The (Agri)Cultural Contradictions of Obesity
The Appalachian range made it difficult and expensive to transport surplus corn from the lightly settled Ohio River Valley to the more populous markets of the East, so farmers turned their corn into whiskey — a more compact and portable ”value-added commodity.” In time, the price of whiskey plummeted, to the point that people could afford to drink it by the pint, which is precisely what they did.
Nowadays, for somewhat different reasons, corn (along with most other agricultural commodities) is again abundant and cheap, and once again the easiest thing to do with the surplus is to turn it into more compact and portable value-added commodities: corn sweeteners, cornfed meat and chicken and highly processed foods of every description. The Alcoholic Republic has given way to the Republic of Fat, but in both cases, before the clever marketing, before the change in lifestyle, stands a veritable mountain of cheap grain.
I hadn’t understood how directly government policy influenced how farmers produced and sold food today versus 50 or even 30 years ago. I fear it’s too esoteric to be a campaign issue, and perhaps is tuch a political hot potato as to be untouchable by any but a second term president, one who doesn’t need to be re-elected.
Found in Rebecca’s pocket