Exercise is futile against a high fructose diet... and everything has fructose

[Doctor_K]

Time to rail against Big Corn!

Agree Chris.  Ethanol drops fuel economy, and now it's mandatory to blend into gasoline.  On the one hand, the administration is all for raising fleet MPGs, but by mandating higher ethanol percentage blends in fuel, is hampering the very same.

Weird.

[buckethead]

We're talking real subsidies, not tax relief.

Billions in cold, hard (if not soon to be worth much less) cash to Big Cornholio. [source: Bevis and Butthead]

Is this a good time to break into a Monsanto rant?

They are seemingly more powerful than any union, and perhaps moreso than all the left wing union thugs combined.

Food is the ultimate commodity and corn is quite valuable as such. Should it carry the big political stick it does? (Why not wheat or rice?)

The ethanol deal was a scam that rivaled the scope of the bundled securities fiasco, but somehow the ethanol scam continues to grow. (In the name of GREEN)

[avs]

Not to mention that the majority of corn raised in this country is not raised for human consumption - it is raised to feed to cattle and chickens - so even when you are eating meat - you are really eating corn. 

Neither of these animals was meant to eat corn so they are way more fatty than is natural too.  Allowed to graze on open range, both of these animals are leaner and healthier for us to consume, if we choose to consume them.

[simms3]

The best thing to come from corn is the corn maize (maze).  Ethanol is a crock.  As soon as ethanol was introduced to boat gas, people's engines were rapidly burned up (and a boat engine can be many tens of thousands of dollars, even for a 30 ft. or under boat).  Ethanol should be banned already, even the leftist greenies have taken back their hope for ethanol as the way of the future.  The only people pushing ethanol are the corn growers.  Not to mention because corn is so heavily used in food all across the world, much of that coming from here, food products got considerably more expensive and that hits the poor the hardest.

Public enemy number 1: corn growers

[Dog Walker]

I am a big fan of alternative fuels and even run B-20, 20% biodiesel, in the Jetta.  But even I think that corn ethanol is an abomination.  Ethanol from algae, from swithgrass or sugar cane is marginally OK in some circumstances (that don't exist in this country) but never, ever from corn.

Farmers are the biggest "welfare queens" in this country already and certainly don't need more of our money.

[ChriswUfGator]

The best thing to come from corn is the corn maize (maze).  Ethanol is a crock.  As soon as ethanol was introduced to boat gas, people's engines were rapidly burned up (and a boat engine can be many tens of thousands of dollars, even for a 30 ft. or under boat).  Ethanol should be banned already, even the leftist greenies have taken back their hope for ethanol as the way of the future.  The only people pushing ethanol are the corn growers.  Not to mention because corn is so heavily used in food all across the world, much of that coming from here, food products got considerably more expensive and that hits the poor the hardest.

Public enemy number 1: corn growers

Eats your fuel tanks too. Thankfully none of my boats have had fiberglass or plastic fuel tanks, but many do, and ethanol de-bonds it, causing flakes and sludge which then get sucked into the motors. Ethanol is just nasty stuff, they need to phase it out rather than continue to subsidize it. We have romanticized farming long enough, it's no longer about farmers it's all owned by mega corps and done by machine now, crop subsidies are only really subsidizing fortune 500 companies these days, which of course was not the point of the subsidy program. And did you notice in your car, when ethanol went into the gas, fuel economy drops by around 10%! There goes any alleged benefit from using it.

[Ernest Street]

Any motor older than 1998 is victim of Ethanol. Ahh yes, it effectively gives gasoline a lifespan of 30 days till it is watered down with H20 that it collected.
It has been noticed by Vintage auto/RV mechanics I know that this amount of alcohol is just enough to knock off the old sludge and clog our fuel filters 3 times faster. Someone already mentioned that some manufactures rubber or silicone seals will be broken down by alcohol.
Is this nudging the bar up once again so we will have to purchase new cars every year?  We'll see soon enough.

[Dog Walker]

Maybe it's a sinister plot by the Feds to get back the money they gave to bailout the automobile industry. 

[kitester]

ok ...Its not rocket science. Eat the right stuff and you will live a longer healthier life, generally speaking. Its hard to do because we as a society have become so used to the instant gratification we get from fast food. And that doesn't just mean greasy macs, fries or cokes. How many of us go to the farmers market to buy our veggies? Not many I would guess. Who has time to drive across town and pick through what might be available? So even the grocery stores are selling fast food. And the demand for augmented perfect fruits and vegetables is so powerful that stores are forced to carry products that have less and less nutrition even if they look like the right thing to eat. And if they do have an organic section most people will choose the less expensive prettier produce over the nutrient rich (but ugly) selections. And of course its always easier to buy the processed foods. Fixing a meal from scratch would be almost out of the question for many of us. If we have the skills we probably don't have the time. A friend in a nursing program told me he was shocked to see the common very high blood pressure and obesity that were causing so many health problems and deaths. He said that even among the health care professionals in the know there is a problem and it seems to be the norm. Because of this he is starting a program at his school to direct the attention of nursing students back to themselves and their own nutrition. I think its a good place to start. Our medical professionals should set the best example. After all we look to them for help when we are sick.             

[finehoe]

Maybe it's a sinister plot by the Feds to get back the money they gave to bailout the automobile industry.  

The amount given to the auto industry bailout pales in comparison to the amounts lavished on agricultural subsidies.

[Jumpinjack]

Exactly, finehoe. But, do you think that this sacred cow would be up for slimming down? Nooooo.

How about Vidalia onion and snowmobile subsidies? How about conservation easements for suburban backyards? How about Big Sugar price supports and import tariffs while we try to restore our ditched and drained Everglades?

Here's a link to a series of Washington Post stories from 4 yrs. back about talking about the inability of Congress to face up to those cuts.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/interactives/farmaid/
It's a lot of reading but worthwhile if you really want to know what we spend.

[cityimrov]

Corn Syrup is a problem but it's only one part of the obesity problem the country has. 

If I remember correctly, there was a scientific study done using an "endless pasta bowl".  It was a pasta bowl with a tube for more pasta.  The interesting thing the study is that is showed when people ate from this tube, they ate a whole bunch more (3x more if my memory is serving me correctly) food then they would have without the tube adding more pasta. 

[wsansewjs]

If you want to get your mind blown away, I highly recommend watching a hilarious but serious documentary called "King Corn"   IMBD Link - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1112115/  Yes, it is all about the corn industry and their golden star, the high fructose corn syrup. You would be surprised by what chemicals they actually use to make HFCS (hint: extremely toxic for human).

-Josh

[wsansewjs]

Corn Syrup is a problem but it's only one part of the obesity problem the country has. 

If I remember correctly, there was a scientific study done using an "endless pasta bowl".  It was a pasta bowl with a tube for more pasta.  The interesting thing the study is that is showed when people ate from this tube, they ate a whole bunch more (3x more if my memory is serving me correctly) food then they would have without the tube adding more pasta. 

I have to disagree with you that the corn syrup is "only one part of the obesity problem". If you can eliminate that corn syrup issue, then give about 10 years, the entire nation will start have less and less health problems and the health care cost would decline or ease off.

-Josh