Joey Sawyer 3/4/08 10:30
An article in Popular Science last summer predicts that an increased production of ethanol from American corn and other grains could potentially lead to a food shortage. I can not paraphrase as well as they did, so here is a quote:
“Corn is a mainstay of American agriculture- it´s an important ingredient in cereals and baked goods, and corn syrup is used to make processed foods like candy, chips and soft drinks. But most importantly, corn is the major source of food for cattle, pigs, turkeys and chickens that are headed for the dinner table.”
I see in this paragraph a few hidden messages, a few concepts that could use some further exposure. The argument is that we will not have enough food, but you absolutely do not need candy and soda to survive, in fact a Huge concern in this country is obesity. So what do we really lose by doing this exchange? A few pounds? Some excess depression?
Next there is the concept that the meat market will climb high. Putting aside the fact that we don’t need meat to live either, although it is much more nutritious than high fructose corn syrup, cattle and pigs do not digest corn and whole wheat very well at all. The only reason it is fed to them is because it is cheap. Perhaps increasing the value of corn will increase the quality of the meat on the market. Let ‘em eat grass, that stuff is pretty much free.
The main reason for this conversion is to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Sadly, we cannot sustain our appetite for oil with corn, wheat, various grasses, the sun, soybeans, magic stones, whatever. The stuff is great for moving pistons, but it is also great for creating useful plastics and drugs. Some famous scientist way back in the day when oil was pretty new to the industrial world said “this material is far too valuable to burn.” The chemical uses of the stuff are pretty amazing, beyond moving pistons.
It seems to be a good idea to find an alternative fuel for our vehicles, but it might be more prudent to rethink this whole thing. Maybe there are always problems with new fuels because we use too much of any kind of fuel you can find. I personally am holding out for that car that runs on magic stones. That has to be the answer, until we run out of magic stones, then we are screwed again.
Trading food for fuel has pros and cons. “For now, whether corn is used to make food or fuel depends on economic factors such as the fluctuating price of oil. When oil prices are high, demand for ethanol goes up. That helps keep your costs down at the pump, but you may pay more for steak and corn chips.” You can make your own choices, but please make an educated one.
2 comments:
Don't forget that much of the oil is burned to harvest food. Not to mention run factory farms and packaging plants. A vegan diet greatly reduces emissions and pollution. Also, bikes are pretty cool, they get pretty good MPGs (infinite).
I hear the new models of Prius' run on far less magic stones than the earlier 2000 models.
I can see the trade off between fuel and foods, I agree that we really don't need steak and corn chips to survive and would much rather have a more eco-friendly fuel source.
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