If you had to name one person who is most responsible for corn and ethanol subsidies which fuel our obesity and E.coli epidemics it would be Senator Harkin of Iowa as former chairman of the Senate Agricultural Committee. To hear the Senator, who now chairs the Senate Health and Education Committee, conduct a hearing on childhood obesity on March 5th has to be the ultimate hypocrisy. A quote from the Wall Street Journal our reference #17. “ Call the 19% of kids who are obese the children of corn”.
#17http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203609204574316022329001200.html
But the damage caused by corn and corn production doesn’t end with processed food the focus of the above opinion.
Denuding vast areas of the US surface area to plant corn is the cause of the Nations topsoil loss disaster. See our reference # 52.
#52 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/opinion/05berry.html
Feeding cattle, ruminant animals designed to eat grass; corn causes their meat to be 7 times higher in saturated fat than the meat of 40 years ago when cattle were raised on pasture. See our references #8 and #2.
Ethanol fuel additive is destroying our gasoline engines with little energy advantage. But also a byproduct, distiller’s grain, used in cattle feed has doubled the incidence of E.coli particularly in hamburger since ethanol subsidies began. See our references #3, #71, and #23.
#71 http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/may2009/bw20090514_058678.htm
#23 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?_r=1
Corn production is the principle cause of the decline in water quality in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Delmarva Peninsula. See our references #31 and #33
#31 http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/research/learnmore/misippi_part-3/
lIf readers study these references with objectivity they will reach the same opinion as the Wall Street Journal but on a much broader scale. Government agricultural policy continues to have a major impact on the destruction of our health and our two most important natural resources. Please ask your representatives including Senator Harkin to explain their many votes for flawed government agricultural policy.
Fixing Our Food Blog 
March 7, 2010 at 11:25 pm |
So do you think this means that the senator will block meaningful progress on childhood obesity? Who are the members of his committee?
Several people have proposed, and it makes sense to me, that a tax on corn-based,. kiddie-food products, especially those made with high fructose corn syrup would help. Any chance his hearings would get to that?
Or is it better, as you seem to suggest, that we try to slow down the production of corn itself? How to do that?
March 10, 2010 at 4:12 pm |
Wells
If we would cut fertilizer application rates to corn thus reducing yield as proposed by The Gulf Hypoxia study group under President Clinton in 2000 it would not only have a beneficial effect on Nationwide water quality but it would make corn based products more expensive and reduce consumption. I have suggested doing this gradually say 5% a year to allow farmers to adjust. In addition a massive educational campaign directed to the young to promote healthy food such as pastured raised meat, fruits, fish, vegetables etc. Eric Schlosser said in the Couric interview that a persons eating habits are established by age 12. Food companies are reaching these young people with the wrong message. This must change to the right message if we are stop obesity and help the environment.
March 10, 2010 at 5:42 pm |
Wells
Even before we cut fertilizer application rates to corn we should stop subsidizing its production as suggested by the Wall Street Journal. We taxpayers are subsidizing obesity, soil erosion, water quality and water species decline by encouraging the planting of corn. How about switching these subsidies to pasture raised animal products, fruit, vegetables and the production of other healthy food?
March 25, 2010 at 8:43 pm |
We’re certainly together on this one. What are the political organizations at work on this?
March 26, 2010 at 12:27 pm |
Wells
We have expanded our list of of related site as a result of the beta test. Every on of these sites are heavily involved. As you can see The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has hundreds of members. I believe that recent actions by NRCS and USDA indicate that progress is being made. I will do a post on this shortly.