Red Star's view of agriculture - Ontario Agriculture2024-03-29T10:24:05Zhttps://ontag.farms.com/forum/topics/red-stars-view-of-agriculture?commentId=3646443%3AComment%3A1791&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI saw this article last week…tag:ontag.farms.com,2009-10-19:3646443:Comment:17912009-10-19T15:52:07.000ZJoe Daleshttps://ontag.farms.com/profile/JoeDales
I saw this article last week as well.....really slanted reporting....the author has an agenda...shock consumers...<br />
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I clipped the first paragraph where they went looking for a junk food farm......<br />
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Farmers really should not get much blame because we get $3.70/bu for the corn turned into $440 of Doritos....not much value share there....thats another topic for discussion.<br />
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"So to get to the root of the exploding obesity epidemic, I went in search of a junk food farm.<br />
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Such farms are not so easy…
I saw this article last week as well.....really slanted reporting....the author has an agenda...shock consumers...<br />
<br />
I clipped the first paragraph where they went looking for a junk food farm......<br />
<br />
Farmers really should not get much blame because we get $3.70/bu for the corn turned into $440 of Doritos....not much value share there....thats another topic for discussion.<br />
<br />
<br />
"So to get to the root of the exploding obesity epidemic, I went in search of a junk food farm.<br />
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Such farms are not so easy to spot. No fields of Dorito bags waving in the breeze, no orchards blooming with soda pop, no soil bursting with 99-cent burgers.<br />
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What you do see are vast operations growing the raw materials for junk food: soybeans and corn.<br />
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The two crops go into the production of many things: pharmaceuticals, industrial products, animal feed – and inexpensive calories.<br />
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Tonnes of soybeans and corn are turned into "edible food-like substances," as food system critic Michael Pollan calls them, used in virtually all processed foods, beverages and junk food.<br />
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Last year, Ontario farmers planted 2.4 million acres of soybeans and just over 2 million acres of corn. That's nearly half of all cropland in the province, a near-colonization of Ontario farms by the soy and corn industry.<br />
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It has provided an abundance of cheap calories for a food system that operates by Doritos economics. A bushel of corn produces some 440 two-ounce bags of 99-cent chips. Farmer grosses $3.70 for the bushel of corn, Doritos more than $440.