• ericbomb@lemmy.worldOP
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    1 year ago

    Sorry corn farmers, this is about people food. Growing fuel doesn’t really count.

    Growing corn that is only usable as animal feed counts as part of how beef industry is being propped up by the government.

    So yeah… I think only one or two corn farmers will be left in the chat after that.

      • Grumpy@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        They’re all referring to corn subsidies.

        If you grow corn with subsidy and then sell that corn as livestock feed to cows, then you’ve indirectly further subsidized beef.

        Though… this viewpoint is partly misleading people. Corn stalks and pith which humans can’t eat and need ruminant animals to process is what gets fed to them. We don’t always feed corn kernels to cows en masse, though many farms do. If they can find a buyer for the kernel for other consumption (human, fructose syrup, etc), they will sell it that way as it is more profitable. So even if it wasn’t subsidized and we only produce high priced corn for humans, we’d still feed the stalks and pith to cows.

      • ericbomb@lemmy.worldOP
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        1 year ago

        Correct, but the vast majority of corn subsidies are to grow corn not meant for humans to eat. They are to grow animal feed, or ethanol.

        So the first category I count as subsidizing the meat industry, since it exists purely to make raising live stock cheaper. The second category doesn’t really impact food.