Corn Research Paper

Chapter one of The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan follows corn on its journey from acting as the primary crop of the Native Americans all the way to its introduction into the industrial setting. Pollan makes it explicitly clear that corn is in everything. Behind all the chemicals listed in the “ingredients” section on a product, consumers will find corn. Corn even plays a role in our chemical makeup. Because of corn’s ability to intake more carbon than most other plants, it does not have a preference over the carbon isotopes it consumes. By looking at the carbon isotope ratios in humans, we can determine how much corn one has eaten. Pollan states that corn’s variability is what makes it such an important crop. The European settlers

The film, King Corn, is a documentary by two college friends who moved to Greene, Iowa to grow and farm an acre of corn as an experiment. Corn is a type of plant eaten and used by millions of people in this world. Corn was originally from Mexico. However, due to our ancestor’s migration, it was brought over to the States. Corn used to be in many colors, consisting from red to white, and yellow. Eventually as time progressed, nowadays the corn sold in the supermarkets are all yellow.

Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" dives deep into the influence of corn on industrial food production. In chapter 1, Pollan makes it very clear the connections between corn production and the foods that Americans consume, like fast food. He highlights how corn, from its creation in fields to its making into processed foods and fast food, spreads through our diets. As said, in chapter 1 by Pollan When I started trying to follow the industrial food chain, the one that now feeds most of us most of the time and typically culminates, either in a supermarket or fast food meal, I expected that in my investigations would lead me to a wide variety of places, and though my journey did take me to great many states, and covered great many miles at the very end of these food changes, which is to say at the very beginning and variably, found myself, and almost exactly the same place a farm, and a farm, and a field in the American corn belt” (Pollan 17) Pollan argues that this dependence on one crop has numerous environmental and health consequences, urging readers to rethink the hidden consequences of their food

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

In 'Industrial Corn-Destroying Our Health & Environment ", Pollan points out that zea is a common crop that grows into corn. It is the most commonly planted ccereal crop, and serves, Pollan argues, to serve political interests rather than authentic human needs. Taxpayers pay farmers to grow corn, despite the already plentiful growth of the crop, and zea/ corn has become indispensable to the American food sector. This is so because corn is cheap and therefore it benefits the govenment to produce it. To that end, everything and everyone, from animals to humans, is fed on a steady diet of corn.

Pollan argues that “... taxpayers will pay farmers $4 billion a year to grow ever more corn, this despite the fact that we struggle to get rid of the surplus the plant already produces” (para. 4). This explains that many of the farmers are getting paid more to just grow corn and to over grow them. Pollan vocalizes that “America's corn crop might look like a sustainable, solar-powered system for producing food, but it is actually a huge, inefficient, polluting machine that guzzles fossil fuel..”(Para 12). The corn needs a lot of gas to keep the production going which cause a lot of pollution in the world and, also globe warning. Consumer don't know what type of food or beverages have corn in them most of them don’t even know where their meat or what the animals are being feed because the government is hiding that away from them. Overall, this causes a lot of problems to the next generation and the government still only wants to make money out of the over growing of

But on a certain farm, not everything will be corn. Michael Pollan from the book “Omnivore Dilemma” addresses the issue of what we, as humans, consume daily. He goes to multiple farms, and a certain crop shows up each time. Corn is fed to the cows and grown in massive amounts. Cows aren’t meant to eat corn, but yet they are, as it is the cheapest, and we have come to the conclusion that most food comes from corn.

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

Cornbread: An American History Story Cornbread has long been a staple of many American family meals. Usually identified as southern side dish, cornbread has a long history outside of the southern colonies in America. The idea of cornbread was perpetuated by Native Americans before the first settlers arrived in the New World. The crude, basic recipe calling for nothing more than corn meal, water and salt has been transformed into a flavorful dish as it has borrowed style and spice from other cultures. These spinoffs have created a historical and commonly loved dish for a wide range of American palates.

First, Michael Pollan explains how corn is been used really “sprouted up” in the year 1947 after

In his article “We Are What We Eat,” Michael Pollan discusses how industrial corn makes up the majority of food consumed in the United States. When one attempts to trace the origins of their food, it usually ends in a corn field. Most of the food that people eat have some type of corn product or corn derivative in them, which indicates that nearly all of the food is corn-based. Additionally, Pollan claims the obesity crisis occurring in the United States is due to the overproduction of corn, which has caused people to eat more calories. Also, aside from seafood all of the population’s food comes from the farm, and compared to the past, farms are producing five hundred more calories of food per daily intake. This high production of corn has

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.

Not only does this kill the American Agriculture, but this also starves people. I’m sure everyone of you know the struggle people go through and the struggle of finding food. Instead of land being used for crops to grow food for these people, it is being used to produce ethanol. I believe we should use this cropland for crops because it can help starving and hungry people to be able to receive food so they can have enough to eat.

Corn even turned up in French fries (23 percent).” (Patrigenaru) What is wrong with all this corn? Growing corn involves an abundance amount of pesticides and fertilizers that release chemicals into the soils that eventually make it to the water tables underneath. the ground. That can be terrible for the environment. Also, eating too much corn can cause an abundance of calories in a diet and not enough nutrients necessary to sustain a healthy body. In other words, corn replaces nutrients with an excess of calories. Patrigenaru also points out, “More than a quarter of products in the average American supermarket now contain corn or its derivatives.” (Patrigenaru) Since corn replaces nutrients with calories and is in almost everything that is consumed in America now, it is plain to see why the United States is one of the fattest countries in the world. Processed food are becoming more and more prevalent in the American diet day to day. Kim Rhyssdal wrote in an article based on an interview, “Processed foods are, plus or minus, 70 percent of what most of us eat.” (Ryssdal) 70 percent is a very damaging piece of evidence to the conviction of the American diet. While corn is the leading source of the unhealthiness of Americans, added sugar and fat are not far behind. Tim Philpot wrote in an article, “As for added fats and sugars, their 2008 levels reached 459 and 641,

Transportation is the reason behind why the US is still the world’s largest producer and exporter of corn by accounting for 50 percent of the world’s corn trade each year. The production and consumption demand determine the transportation demand. Considering corn is the primary feed grain consumed in farms, this means that 96 percent of all feed grain production is corn. The corn produced in the US derives from seven states and from these states is shipped by rail, barge, and truck to feedlots, feed mills, ethanol refineries, and ports for export. For means of corn transportation, corn exporters depend on mainly rail and barge services, while domestic corn movements are typically handled by trucks. Between the years 2007-2011, trucks were responsible for transporting 7 percent of domestically used corn. Rail transportation was responsible for moving an average of 21 percent of domestic corn movements, which decreased between the years 2007-2010 from 26 percent to 19 percent. Overall, as food, seed, and industrial use for corn increased by 293 percent, the demand for corn increased by 57 percent, which would explain increases in corn transportation. More specifically, the increase in truck transportation came about from the increased demand for ethanol. Most ethanol plants are located 50 miles within the range of corn-producing areas, (United States Department of Agriculture, 2014). The transportation of wet distillers grains (WDG) is only economically viable