Corn Essay

Many alterations have been applied to the area that corn is grown in. The main biome that corn is grown would be grasslands. Grasslands are an extremely important biome for producing food, it was shown that approximately 90% of the food produced today contains at least one of the fifteen species that are grown in grasslands. Unfortunately, for there to be enough space for corn to be grown and harvested, native grasses must be cleared, therefore having a devastating impact on the biome. Corn is known to be the most thirsty crop to be grown, taking up almost 7,000 to 8,000 gallons of water, draining countries, that don't receive as much rain, of their groundwater. Another impact on the environment of corn production would be the excessive use of fertilizers, this is due to the little nutrients returned back to the soil. As corn is mainly used for consumption, very little plant

We are all made of corn. Take a strand of your hair. A recent study proved that if you are like the average American consumer today, your hair is 69% made of corn carbon. This is in contrast to the 5% of corn carbon that is in the hair of Europeans. Americans use more corn in their diet than anyone else, and the corn content of the American diet is partially responsible for our country’s widespread obesity and the prevalence of diabetes. America’s over-production of corn has serious consequences for our health and for our environment.

The short stories, “Turned”, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Good Corn”, by H.E Bates provide strong examples of how the representation of characters influence’s the reader’s perception of a text. Both stories depict similar characters: a middle-aged, childless wife, her husband and an 18-year old girl who works for them. They are both about a similar situation: man cheats on wife with girl and girl falls pregnant. However, the author’s of the text are from very different backgrounds and this is reflected in their stories. Although there are many similarities between “The Good Corn” and “Turned”, the values reflected in these stories, their resolutions and the reader’s perception of them are vastly different due to the contexts of

The United States of America is the world’s largest corn overproducer. With such heavy focus on corn, I would like to draw attention to a measure taken by the United States government, the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. This act increased the amount of farm land that is meant to be used in the States for growing corn from 60 million acres to a whopping 90 million acres. Such a significant increase cannot go without some kind of effect. Writer, Michael Pollan, in his book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, discusses the instability of the US farming industry as well as the negative environmental implications corn has on us. This instability and environmental impact has given rise to movements promoting a return to more

From the 1920s and into 1930s, oil fields in Oklahoma were booming in wild production. Even larger fields were opening in East Texas across the Red River, and in the Permian Basin around Odessa. Oil flooded the market, and when oil prices dropped, it was no longer profitable (pg. 219). As for the farmers, it impacted them negatively because the things that they grew or the cattle they raise would be sold for very little (pg. 219-220).

The history of corn can be dated back to the beginning of time, but the use and value of corn had been unnoticed until it was introduce by the Native Americans. Where corn had seemed to be a big part of their everyday life from, being in myths, legends, and for a huge portion of their diet corn was an essential component. "when the Europeans had touched base to the New World during the late fifteenth century, the Native Americans had introduced corn what they had called maize to the Europeans .This crop was then later on grown and adapted from Canada to southern South America very quickly, which then began to form the new basis of the New World civilization" (Leventin & McManhon, 2012). The way corn has been changing and revolutionizing throughout time has been both fascinating and drastic. Rather than conventional corn being grown, it is genetically modified corn that have been dominating today 's crop industry and farming but the question remains as to how the various types of GMO corn has influenced the way it is grown and used and what its ramification are.

This article written in the Texas Agriculture, a magazine published by the Texas Farm Bureau, is about all the factors impacting farmers that effect their income. Over the past couple years, a combination of things has caused the average Texas farmers income to drop. The primary audience for this article is the farmers in Texas as they are experiencing these issues first hand. The secondary audience would be consumers who have noticed price fluctuations in products at the store and are wondering the reason.

Growing up in Nebraska I can tell you that I have ingested my fair amount of corn and corn-based products, I mean we are the Cornhuskers after all. But what is so special about corn? I ask this question because I want to know what is so special about corn and why is it in almost anything and everything we eat. America's agriculture is vast in the many types of plants that are planted and harvested every year, such as soybeans and wheat that are also used as an ingredient in many of our foods that we consume every day. When trying to answer this question I had to do some of my own investigative work, just as Pollan did when finding out all he could find out about corn. I researched the most grown grains in America, since corn is a grain, and to no surprise, it was corn but the second majorly grown crop that we Americans plant was soybeans. From there I

At this point you must be wondering, whats the issue with corn? Frist let me point out when I say corn, I am not speaking of sweet corn that you eat a bowl of for dinner. We are talking about field corn, which is primarily grown to fed animals, that we then eat. The problem is with feeding animals field corn. Here 's the problem with feeding animals (particularly cows) field corn: animals are not supposed to eat corn!!!! As a result we have meat products that are wreaking havoc on our health. First, understand cows are meant to eat grass and other foraged materials. Cows are not supposed to eat corn, when they do a plethora of things happen. The first is that it makes them sick. Cows fed corn become bloated, are more susceptible to liver abscesses, and e.coli. Also, because Corn is high in phosphorous and low in calcium which is a recipe for kidney stones. You must also understand to combat all the damage the corn does to cow, farmers then pump their animals full of drugs to

Mark Twain, although quite the comedian, makes a valid point in “Corn-Pone Opinions”. The observation of humanity and its tendencies to follow what society promotes is a relevant occurrence today. Twain leads on “. . . that it’s born of the human being’s natural yearning to stand well with his fellows and have their inspiring approval and praise . . .” (720). Humans are not equipped to stand their own ground; they prefer to follow the leader. Twain puts it simply, “we are creatures of outside influences; as a rule we do not think, we only imitate” (719). Twain clearly makes his point noticeable to his audience, holding back no opinion throughout the

In my opinion, corn is a renewable resource and should be used as a new source of energy.In paragraph 1 on page 1,it states,”Caron is processed to produce different energy products.For example,corn can be used to create ethanol.” this shows an example on about how corn can be a new source of energy. It is grown with solar energy so it is a renewable resource,and there will be plenty to go around for the U.S. and the WORLD!

In the early 1990s, the farm economy in the heartland of the United States was weak. Farmers in North Dakota produced hard, amber Durham wheat and exported 75% to Italy for the production of high quality pasta. Prices for raw wheat fluctuated radically, depending on weather and growing conditions. Many farmers were having difficulty meeting payments for the expensive farm machin- ery required for crop production. Small family farms were disappearing and non-farm jobs in the area were scarce. Although consumers were paying record prices for food, many farmers felt that processors, who converted the raw grains into finished products for sale in

The likely impact on food prices in the United States if the supply of oranges were reduced, and the consumption of corn for fuel was to increase, would be to expect an increase in food prices. When events such as a deep freeze happen and the result is a decrease of supply the market will experience an increase in the equilibrium price if all other things remain consistent. If the president called for an increase in ethanol produced from corn, the supply of corn available to provide as food will decrease, and the decrease

In the educative essay “What’s Eating America,” Michael Pollan designates the history of corn, a good and healthy food if cultivated properly. This essay is very informative because it talks about American’s diet. In this essay, Pollan examines the way of growing the corn as an influential example of using the chemical fertilizers in food. Also, He complains “Growing corn, which from a biological perspective had always been a process of capturing sunlight to turn it into food, has in no small measure become a process of converting fossil fuels into food…” (Pollan 302). While it might be very useful when used in a prudent way, in reality the usage of chemical fertilizers is higher and the farmers are feeding their corps more than it needs which affect the ecology’s system. In other words, his focus is on corn and not only does him just points out corn presence in nearly all food products; but he comes up with other matters like fossil fuels and the factories polluting the atmosphere. Thus, it’s astonishing when someone stops and thinks about how many things are composed from corn.

In the words of Lester Brown, “We are witnessing the beginning of one of the great tragedies of history.” Numerous people just like Brown believe the urge the United States has to reduce foreign oil will soon cause a major shortage of food. In 2011, the United States used 45% of that year’s corn crop to produce ethanol. With such a high percentage of corn used for ethanol, it causes a shortage of corn for food. The Untied States is not as efficient at making ethanol compared to feeding people. A bushel of corn can produce 2 .77 gallons of ethanol. With the same amount of corn, America can feed 1.4 persons for a day.