest health concerns.

Discuss, my friends.

[sspielman]

I just watched a documentary on the state of corn production in the USA and the effect on our nutrition as a result.

I'm going to swear off corn-fed beef, high fructose corn syrup, corn oils and all things corn.

We should be burning this crap in our cars instead of putting it in our bodies.

Corn has been turned into a crop engineered for maximum starch content and the government subsidizes the growers so that obesity and diabetes can become one of our biggest health concerns.

Discuss, my friends.

...better swear off chicken as well.....the primary constituent of their diet is corn as well....

[Dave B]

Just eat Mc Donalds, I am not sure what type if any meat is in their food.

Should be safe! :rolleyes:

[avalonracing]

Swearing off corn is all but impossible in the country. It is in EVERYTHING.
Kinda scary.

[cs124]

I'd be interested to hear who funded the documentary and the research behind it.

Not a "corn lover", just naturally sceptical.

[znfdl]

A really good piece of corn bread would be hard to give up.

Are you going to give up locally grown sweet corn?

[Dave B]

I'd be interested to hear who funded the documentary and the research behind it.

Not a "corn lover", just naturally sceptical.


Michael Moore? :rolleyes:

[sspielman]

What was the title of the documentary?.....Did they get into any of the politics of our using corn syrup as a sweetener as opposed to cane sugar to slam Castro (and the Cuban sugar industry's) head against the wall?

[swoop]

i wish corns syrup were illegal. that stuff is killing us.

[CarbonCycles]

We should be burning this crap in our cars instead of putting it in our bodies.



Ironic, it costs more to grow the corn and convert to ethanol than oil; it's also less efficient.

Besides, how dare we produce more corn when there are starving children all over the world!

[saab2000]

We should be burning this crap in our cars instead of putting it in our bodies.



Corn has a place in the world. But not in our gas tanks IMHO. Energy per unit of weight is much less than gasoline and we use a lot of fuel to make the corn, distribute the fuel, etc. Total fuel burned for ethanol is probably more than with oil. We need to move beyond combustion for locomotion on the ground.

[saab2000]

Swearing off corn is all but impossible in the country. It is in EVERYTHING.
Kinda scary.

My next bike is corn free.

[sspielman]

You might see a little less corn over the next 1-2 years. All of the "biofuel" insanity drove the price of corn up over the last couple of years....and farmers responded by maximising production. the result was a reduction in soybean production which-surprise!- caused them to go up in price. As a farmer, the production of soybeans is looking pretty good right now; they are a much cheaper crop to grow as their nitrogen requirement is much lower than corn...and nitrogen cost is very high right now as its production is a very energy intensive operation. The maximising of corn and soybean production has also put pressure on wheat production, but to a lesser extent....but wheat prices have gone WAY up.....So we have all 3 major grain crops in the US at unprecedented price levels....no wonder food prices have soared!

[William]

My next bike is corn free.

Frame builders are corn fed to so....not likely.




William

[93legendti]

I'm allergic to corn, but it is pretty easy, for me, to avoid it. The only problem is the starch in laundered shirts, even light starch, bugs the skin on my elbows.

Thank G-d for Cliff products.

[Fat Robert]

don't buy processed foods

organize your time and actually cook

mrs fat and i are busy as crap. and paid like teachers. and i eat like a horse.

this is what we buy each week:

flour
oats
brown rice
dried beans (lentils, split peas, kidney beans, black beans)
eggs
kefir and yogurt
peanut butter
fruit
veggies
cheeses
nuts (almonds or peanuts)
raisins
bread ( we look for the stuff with the shortest ingredients list -- no hfcs)
pasta sauce (luxury!)

the cost of food is in the processing...make your own **** and you'll do all right

[catulle]

.

[CarbonCycles]

d and i eat like a horse.

Well based on your grocery list, if you added some apples, carrots and hay to the list, you'd be spot on :p

[catulle]

make your own **** and you'll do all right

I can make some pretty good **** out of McDonald's too... :confused:

[toaster]

Not sure of the title of the documentary but it was on PBS. Two young guys following their tiny corn crop and where the corn was going to be used.

They even followed directions to make HFCS. Mixture included sulphuric acid.

Sweetened drinks and soft drinks are a big problem. Most use HFCS. Beef industry feeds cows corn and then has to use antibiotics to keep cows from dying due to this corn based diet. Meat has high saturated fat content. Grass fed beef is quite lean compared to corn fed beef. Chicken and pork is the same story.

American consumers like cheap food. Corn syrups, oils, corn fed animals have all contributed to lowering costs of producing and processing food.

Our consumption of cane sugars has gone down and our consumption of HFCS has gone up. Overall consumption of all sugar is up as well.Sweetened drinks contribute considerably to american's high sugar and high caloric intake.

I know I can't avoid corn products completely. I will avoid soft drinks and as many foods containing HFCS and beef (especially ground hamburger) as possble.

[johnnymossville]

I'm not giving up hand-picked corn on the cob on a nice summer weekend. As far as soft drinks and stuff, yeah, try to stay away from that stuff, but again, once in awhile's alright.

Corn should be eaten and not burned in your car though as far as I'm concerned, and it looks like the science/economics is coming around on that one too.

"Burning Corn" in your car raises the price of everything else since farmers find it more profitable to plant corn at the moment, which is another political fiasco, but that's just typical of govt. gone awry.

[pdxmech13]

I read about a type of grass that Indiana University has been testing for fuel.
Cant remember the name of the grass but it grows extremely tall and dosn't require much.

[Lifelover]

Not sure of the title of the documentary .....


King Corn (http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/kingcorn/)

[jemoryl]

Agree with those who say the corn should not be going into our gas tanks - more energy input than you get out (and the CO2 output for the whole cycle is worse too). It is more of a welfare program for ADM, Cargill, et.al. I'd like to see the subsidies going to smaller farmers who use sustainable methods and provide to their local regions.

[sspielman]

I read about a type of grass that Indiana University has been testing for fuel.
Cant remember the name of the grass but it grows extremely tall and dosn't require much.


switchgrass....

[swoop]

secret:

coke bottled in mexico is made with sugar and not corn syrup. it tastes less sweet and you don't crave more after you have one like you do with corn syrup drinks.
it also comes in retro glass bottles.

[fiamme red]

secret:

coke bottled in mexico is made with sugar and not corn syrup. it tastes less sweet and you don't crave more after you have one like you do with corn syrup drinks.
it also comes in retro glass bottles.Sugar-based Coke is more widely available at this time of the year because Orthodox Jews don't use corn syrup on Passover. So stock up now at your local supermarket.

http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/kosher-for-passover-coke-its-the-real-thing-baby/

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03192007/news/regionalnews/kosher__coke_a_big_hit_regionalnews_rita_delfiner. htm

But you can order it online year-round: http://store.drsoda.com/mexicancoke.html

[Hardlyrob]

Don't forget the gubmint involvement in hfcs vs. sugar. The US has an artificially high sugar price compared to the rest of the world (about $0.31/lb vs. $0.19/lb). This is to theoretically "protect" our "strategic" sugar industry. The reality is that it makes hfcs significantly cheaper on an equivalent sweetening basis than cane or even beet sugar. That is changing slowly with lifting the price floor on sugar imported from Mexico this year.

Yes, coke and pepsi are made with sugar this time of year to be kosher for passover. I'm quite sure that there is no flavor difference, and that both have tested that into the ground with consumers. I don't know why sugar is kosher for passover and hfcs isn't, but there are many oddities to the kosher laws that don't make sense on the surface.

Rob

[goonster]

http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/kosher-for-passover-coke-its-the-real-thing-baby/


Thanks for the link. Didn't know about the yellow caps. I'll be stocking up.

I work with a guy who never drinks Coke . . . unless he's in Europe. The sugared stuff really is better.

[sspielman]

Sugar-based Coke is more widely available at this time of the year because Orthodox Jews don't use corn syrup on Passover. So stock up now at your local supermarket.

http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/kosher-for-passover-coke-its-the-real-thing-baby/

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03192007/news/regionalnews/kosher__coke_a_big_hit_regionalnews_rita_delfiner. htm

But you can order it online year-round: http://store.drsoda.com/mexicancoke.html


Our local Hispanic grocers ALL stock Mexican Coke and Pepsi.....all made with non-embargoed genuine Cuban sugar.....

[goonster]

I'm quite sure that there is no flavor difference.

There is. Believe it.

While the differences in flavor are subtle, but distinct, the biggest effect is in the mouthfeel. Sugar gives a drier, crisper finish.

While Coke delivers the base syrup, water and sweetener (can be a blend of sugar and HFCS) is supplied by the bottling facility, which accounts for regional variability.

All this may be arcane to some, but matters to this BJCP card-carrying geek.

[cpg]

I've wanted to see that documentary since hearing about it on NPR. I'll see it someday. I have a question and it's related- Is is true that cows aren't able to digest corn without being fed something else? I think the something else is some sort of enzyme? If that's true, doesn't that seem screwed up? I don't eat much beef but when I do it's grass fed organic.

Curt

[Hardlyrob]

There is. Believe it.

While the differences in flavor are subtle, but distinct, the biggest effect is in the mouthfeel. Sugar gives a drier, crisper finish.

All this may be arcane to some, but matters to this BJCP card-carrying geek.

Yup - mouthfeel would be different - exactly as you describe. But I'm pretty sure the sweetness would be the same. Strangely, both Coke and Pepsi don't really make their products. They ship the flavor concentrate and acidulants to the bottlers who do the rest (water, sweetener, CO2), and they have the flexibility to use any of the sweeteners on the label.

What's a BJCP card carrying geek (as a geeky professional member of the IFT, I'm curious).

CPG - cows are ruminants, and can digest just about anything. They can eat corn, grass, newsprint, and all kinds of stuff to get energy. More flexible than our dumb human design that's supposed to be so advanced :D

[Fat Robert]

I've wanted to see that documentary since hearing about it on NPR. I'll see it someday. I have a question and it's related- Is is true that cows aren't able to digest corn without being fed something else? I think the something else is some sort of enzyme? If that's true, doesn't that seem screwed up? I don't eat much beef but when I do it's grass fed organic.

Curt

yep

you have to feed them enzymes, and also pump them full of antibiotics to combat stomach and gastro-intestinal inflammation and infection from the corn feed.

its pretty effed up, although it does work to provide americans who want their $1.00 burger with an aboundance of meat never before seen in human cultures. it also uses up a ridiculous amount of petroluem products, but that's another rant....

americans eat a lot of **** food : processed, mass-produced crap. we want it in aboundance and we bitch and whine when we can't have it...its pretty awful, really....

stupid rant: my dad grew up on (non-gmo) cornbread, field peas, collard greens, fresh milk, home-grown tomatoes, okra, and the occasional -- like sunday dinner -- bit of ham or chicken. he's lean, strong and smart at 70. people who eat all this processed crap...how are they going to be? what are health costs for the elderly going to be like for the folks who've eaten this junk their whole lives?

[goonster]

What's a BJCP card carrying geek

Beer judge. (http://www.bjcp.org/index.php) :beer:

[Volant]

Corn is bad; soybean is good.

[sspielman]

I've wanted to see that documentary since hearing about it on NPR. I'll see it someday. I have a question and it's related- Is is true that cows aren't able to digest corn without being fed something else? I think the something else is some sort of enzyme? If that's true, doesn't that seem screwed up? I don't eat much beef but when I do it's grass fed organic.

Curt

Cows-and their 4 chambered stomachs- are evolved to subsist on grasses and forbs....low nutritional value foods...that must be consumed in large quantities to meet the animal's nutritional needs. there are alot of reasons why a producer would feed his cows corn based feed, but it is like putting high octane fuel in a Trabant. Cows that are in a high management system are fed all kinds of supplements to maximize production...corn is not the only bad guy here.....they get steroids to maximise growth (don't tell Dick Pound)...antibiotics to combat disease, etc. etc.....

[Karin Kirk]

We had a thread about the book "Omnivore's Dilemma" a few days ago that brought up some of these same issues. Very thought-provoking stuff. On the other hand, it's perfectly straightforward to control your own hand in it. Don't buy the crap with HFCS, industrial beef, etc. It's nice to be able to learn about this stuff and then shop accordingly.

Now, if only I could figure out the straight scoop on plastic bottles! :rolleyes:

[sspielman]

When I first started working with agriculture, our office staff attended a field day during which we were taken on a tour of an experimental feeding operation. In this operation, chickens were fed corn/soy based feed.....The chicken manure was then mixed with shredded newspaper and fed to cattle.....their manure was in turn fed to hogs. The production rate was the highest that the facility had ever observed....There was no mention made of other inputs (antibiotics, etc.). From what anybody can tell, the only reason that this system has not been more widely implemented is the logistics of locating all of these animal facilities together on existing farm operations....

[CarbonCycles]

production rate was the highest that the facility had ever observed........

production rate of what...excriment? Seriously, this operation seems intersting; reminds me of what the japanese once tried, taking raw sewage and dehydrating it and trying to pawn if off as a new high nutrient food.

[mikki]

Corn is bad; soybean is good.
Except when consumed by someone who has or has had cancer. The natural estrogen in soybeans contribute to a link with cancer the AMA Journal came out with studies a couple of years ago.

I agree that corn is fattening and killing us. Down with modified foods, processed in any way; I feel like crap when I am starving; around junk food and eat it. Partly in my head and clear feed back from my body.

One of my newest discoveries is sprouted grain products. Like pasta, bagels, etc. I read some articles on it and tried it. MMMM tasty.

Don't you think cyclists are a more healthy eating bunch on the whole than the general public?

[sspielman]

Don't you think cyclists are a more healthy eating bunch on the whole than the general public?

Oh yeah.....You wouldn't get two replies on a thread like this on a general interest forum....

[sspielman]

production rate of what...excriment? Seriously, this operation seems intersting; reminds me of what the japanese once tried, taking raw sewage and dehydrating it and trying to pawn if off as a new high nutrient food.

the production rate of meat produced per unit weight of inputs.....

[benb]

I Got to try the HFCS-free Coca Cola for maybe the first time in my life in the Bahamas last week.. it is definitely better. I didn't know it was sugar based when I bought it.. it had a "wow" effect.. both me and my girlfriend knew it was different immediately and checked the label.

[itsflantastic]

READ OMNIVORE's DILEMMA....


I'm on page 100. . . He's exposing everything about the corn industry and it's impact on our lives, culture, health etc...

Oh my, Oh my.


One part of the book that I found particularly interesting was the economic angle of the whole thing. Specifically:

The pop. of the US only grows by 1% every year. But the Industry of Food has to grow more than that, wall street wouldn't tolerate such limited growth, so the goal of the food industry is to find ways for us to consume more and more and to make a bigger profit on what they produce.

In short... We are being force fed the surplus of corn in a variety of forms you wouldn't even expect.

Not just HFCS... look on labels of processed foods, and its matodextrin, fructose, sucrose, lactic acid, xananth gum, just to name a few. And when it's not corn, it's soybeans, the only other crop that is rotated with corn. Even the waxy coating on cucumbers and other produce is corn based. It's crazy.

sigh...

REad the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I cannot recommend it enough.

BUY LOCAL and boycott this craziness.

[kgreene10]

The Aztecs referred to themselves as people of gold because their staple food was corn and they referred to the Spanish as people of [fill in the blank] because they ate so much brown-colored food.

In the Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan reports the results of mass spectography studies of human fingernails. Apparently, corn consumption is traceable because it leaves a specific carbon print in the body. We in the U.S. have multiples more corn in our bodies than do people in other countries, including folks in Mexico.

[sspielman]

And when it's not corn, it's soybeans, the only other crop that is rotated with corn.
sigh...

REad the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I cannot recommend it enough.

BUY LOCAL and boycott this craziness.

I will read the book BUT....soybeans are NOT the only crop that is rotated with corn...not by any stretch......

[itsflantastic]

he says that they are the only other major one when it comes to industrial corn...?

This is a general statement about a huge country... it's probably en mass..sorry if I mis spoke! I can go find a quote...

[shinomaster]

Watch it.. It's no secret that high fructose corn syrup has and is making Americans the fattest people in the world. It it usually found in cheap foods that poor, or uneducated consumers choose. The fact that a cow is corn fed should not be a selling point. It just means the cows who live in a feed lot are not grazing on grass, or eating other ground up dead animals.
Read labels. Corn syrup is in ketchup, pizza sauce, pasta sauce, soda pop, cheap bread, buns, pizza crust, fast food, salsa, maple syrup, cookies, every sort of frozen dinner, and almost all pre-packaged food. If you don't eat fast food/junk food and cook for yourself you don't have to worry. It's not poison, it just makes people fat.

[shinomaster]

Also, the corn crop in the film is not the sweet corn that you buy at the end of summer and slather with butter. It is a genetically engineered crop designed for high starch. It's inedible. It's like growing sugar cane, and it need to be processed with chemicals so it can be consumed.
I heart corn on the cob, and the film is not about sweet corn.

[Hardlyrob]

Shino is right - there are a number of commercial corn varieties with specific traits - high starch corn is more efficient if you're making corn starch and hfcs (wet milling) - it is not as well suited to animal feed because with higher starch you get proportionately lower protein. This is fundamentally different from sweet corn you eat in the summer, or that is used in frozen dinners.

I will get on my soap box a little here - I've worked in "big food" since 1985, and it really is a mistake to assume that "big food" is trying to kill everybody. If you think about it, that's really a short term strategy for a $1 trillion industry. The goal of the industry is to produce something a consumer (you and me) wants to buy, that tastes good enough that they will buy it more than once, and at a cost where the company can make a reasonable return (most make about 10% before taxes). There is no conspiracy that I'm aware of.

Likewise, corn syrup - in any of the different forms - or corn starch derived products (starches, maltodextrins or fermentation products) also aren't poison. They are relatively inexpensive basic ingredients. I would be willing to bet that if sugar in the US was price competitive with hfcs, that we would all be just as fat. Or if we used wheat starch as much as they do in Europe vs. the corn starch we tend to use in the US, we would also still be just as fat.

My politically unfeasible solution to obesity is a 100% tax on food. If we spent 10% of disposable income at the supermarket / farmer's market vs. the 5% we do today, we would all be a lot more careful about what we eat.

[ecl2k]

click on "show transcript" - discusses relationship of fructose to obesity
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2007/1969924.htm



UCSF’s Lustig Discusses the Role of Fructose in Pediatric Obesity

ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Radio National’s The Health Report, with Norman Swan, MD, features an interview with UCSF pediatric endocrinologist Robert Lustig, MD, who argues that the reason for the obesity epidemic is more than just the calories we eat and lack of exercise. Rather, it’s due to the wide use of fructose by food manufacturers in what Lustig terms the “toxic environment” of Western diets.

According to Lustig, fructose, a carbohydrate, acts biologically like a fat and a hepato-toxin that worsens obesity, especially in children. High fructose stimulates the appetite and increases overall food consumption.

Lustig is professor of clinical pediatrics and director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health (WATCH) Program at UCSF.

[rpm]

I've wanted to see that documentary since hearing about it on NPR. I'll see it someday. I have a question and it's related- Is is true that cows aren't able to digest corn without being fed something else? I think the something else is some sort of enzyme? If that's true, doesn't that seem screwed up? I don't eat much beef but when I do it's grass fed organic.

Curt

Hey Curt and other Twin Citians--

It will be on Channel 2 at 10:30 pm. this Sunday April 20th and on Channel 17 this Monday, April 21 at 8:00 p.m.

I'm eager to see it, too.

[benb]

I keep thinking they're exaggerating the heck out of food as the cause for obesity cause it allows them to sell a whole lot more stuff and is better for the bottom line..

Could it be kids are fat cause:

- Not allowed to walk/bike to school
- Not even allowed to walk to the bus stop, gotta fire up the SUV for that!
- Nintendo
- Not allowed to walk around the neighborhood
- Internet
- Sports are too dangerous, only for the few that are "athletic", etc..
- Nintendo
- HDTV
- Nintendo
- IPOD
- Nintendo

Problem is most of those items if dropped save money rather then cost money... so no one is going to want the masses to throw away the HDTVs, Nintendos, computers, etc.. and go outside.

If they sell us some different crazy expensive foods and maybe some new drugs they will continue to rake in money.

[Hardlyrob]

Umm...fructose behaves biologically like a fat? They utilize two completely different metabolic pathways, and have almost no chemical similarity (yes they both contain carbon, but that's about it).

Just because he teaches at UCSF, doesn't mean he's not a whack.

Look here: Study link (http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?n=78092-hfcs-sweetened-beverages-obesity)

[benb]

The first half of the interview fructose is the devil cause of it's effects on Leptin & Insulin.

Then about halfway through he starts saying Fructose is good cause it's low glycemic load so all those people eating Japanese diets with tons of rice are OK cause rice contains Fructose?

[shinomaster]

I keep thinking they're exaggerating the heck out of food as the cause for obesity cause it allows them to sell a whole lot more stuff and is better for the bottom line..

Could it be kids are fat cause:

- Not allowed to walk/bike to school
- Not even allowed to walk to the bus stop, gotta fire up the SUV for that!
- Nintendo
- Not allowed to walk around the neighborhood
- Internet
- Sports are too dangerous, only for the few that are "athletic", etc..
- Nintendo
- HDTV
- Nintendo
- IPOD
- Nintendo

Problem is most of those items if dropped save money rather then cost money... so no one is going to want the masses to throw away the HDTVs, Nintendos, computers, etc.. and go outside.

If they sell us some different crazy expensive foods and maybe some new drugs they will continue to rake in money.



Of course Nintendo and tv is a huge problem, What makes it even worse is the soda pop and frozen pizza they eat for lunch. That pizza probably has a bunch of sugar in it!

[jimp1234]

Just discovered this blog today. Interesting take on HFCS, et. al.


http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2008/04/18/what-sweetener-should-you-choose-sugar-honey-agave-nectar/

[ecl2k]

Umm...fructose behaves biologically like a fat? They utilize two completely different metabolic pathways, and have almost no chemical similarity (yes they both contain carbon, but that's about it).

Just because he teaches at UCSF, doesn't mean he's not a whack.

Look here: Study link (http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?n=78092-hfcs-sweetened-beverages-obesity)

thanks for the link to that study sponsored by the corn refiners association (CRA)

Anyway, fructose metabolism IS unique, if really interested try here: http://www.medbio.info/Horn/Time%201-2/carbohydrate_metabolism.htm

[Tobias]

The real tragedy here IMHO is that by using so much corn for ethanol production (which doesn’t make economic sense in the first place) the cost of food has gone through the roof. As a consequence of ethanol we are exporting less food, which has lead to price increases world wide, not to mention increase our trade deficit.

According to a recent news report the United Nations claims food prices have risen 65 percent this year alone (sounds too high to me and I’d like to confirm) which has led to food riots in many poor nations.

So as we pay higher prices to burn corn in our gas in order to get less mileage out of every gallon, people in other parts of the world are going hungry. We may complain about too much HFCS in our diet making us fatter, but at least we don’t have to worry about starvation – at least not yet.

It's not poison, it just makes people fat.Exactly, HFCS or anything in excess will make us fat. Additionally, many things in excess – like water – will kill us. It doesn’t have to be poisonous to be harmful when consumed in excess.

[Kirk007]

Tobias nails the larger tragedy of this. Starvation, high food prices are leading to the risk of more and more failed states worldwide. The cost of food is being driven by the cost of oil, and as we chase misguided solutions to keep gas in our over-consuming tanks, like corn based ethanol, we push commodities like corn into a fuel based pricing structure, increasing the cost of basic foods. combine that will all the other problems of graft etc. in the supply lines in third world countries and it is indeed an ugly, tragic picture.

[DukeHorn]

Have you ever eaten corn from the street vendors in little towns in Peru? It's the stuff we feed our animals.

Not sure what my point is, but the sweet corn we eat is not the typical corn eaten in the rest of the world, esp. in the poorer countries. But is the corn being grown in Peru the hybrid corn that we grow up here as well?

Hardlyrob, I think this month's issue of the Economist said that we use to spend 30% of our budget on food and now that it's down to 10%. Are we really at 5%?

[Hardlyrob]

Hardlyrob, I think this month's issue of the Economist said that we use to spend 30% of our budget on food and now that it's down to 10%. Are we really at 5%?

We're at about 5% of disposable income for food consumed at home (mostly supermarket spending) and about 5% for food away from home (Restaurants, colleges, schools, vending and other foodservice venues). The really interesting thing is the 5% spending on food away from home has been pretty constant since 1929. The food at home piece has declined from 30+% in the 1930's to 5% today.

While the percentages are interesting, keep in mind the absolute dollars have grown dramatically over this period. Today, food away from home is about $490 billion, and food at home is about $510 billion. The food industry represents just about $1 trillion in consumer spending.

Rob

[shinomaster]

I spend way more than 5% on my food, but I don't make very much money...

[sspielman]

Okay...I read The Omnivore's Dilemma this weekend....My only comment is this: While the author makes some good points, he really doesn't know much about agriculture or agribusiness.

[shinomaster]

Don't buy food made in China. Buy local. Don't eat things with over 30 ingredients. Don't eat factory grown meat. Don't eat at Taco bell.

[sspielman]

Don't eat things with over 30 ingredients.

Crap! That rules out my wife's fabulous paella!

[shinomaster]

Crap! That rules out my wife's fabulous paella!


Oh no!

[catulle]

When I was little and I said in school that I didn't believe that the Virgin Mary was virgin, the Jesuit priest in my class made kneel on corn kernels. I guess corn can change your life, atmo.

[bluekudu]

I just watched a documentary on the state of corn production in the USA and the effect on our nutrition as a result.

I'm going to swear off corn-fed beef, high fructose corn syrup, corn oils and all things corn.

We should be burning this crap in our cars instead of putting it in our bodies.

Corn has been turned into a crop engineered for maximum starch content and the government subsidizes the growers so that obesity and diabetes can become one of our biggest health concerns.

Discuss, my friends.

Amen amigo, but don't put it in your car. To swear off corn is to swear off corn and all its uses. Period.

If we create another use for corn (outside of HiFruc corn syrup, cattle and chicken feed, etc) farmers will have the incentive to grow corn instead of other produce. This would have the effect of reducing the supply of other produce. If the supply is reduced, you and I will compete for other veggies, raising prices. It will turn into an eBay auction for the rare one-off mint carrot. Get my drift?

On the other hand, if we stop buying products that use corn, we have the opposite effect on the farmer. If there is no demand for corn, she will stop growing it, and grow something else in its place.

Just my amateur economist thoughts.... (this is not to say you shouldn't have the occasional cob or two...)

[toaster]

I was hasty in mentioning corn to be used as fuel, bad idea.


Yesterday I noticed the Los Angeles Times ran a story about reducing the global warming effects of methane by reducing beef consumption.


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lowcarbon22apr22,1,2243302.story

Corn syrup and corn fed cows are still my biggest issues. I'm really going to make an effort to reduce or nearly eliminate beef and HFCS.

[Vancouverdave]

A book with some interesting history about the last 40 or so years of our food supply's industrialization is "Fat Land" by California author Greg Critser.
He links a nationwide near-panic over rising food prices in the early 1970's--when some economic and political conditions very similar to our present ones existed--with the Feds' "do something, just make food cheaper" marching orders given by President Ford. A fascinating, if very scary, read.

[Hardlyrob]

Food was getting cheaper year to year as a percent of disposable income way before the 1970's price control panic. Here's (http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/CPIFoodAndExpenditures/Data/table7.htm) the table I was referencing in an earlier post.

Really pretty interesting numbers.

Rob