Omnivore - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 introduces the idea of corn as a commodity and not food. So-called "number 2" corn is a lower grade unsuitable for eating but is bought and sold by food processors to yield corn-based derivatives. The deficiency payments system explained last chapter is really to blame. With a government guarantee of a certain price per bushel, farmers are encouraged focus solely on biomass yield. This system combined with the grading system (number 2), there is no reason for farmers to focus on quality. The end result is a mountain of number 2 corn and the food industry finding as many ways as possible to use it (Pollan did a good job of describing the horror of seeing a pyrimad of corn soak in the rain due to surplus). This is the result of industrialization: movement away from farmers being responsible for their product up to consumer and movement towards food processors like Cargill and ADM being a middleman of an overflowing corn commodity.