Corn Conclusions

HFCS vs. Sugar

•HCFS in sodas instead of sugar: 10 times richer in carbonyl compounds, which are blamed for causing diabetic complications such as foot ulcers and eye and nerve damage.
•Eating organic foods helps to build immunity, increase strength and promotes recovery from chronic conditions
•Cheap is expensive: Food with HCFS will be more expensive to treat than buying “expensive” organic food.

Grass Feed vs. Grain Feed

•The nutritional benefits outweigh the higher price for grass fed/pastured animal products
•Higher demands for grass fed animal products will reduce the price over time
•Gradual shift will allow grass fed animal products to meet demands for them
•Environmental benefits favor grass fed animals over grain fed animals

Suggested Alternatives and Solutions for Corn Use

Corn as Sweetener Alternatives:

•Applesauce/concentrated apple juice
•Barley malt syrup
•Honey
•Just like sugar
•Stevia
•Foods: banana, prunes/prune juice
•Sugar

Corn as Sweetener Solutions:

•Awareness about the substitutes of sugar available in the market
•Limit the amount of consumption of products with high HFSC, especially carbonated drinks.
•Making healthy choices when shopping for food. Go organic.

Corn as Feed Solutions:

•Grass Fed/Pasture Raised Animals
–Local Meat Shares
–Cow-Pooling

Nutritional Aspects of Corn as Feed

A study conducted by the UC Cooperative Extension found drastic differences in the nutritional values of Grass Fed Beef and Grain Fed Beef in the following areas:
•Beta-carotene (broken down into Vitamin A) is good for vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division and cell differentiation
•Vitamin E- a fat soluble vitamin good for antioxidant activity which help fend off cancers and cardiovascular disease.
•Fatty acid components Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio. Omega-3 reduces inflammation and prevents heart disease and arthritis. Omega-6 reduces inflammation, blood clotting and tumor growth. Both assist with cognitive and behavioral functions of the brain.
•CLA a polyunsaturated fatty acid that helps to reduce heart disease risks, cancer, onset of diabetes and accumulation of body fat.

Grass Fed vs. Corn Fed

Grass Fed

•Beta-Carotene (broken down into Vitamin A)
–3.5 ounces of ground beef have 87 micrograms of beta-carotene
–Rib eye steak has 64 micrograms of beta-carotene
•Vitamin E
–products have 9.3 micrograms (almost 3x that of corn fed)
•Fatty acid components Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio
–60 percent more omega-3 fatty acids providing a much better ratio
•CLA
–3.5 ounces worth of products provide 25% of daily requirement (5grams/day)

Corn Fed

•Beta-Carotene (broken down into Vitamin A)
-3 ounces of ground beef have 41 micrograms of beta-carotene
–Rib eye steak has 36 micrograms of beta-carotene
•Vitamin E
–products have 3.7 micrograms
•Fatty acid components Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio
–60 percent less omega-3 fatty acids providing a much lesser ratio
•CLA
–products (3.5 ounces worth) provide less than 10% of daily requirement (5grams/day)

Overall Environmental Aspects of Corn

•Production requires fossil fuels
–½ gallon of gas/bushel grown
•Requires more pesticides and fertilizers than any other crop produced
•Emissions
–equipment
–processing plants
–transportation
•Improvements in equipment, fertilizers and
genetics will increase the production thereby
also increasing emissions
•Grass Fed Cows are Carbon-neutral due to C02 absorption of grasslands

Corn Economic Aspects

USDA Feed Grains Baseline 2004-2013 report correlated the positive market projection for corn as feed grain with the projection that US and world wide incomes would increase. The correlation is due to the belief that the more money people have the more they purchase animal products including:
•Milk
•Eggs
•Chicken
•Turkey
•Pork
•BeefBroiler Industry

•Improvements
–Corn yield expected to rise at a rate of 1.8 bushels per year per acre
•US and Worldwide Increased Demands
–US corn production over crop competition will continue
–US exports will rise as other countries will reduce their exports and/or production (such as
China, the second largest exporting country of corn)
•Expected corn trade will increase from 80 million metric tons in 2004/05 to 103 in 2013/2014.
•Government Incentives, Policies and Regulations In Favor of Corn
–Subsidies
–Clean Air ACT and bans on uses of MTBE in gasoline will create larger demand for ethanol
made from corn grains.
–Farm Act of 2002 which provides additional payments for production of corn originally set up
to reduce the cost of plants utilized in ethanol production.
•HFCS Use
–Corn sweetener is expected to grow at the rate of population increase
•Corn acres in US to increase from 79.5 billion acres (2004) to 81 million acres in 2013.
–Limited due to irrigation and competition with other crops (largest competitor is soybean)
–Corn has highest net return above variable costs but many farmers alternate annually
between corn and soybeans due to natural nitrogen-fixing benefit of soybeans
•Prices paid for corn will strengthen above the early 2000’as average of $2.35/bushel

Notable Arguments for Corn as Feed

“’Grass-fed hamburger meat sells for about $1 more per pound. Steaks are sold at about double the normal price- about $7 more per pound than ordinary beef,’ said Glenn Nader, UC Cooperative Extension…” (Walsh, Craig)

Nader states that grass-fed products “…attract high-income, health-conscious consumers…” making it a niche market “(Walsh, Craig)

“In CAFOs, large numbers of animals — 1,000 or more in the case of cattle and tens of thousands for chicken and pigs — are kept in close, concentrated conditions and fattened up for slaughter as fast as possible, contributing to efficiencies of scale and thus lower prices.” (Walsh, Bryan)

Pros and Cons of Corn as Sweetener

PROs

•Flour corn can be processed into glucose synthesis, and finally to be corn syrup. Baby food, bread, fruit tin and flour milk industry usually use corn syrup, because the calories lower than sugar.
•Corn oil has ability to improve HDL (good cholesterol) and help to decrease LDL (bad cholesterol).

CONs

•Sweeter but less digestible than sugar.
•Elevates cholesterol levels
•Does not stimulate insulin production like sugar in turn not causing a “full” sensation
•Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy conducted a study and found that 17 of 44 HFCS contained mercury. Mercury is a major component of HFCS. It is toxic and can cause death.