The Problem with Grain in Livestock Feed

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)

•  To be sure

  The book is about more than just grain, but its expose on the industrial corn industry is mesmerizing, and all-encompassing.

  by KumarP on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:13:46 AM PDT

  •  Your "industrial" hits the nail on the head.

    I think most have finally realized it isn't Little House on the Prairie anymore, but few realize just how industrialized the process is.

    Oh, on grain? It is almost a trivial matter to grind your own flour. Far less difficult than baking a good loaf. But it all takes time.

    by melvin on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:17:35 AM PDT

  •  Kumar, I wish you'd post ...

    in the pet blogs, especially Itchmo.com

    A lot of people there are still feeding their pets food which depends, largely, on low-grade grain for its protein content.

    I keep pushing the excellent brands* that have NO grains, and feature human-grade meat with some vegetables.  And I mention, over and over like a broken record, that every single pet food sold in supermarkets is loaded with grains because that makes the food very cheap to make, and highly profitable.

    If you can, visit those blogs, and share your knowledge of this book.  Every bit of knowledge helps.  And I'll try to get a copy of this book for myself.  It sounds just great.

    ++++++

    *Such as Merrick's wet food, Orijen dry (both cats and dogs), Serengeti (for cats) and Timber Wolf (for dogs), and By Nature Organic's wet food.  There are a few more.  My local pet store does the neatest thing -- they've put little stickers by each type of food that contains NO grain. It saves having to read every label.

    by SusanHu on Thu May 03, 2007 at 11:26:05 AM PDT

    •  Innova

      makes great grain-free, raw-ingredient-based (and not in the new age food trend sense) pet food, both wet and dry.

      by KumarP on Thu May 03, 2007 at 12:50:54 PM PDT

    •  Farm supply stores

      Often carry the best cat and dog food, believe it or not, including specialty and organic brands. In our town, both farm supply stores have better selections of "natural" brands than the local natural food co-op has.

      by KumarP on Thu May 03, 2007 at 12:52:18 PM PDT

•  Wow, does he give himself an

  exemption when he eats standing up?

  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 . . .

  by Roadbed Guy on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:15:38 AM PDT

•  Thanks for the recommendation

  I just placed a hold on it at my local library (where the 10 copies are already checked out).

  by primrose on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:19:55 AM PDT

  •  You won't be disappointed

    This is one of the best books I've ever read. I originally approached it because I wanted to learn more about slaughterhouses, as that is a timely topic in my community, but I found that it has profound insight on many things, like the pet food recall, Mad Cow disease, and my own industry- biofuels/biodiesel.

    This is one of those tools that helps you define your idea of sustainability on this planet.

    by KumarP on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:22:56 AM PDT

    •  One of the Best book I ever read

      This book changed my world outlook.  The first chapter is free to read on his website.
      I bought many copies to give to other people this christmas....unfortunatly most did not read the book.  The ones that did were crazy about it and called to talk about it.  
      His book "botany of desire" is facinating.  

      by ScienceMom on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:30:43 AM PDT

•  and the current ethanol fixation

  is killing those of us with livestock. My feed prices are through the roof lately. In the last couple of years, hay prices have almost doubled. In the last few months, hog feed, chicken scratch and lay feed are up 30 to 40 percent, sweet feed for horses also 30 to 40 percent.

  Anyone want to buy a couple of 600 lb hogs?

  by buddabelly on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:24:03 AM PDT

  •  I'll take those hogs

    wrapped in tidy white packages, thank you.

    Actually, I won't.  I don't eat enough meat and I don't have a freezer large enough.

    by Fabian on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:28:47 AM PDT

  •  Don't blame ethanol

    Blame the feedstock of choice, i.e. corn.

    The media chooses to confuse the fuel with the feedstock all the time, and that just makes the public's ability to educate itself that much harder.

    If the ethanol industry were using the much higher-yielding, environmentally-benign jerusalem artichoke as its feedstock of choice, would that be adversely impacting your feed situation? I don't think so.

    by KumarP on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:34:40 AM PDT

    •  Correction

      Nothing is truly environmentally-benign. I meant to say "more environmentally-benign".

      by KumarP on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:35:49 AM PDT

  •  Hay prices are not affected by bio-ethanol

    the price of gasoline does make a big diffeence though.

    by OHdog on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:37:05 AM PDT

    •  Grass-fed

      Equals the way nature intended.

      by KumarP on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:41:38 AM PDT

      •  not a whole lot of grass in Arizona

        although my donkeys could probably survive as their digestive systems are a lot tougher than horses. But even though tough I had one colic on me week before last, no fun.

        And on the other feeds its not like we have a choice. It is made from what it's made from, but I did just plant a bunch of the Indian Fig spineless  variety of prickly pear cactus. It will make a good hog feed in a couple of years when it is grown.

        Also I'm wondering if the feed contamination with melamine has entered the livestock feed chain. The last bag of lay feed I purchased my hens won't touch. Even the wild birds avoid it and just pick out the scratch.And my donkey coliced up the day after I fed her from a new bag of sweet feed. Needless to say they haven't been fed any more of that.

        by buddabelly on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:57:25 AM PDT

    •  Fuel costs and drought have been the big

      drivers of hay costs. They shot up imm. after Katrina and haven't returned to normal yet.

      Even the farms where you can go buy right from the grower and transport it yourself have gone from 5.50 to 9 a bale.

      by buddabelly on Thu May 03, 2007 at 11:00:25 AM PDT

•  Make Montana and the Dakotas the buffalo commons

  by Wee Mama on Thu May 03, 2007 at 10:56:32 AM PDT

•  omnivore's dilemma

  My mom read this a short time ago and highly recommended it to me. She was horrified by it all. The whole system is so completely screwed up, it seems it would take some very painful changes to correct it all (or it would take decades of less painful changes), and that's if it can be fixed at all. Changing what people grow, where it is grown, etc.

  by astraea on Thu May 03, 2007 at 11:28:50 AM PDT

  •  Doesn't have to be painful

    But it will be expensive in a dollars-and-cents way. There's no way around that- our society has done so much to transfer the cost of things away from our wallets, toward things that we value less. The problem is, those things include clean air, good health, healthy soil, etc.

    So yes, a gigantic shift in our value system is necessary, but to the degree that it happens, I assure you it will be a liberating, powerful experience, and it will not be as painful as people fear. Becoming a real community is not a bad thing.

    by KumarP on Thu May 03, 2007 at 12:58:18 PM PDT

    •  painful

      I would find this change a most wonderful thing. And I think if the shift were implemented, most people would soon see its benefits.

      When I said "painful" I meant exactly what you said: "expensive" and all the pain that goes with that expense: the struggle to change the way business is done. Agribusiness lobbying congress to stop any changes, the arguments between political and socioeconomic groups (which might be akin to some of the arguments about global warming -- some saying it is all a hoax perpetrated to enrich a few, etc.). That kind of pain.

      by astraea on Thu May 03, 2007 at 01:49:00 PM PDT