14 DAY TRIAL // More or less, it was somewhat common knowledge that corn plays a crucial part in the industry of fast food, in one way or another. And in order to add more solid ground to this belief, a recent research has explored the real basis on which the $100-billion industry resides. The chemical tests performed in restaurants across the US indicated that almost all the animals whose meat is used in food preparation are sustained on a corn diet, while fries are cooked in corn-based oil.
This comes as a new slap on the face of the government, which consciously maintains this state of facts by consistently subsidizing and encouraging corn agriculture and allowing for the popularity of fast food companies to grow up to an extent where they are associated with America. This comes as a direct contradiction to experts' analyses which have been demonstrating for a long time that corn agriculture is not feasible, as well as that fast food is the number one cause for obesity and a major factor in diseases.
Corn crops need massive amounts of pesticides and fertilizers, which, in turn, demand huge amounts of fossil fuels during their production process. The corn obtained this way is sometimes the sole food element of livestock which normally doesn't feed on it, causing increased flatulence which adds important amounts of methane to the atmosphere and paves the way for an internal environment rich in e. coli, the main factor in food poisoning. For prevention purposes, antibiotics are mixed with cattle food, resulting in the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant disease strains.
The co-author of the study, A. Hope Jahren, a geobiologist from the University of Hawaii, pointed out that 150 of the 162 analyzed beef meat samples from the Burger King, McDonald's and Wendy's restaurants in six US cities proved that the respective animals were only fed corn, as well as that the oil used for fries was made out of corn. This is why she warns consumers to think further than their food, "When you give a nickel to fast food, invariably it goes right back to the corn industry."
"We're seeing that corn is the number-one reason that fast food is so cheap and available," shared Meredith Niles, a Center for Food Safety's food policy analyst, quoted by Wired. "U.S. programs are subsidizing obesity in this country." Perhaps the future will bring a new policy, hopes the researcher, "We have a new President taking his place in the White House. It's a great opportunity to rearrange agricultural policy and to think about obesity. This study shows that it comes down in a lot of ways to one product".