The Mass Production And Industrialization Of Corn

Corn has been a farm crop for generations.

Scientists estimate that corn was first cultivated 10,000 years ago in Mexico by indigenous groups. While yellow and white corn is commonly found in stores for food, there is also corn that has red, blue, pink, and black kernels. Corn is mainly classified by the texture of its kernel. We have dent corn that's used for animal feed and flour corn that's utilized in beloved foods like cornbread and tortillas. There's also sweet corn, flint corn, and popcorn. As one of the largest plant-based food sources, farmers have even engineered certain varieties of corn to withstand droughts and pests.

While the terms "maize" and "corn" are used interchangeably, maize is most commonly used in scientific contexts. We get the word "maize" from the Taino people, who called the crop "mahiz," which translates to "source of life" or "bread of life" in their native language. The Taino people lived in the Caribbean and occupied what is now Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

As mentioned, the domestication of corn is believed to have begun in south-central Mexico 10,000 years ago. However, at that time, it was teosinte, a plant with fewer kernels and a smaller cob than today's modern corn.

Over the years, farmers bred the plant, and once Europeans arrived in the Americas, corn was an integral part of the daily diet. Maize was present thousands of years before it made its way to areas like the New England region in the United States. Native tribes in that region not only used the crop as a food source but also made the corn husks into bed mats, moccasins, and twined bags.

Today, corn is used in multiple ways and found in several products that still go beyond food, like biofuel. Because of its versatility, corn has entered an era of mass production and industrialization. But how exactly does the global production of corn affect the planet's environmental health, and is there a compromise to be made in order to keep the balance?

How Is Corn Produced?

Growing corn takes up more land than any other food crop in the world. In the U.S., the midwestern region where corn is mostly cultivated is referred to as the American Corn Belt. This mainly includes the states of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, and a few more. The industrialization of the corn belt took off after the conclusion of World War II.  

During this agricultural industrialization, farmers had access to new seeds that produced hybrid varieties, and many of them turned to farming crops rather than tending to livestock. New practices entered the scene as well, like engine-powered machinery that allowed higher turnouts. Assembly line jobs that were previously carried out by people became the new tasks of machines, which cut down on both time and the cost of paid labor. The hundred years between 1900 and 2000 even saw manpower drop from 41% to 2%. One machine commonly found on the field is a combine harvester. This vehicle completes several jobs as it moves through the crops. It first cuts the crop from the ground and separates the gain from the rest of the plant. The grains get stored in a tank while the materials that aren't needed get dispensed back onto the soil. Some machines take those extra plant materials and bundle them for use as bedding for farm animals.

Machines weren't the only addition to modern farming; there was also a major shift in the products used to cultivate these crops. Commercial fertilizers and chemicals became the preferred way to control pests and produce bigger harvests. From the 1960s to the 1970s, pesticide use increased by 143%.

These practices were implemented with a variety of crops and not just those in the midwest. In California, the massive spike in chemical use eventually led to the workers' rights movement led by iconic figures Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, who advocated for better conditions and pay. They eventually founded what is now the United Farm Workers labor union.

While farmers' working conditions are more regulated now, we still must evaluate how mass corn production affects the planet, especially since the U.S. produces the majority of corn in the world. The 2021 Crop Production Annual Summary released by The Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) found that corn production went up 7% from 2020, making it the second-highest increase on record. A total of 15.1 bushels of corn were cultivated in the U.S. in that year. But why do we grow so much? For starters, corn produces a high yield, and it can be grown in many different places. Because it can be used for food, ethanol, biobased plastics, high-fructose corn syrup, and more, there is a hefty profit to be made.

The Sticky Truth Of Corn Syrup

In a standard supermarket, corn products can be found as a canned good, in processed foods, in the produce section, and even in beverage aisles. Although no one is drinking corn juice (as far as we know), high fructose corn syrup is an artificial sugar found in some juices, sodas, and processed foods. It rose in popularity among food manufacturers in the 1970s due to its affordable cost. To create it, corn is broken down into starch, and that is then broken down into syrup. The syrup contains mostly glucose, and a portion of the glucose is transformed into fructose to make it even sweeter.

Corn syrup has a generally negative reputation amongst the public for its effects on health. Its name is well-known, yet high fructose corn syrup still does not have enough conclusive research to determine whether it is better or worse for us in comparison to other sweeteners. Despite the unknowns, too much consumption can lead to weight gain, type 2 diabetes and put consumers at a higher risk for heart disease. As with any kind of sweetener, Doctors recommend that added sugars like corn syrup should only make up 10% of a person's daily diet.

Impact: Economy vs. Environment

Corn is the largest crop produced in the United States; therefore, it's no surprise that the American economy relies on the corn refining industry. Based on the findings by corn.org, There are an estimated 7,200 people directly working in the industry as well, with a collective total of $900 million in wages paid. On a larger scale, there are over 200,000 food manufacturing and storage facilities in the supply chain. Overall the industry brings in over $718.2 billion in taxes and 43,464,211 jobs.

Whether it's grown to help power our vehicles or to sit on grocery shelves, the American food and energy industries rely heavily on corn production. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, 40% of U.S. corn is used to make ethanol and an estimated 36% for animal feed. Corn production provides so many uses, and objectively, there is nothing wrong with growing corn to feed livestock, the human population, or as a way to decrease gasoline pollution. However, the current practices of corn production may not be sustainable for our planet.

As with most crops, corn is cultivated using chemical fertilizers and pesticides—both of which runoff into the water and the surrounding soil. The water pollution eventually reaches the ocean and causes dead zones where marine life can no longer thrive. Growing corn in large quantities also creates a monoculture that strips the land it's grown on from biodiversity while also stripping the soil of its nutrients.

In 2019, another disappointing discovery was made in a study on corn crops which concluded that the ammonia from fertilizers was the leading cause of air pollution by corn. A terrifying 4,300 premature deaths have been linked to corn's air pollution. The irony in corn production attempting to alleviate air pollution while simultaneously contributing to it, leads one to question if generating ethanol from corn is as beneficial as most believe. Determining whether the current scope of the corn industry is sustainable requires examining its benefits and drawbacks at every step of its production process.