Considering the unfolding melamine-laced-grain drama, most recently represented in a fine diary by Richard Cranium, I'd like to draw Kossack attention to a great book by Michael Pollan (clickable image):
This book tells us a lot more than we want to know about the absolutely asinine grain industry in the U.S., and how it is leaving its ugly mark on animal health and human health. Make no mistake, Pollan's barbs are directed at government policy makers as much as farmers, who are largely victims of this foolish behavior.
Partial summary of the book, from Pollan's website, below the fold...
In this groundbreaking book, one of America’s most fascinating, original, and elegant writers turns his own omnivorous mind to the seemingly straightforward question of what we should have for dinner. To find out, Pollan follows each of the food chains that sustain us—industrial food, organic or alternative food, and food we forage ourselves—from the source to a final meal, and in the process develops a definitive account of the American way of eating. His absorbing narrative takes us from Iowa cornfields to food-science laboratories, from feedlots and fast-food restaurants to organic farms and hunting grounds, always emphasizing our dynamic coevolutionary relationship with the handful of plant and animal species we depend on. Each time Pollan sits down to a meal, he deploys his unique blend of personal and investigative journalism to trace the origins of everything consumed, revealing what we unwittingly ingest and explaining how our taste for particular foods and flavors reflects our evolutionary inheritance.
EDIT: Regarding the poll below, just to clarify, we are talking about **used** chicken litter here, complete with poop (yes, I used the word "poop" in a diary)