4 ms·

This is just my impression, so do tell me if I'm incorrect, but I always got the impression that those North American countries like Mexico and USA rely a bit t

This is just my impression, so do tell me if I'm incorrect, but I always got the impression that those North American countries like Mexico and USA rely a bit too much on corn, to the detriment of a more diverse set of crops. Renewable fuel? Corn. Cattle food? Corn. Staple carb? Corn. Sweetener? Corn. Aren't they putting too many eggs in the same basket?

sova 5y ago
Yes
X6S1x6Okd1st 5y ago
At least in the US this was intentional. 115 B over the last 25 years. https://farm.ewg.org/progdetail.php?fips=00000&progcode=corn https://farm.ewg.org/progdetail.php?fips=00000&progcode=corn biofuel from corn was explicitly subsidized and protected as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_subsidy#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_subsidy#United_St...
numpad0 5y ago
Same disclaimer applies but my impression is that available corn enabled nations to form, than pre-existed nations developed corn dependency.
wudangmonk 5y ago
Its been a staple food for thousands of years. At least in Mexico the whole cuisine revolves around it. Same as Asia and rice. All the other uses such as fuel and sweetner is because its subsidized, doubt it would be used so much if it wasn't.
rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago
The staple native grain of Europe is wheat, rice in Asia, and corn in the Americas. At least that's the historical context. Today, the reason why America produces so much corn is because of government subsidies, and so she can always feed herself if WWIII ever breaks out and all the borders shut down (unlike many modern first world nations).
- unmole 5y ago
  I'm not too familiar with other places but historically rice wasn't the staple in South Asia. Even in South India, it was something that rich people ate. As a result of government policies, rice monoculture ended up replacing the the diversity of grains that people actually consumed.
  - whimsicalism 5y ago
    East Asia and Southeast Asia, not South Asia. It wasn't the only one, but along with wheat and millet, poor Chinese were definitely eating rice.
    - unmole 5y ago
      > poor Chinese were definitely eating rice. I don't know recent it is but isn't there a rice-wheat divide in China too?
- eru 5y ago
  As if the farmland would just go away, if the subsidies would go away? > The staple native grain of Europe is wheat, rice in Asia, and corn in the Americas. Not sure what you mean by native? The predecessor of wheat was native to some parts of the Middle East, but until recently you couldn't even grow that stuff well in eg most parts of Germany. (Hence Germany's enduring love affair with rye bread.) Rice only grows in some parts of Asia. (Eg Northern China relies on other grains.) All those crops are human interventions in their wide spread, they aren't native to entire continents.
  - X6S1x6Okd1st 5y ago
    Land isn't the only part of the equation.
    - eru 5y ago
      Yes. But without corn subsidies they would just use the farmland to grow something else.
AngryData 5y ago
It does get disproportionate subsidies. But part of it could be simple risk aversion, corn is a very robust crop. Wheat can be destroyed in conditions where corn will prosper and much of the US can get fairly extreme weather.
opportune 5y ago
Do you live in the US? I would not say corn is a staple carb (not counting HFCS, but as a direct food replacing bread or rice) for most people. It is consumed directly as a vegetable (sweet corn) and as a staple in the form of cornbread, tortillas, and other cornmeal-based products but I would bet those don’t even form a plurality of starchy carb sources in the American diet, compared to wheat-based carbs like bread or even potatoes. It could be different in Mexico where corn tortillas are more commonly consumed, but in the US I don’t think corn is actually a common staple carb (again, not counting HFCS) at all. You may wonder why I don’t count HFCS- that’s because it’s a sweetener composed of simple sugars whereas most staple carb sources are starches. It’s very common in processed foods, which Americans and Mexicans unfortunately consume way too much of, but is not exactly a staple most people have or use in their home cooking.
- lvxferre 5y ago
  No; I'm from South America. In fact I was mentally comparing MX+USA with the situation here, it depends a lot on the specific region but usually there's a plurality of staple carbs (wheat, rice, potato, corn, yucca...). Cattle food, sugar and renewable fuel are taken up by other crops (soy and sugar cane). >I would bet those don’t even form a plurality of starchy carb sources in the American diet That's good. I was mildly concerned about the situation because others mentioned corn farms subsidised by the government - relying too much on them for food would be risky, in the case of a plague.

sova 5y ago

Yes

X6S1x6Okd1st 5y ago

At least in the US this was intentional. 115 B over the last 25 years. https://farm.ewg.org/progdetail.php?fips=00000&progcode=corn https://farm.ewg.org/progdetail.php?fips=00000&progcode=corn biofuel from corn was explicitly subsidized and protected as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_subsidy#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_subsidy#United_St...

numpad0 5y ago

Same disclaimer applies but my impression is that available corn enabled nations to form, than pre-existed nations developed corn dependency.

wudangmonk 5y ago

Its been a staple food for thousands of years. At least in Mexico the whole cuisine revolves around it. Same as Asia and rice. All the other uses such as fuel and sweetner is because its subsidized, doubt it would be used so much if it wasn't.

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago

The staple native grain of Europe is wheat, rice in Asia, and corn in the Americas. At least that's the historical context. Today, the reason why America produces so much corn is because of government subsidies, and so she can always feed herself if WWIII ever breaks out and all the borders shut down (unlike many modern first world nations).

unmole 5y ago
I'm not too familiar with other places but historically rice wasn't the staple in South Asia. Even in South India, it was something that rich people ate. As a result of government policies, rice monoculture ended up replacing the the diversity of grains that people actually consumed.
- whimsicalism 5y ago
  East Asia and Southeast Asia, not South Asia. It wasn't the only one, but along with wheat and millet, poor Chinese were definitely eating rice.
  - unmole 5y ago
    > poor Chinese were definitely eating rice. I don't know recent it is but isn't there a rice-wheat divide in China too?
eru 5y ago
As if the farmland would just go away, if the subsidies would go away? > The staple native grain of Europe is wheat, rice in Asia, and corn in the Americas. Not sure what you mean by native? The predecessor of wheat was native to some parts of the Middle East, but until recently you couldn't even grow that stuff well in eg most parts of Germany. (Hence Germany's enduring love affair with rye bread.) Rice only grows in some parts of Asia. (Eg Northern China relies on other grains.) All those crops are human interventions in their wide spread, they aren't native to entire continents.
- X6S1x6Okd1st 5y ago
  Land isn't the only part of the equation.
  - eru 5y ago
    Yes. But without corn subsidies they would just use the farmland to grow something else.

AngryData 5y ago

It does get disproportionate subsidies. But part of it could be simple risk aversion, corn is a very robust crop. Wheat can be destroyed in conditions where corn will prosper and much of the US can get fairly extreme weather.

opportune 5y ago

Do you live in the US? I would not say corn is a staple carb (not counting HFCS, but as a direct food replacing bread or rice) for most people. It is consumed directly as a vegetable (sweet corn) and as a staple in the form of cornbread, tortillas, and other cornmeal-based products but I would bet those don’t even form a plurality of starchy carb sources in the American diet, compared to wheat-based carbs like bread or even potatoes. It could be different in Mexico where corn tortillas are more commonly consumed, but in the US I don’t think corn is actually a common staple carb (again, not counting HFCS) at all. You may wonder why I don’t count HFCS- that’s because it’s a sweetener composed of simple sugars whereas most staple carb sources are starches. It’s very common in processed foods, which Americans and Mexicans unfortunately consume way too much of, but is not exactly a staple most people have or use in their home cooking.

lvxferre 5y ago
No; I'm from South America. In fact I was mentally comparing MX+USA with the situation here, it depends a lot on the specific region but usually there's a plurality of staple carbs (wheat, rice, potato, corn, yucca...). Cattle food, sugar and renewable fuel are taken up by other crops (soy and sugar cane). >I would bet those don’t even form a plurality of starchy carb sources in the American diet That's good. I was mildly concerned about the situation because others mentioned corn farms subsidised by the government - relying too much on them for food would be risky, in the case of a plague.