Many public television stations around the country will air the controversial documentary Food Inc. on April 21, as part of special programming surrounding Earth Day.

Food Inc. has been criticized by many in the ag community for “demonizing” modern food production.  And in several states, farm groups have gone to their local PBS stations requesting an opportunity to refute some of the claims made in the movie. 
 
to contact the Iowa Public Television station, visit their website at:  www.iptv.org

Food Inc. Facts- You Need to Eat This Up!

Background: Food, Inc., aired on June 12 in New York and California.  It claims to expose “the highly mechanized underbelly” of America’s industrialized food system that has been “hidden from the American consumer with the consent of…regulatory agencies.”  It is the brainchild of Eric Schlosser, who wrote Fast Food Nation.  Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, is the public spokesperson.  Unfortunately, we can expect Food, Inc. to get major media attention and a lot of word-of-mouth coverage. 

Food, Inc. Fact and Fiction: Many of the movie’s details are incomplete or inaccurate.  Many interviews in the film are taken out of context or were conducted under false pretenses.  A number of responsible food and agriculture groups, including NCGA, the International Food Information Council, and companies like Monsanto, are taking the lead in providing accurate information.  See the end of this fact sheet for ideas on what you can do to help.

Corn in the Diet: Field corn is not only a safe component of human and animal diets, it is also a valuable source of fiber, vitamins, minerals, protein, unsaturated fats, and carbohydrates.  Corn is a good source of healthful antioxidants, and recent research at Purdue University shows that processing corn can make those antioxidants easier to digest.  

Contrary to claims, HFCS is a natural food ingredient, it is digested the same way sugar is (our bodies really can’t tell the difference), it does not cause diabetes, and (like other foods), it only contributes to obesity if you consume more calories than you uses.    

Genetic Engineering: Years of experience and repeated scientific research efforts have confirmed that genetically modified field corn is safe for people, animals and the environment.  In fact, genetic modifications make corn more resistant to naturally occurring toxins and better able to withstand weather threats like drought.  Other modifications make minimum tillage or no-till systems easier to apply, reducing fuel use, soil erosion, and chemical applications.

World Hunger and Obesity: Corn alone can’t solve the problems of hunger in the world – and it can’t solve the problems of obesity either.  Both hunger and obesity are complex societal problems that have persisted without regard to corn supplies or prices.  In the case of obesity, it’s important to look at issues like portion size and sedentary lifestyles. 

In the case of world hunger, some of the big factors are the failure to improve crop yields, infrastructure restrictions that keep food from reaching hungry people, civil war and violence, government policies, and foreign exchange rates.  It’s important to note that the cost to ship corn overseas is often greater than the cost of the corn itself.

World Food Supply: There are obvious advantages to making fresh, locally grown food widely available, especially in urban neighborhoods that often don’t have adequate access to the range of foods in other neighborhoods.  However, relying on local agriculture only would result in a major reduction in the amount and variety of foods available – think, for example, about what local fruits and vegetables Iowans could expect to eat between October 1 and April 30. 

Ownership of Agriculture: The U.S. food chain is made up of thousands of companies, some very large and many quite small.  In Iowa, the face of agriculture is the family farm -- 91% are owned by an individual, a partnership or a family.  Of the 6,509 “corporations” that own Iowa farms, 6,029 are family corporations.  Looking specifically at corn growers, Iowa has about 50,000 corn farms with an average 275 acres of corn per operation. 

U.S. Corn Production: We are proud of our work, which feeds not only the U.S. but millions around the world.  It’s not often realized that we now grow three to four times as much corn per acre compared to what we did 50 years ago – at the same time we use less energy per bushel produced and we continue to improve environmental practices.

 You can help set the record straight by:

• Standing up for Iowa agriculture when you get questions from friends or family
• Contacting us if you have questions

Got Questions: Contact us at corninfo@iowacorn.org or 515-225-9242