Corn

 Introduction
Maize or corn is a versatile food. Each culture or region has a use for corn. The use of corn is endless from food, adventure (corn mazes), and the livestock industry. In urban communities like in Los Angeles corn is a street food and comfort food that many locals enjoy. Corn originated from Mexico and as of today is being consumed and produced in many countries. According to United Nation data about 384 million bushels of corn was produced in the US in 2016 and this number keeps on increasing as the industries keep using corn. In corn becoming such a wide use in the U.S. and other countries it is essential for us to be aware of how corn has become industrialized and how it has affected people and earth. In corn being on of the most grown crop in the agriculture business it has impacted small farmers, farm workers, and low-income communities. This one crop along with many other crops has led to communities to suffer the consequences of turning agriculture into a monoculture.
A Short History
Corn was domesticated from a plant called teosinte around 10,000 years in Mexico. Corn is a significant part in many cultures. In Maya and Aztec culture corn was more than a staple food, it was part of their religion (Ortiz and Caistor 2). They had gods of corn and had rituals to honor the corn gods.  In other indigenous groups the species and use of corn changed and these practices are still used in Sothern America countries. During colonization Indigenous groups introduced corn to European colonizers from there is spread to other region of the world(The Editors of Encyclopaedia).
In the U.S. corn is one of the most abundant crops. Compared to the use from Indigenous groups the U.S. used corn for human consumption, livestock, and fuel. Corn is usually correlated with corn on the cob or popcorn. Corn is consumed daily because it used as an additive in processed foods to make beverages or food more flavorful. This type of corn is called field corn and is not only is it processed for food production, but also used to feed livestock.( A Brief History of Corn.”). Not only is corn excessively used for livestock but also to produce fuel ethanol. Between 2001- 2010 corn production increased because all gasoline started to contain 10% ethanol (Alternative Fuels Data Center). That is why the U.S. production and consumption of corn is vastly greater than other countries. Federal laws such as Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 allow for farmers to grow their crops with freedom, that is famers are able to use advanced technology and equipment’s to allow for the efficient production of as much corn production as possible (“Feedgrains Sector at a Glance.” ) Farmers use GMOs, pesticide, and herbicide to protect the growth corn from certain diseases or bugs. Irrigation systems, machines, and human labor is used to be able to go from planting to packaging corn in the most effective way possible. The production of corn has been increasing yearly as the livestock industry has been expanding, and in order to keep up small farm owners must need to compete with these large corporations. It is estimated that the U.S. corn farmers grow about 17 billion bushels of corn on 83 million acres by 2020( Corn and Livestock).
Political Ecology
This demand for producing corn is not only due the fact that corn is used in a variety of ways, federal policies encourage farmers to transition into expanding the growth of corn. During the 70s the Unites States has created similar bills as the Farm bill which focus on people to have access to food at a low cost (Bosso22). To support this bill, there are federal polices that provide resources for famers to increase their acre production. These resources are quite abundant from; receiving contract payments, marketing loans, disaster aid, conservation payments, and crop insurance (“Feedgrains Sector at a Glance.” ) These aids can be used by local farmers that are trying to compete in this industry.
Local farmers must be able to purchase high-technology to produce high amounts of product such as farm corporations do. The technology being used is; GPS-guided seeders, computer application of fertilizer, modified seed animal, and chemicals for herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides.  Due to this the agriculture business has been monopolized, there are a few corporations that control many farms (Corporate Control in Agriculture). Small farmers would need to transition into monocropping to be able to continue farming. Not only must small workers be able to increase their acres of corn being grown but also selling their product in the market is difficult. One of the issues in the selling on produce to make more profit is that corn is used as an ingredient for other products. Corn is converted to cornstarch, cornmeal, and high-fructose corn syrup that are common ingredients found in processed food or drinks. These big companies have the resources to sell their product to food corporations compared to those of small-scale farmers that do not. Small farmers must also compete with the global market, so in these small-scale farmers producing less amount of corn bushels would not help (Bosso19-21). One of the ways in which famers can make profit in this industry is by hiring immigrant workers.
The first immigrant farmworkers were Chinese, then Japanese, and lastly Mexicans and Filipinos. Mexican farmers are the ones till this day that make up the majority of the farm workers. ( Sbicca 37-38).This is due to primarily to the Bracero program that was created during WWII. This agreement between the U.S. and Mexico allowed for Mexicans to have freeing housing and enough money to provide for family and the U.S. farmers increased their profits in paying these workers the minimum. This soon became an issue as American citizens believed the people in the Bracero program would steal their jobs, when in fact the program set regulations for this not to happen. However, the famers ignored this and from the inhumane treatment of farmer works and immigrant workers starte(“About”).
Environmental Justice
One of the health issues farm works have been working on is exposure to pesticides  and other chemicals. During the Bracero program these workers were exposed to a chemical called DDT that was used to kill of the insects in the crops(Sbicca,34). The co-founders of United Farm Workers (UFW) union, César Chávez and Dolores Huerta fought for farmworkers rights and one of the issues was the workers being sprayed with chemicals as they were working on the fields (Beasts of Burden >> 61). Now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is apple to control the use of pesticide through the Worker Protection Standard (WPS)(U.S. department of Labor). Anther health concern is being constantly exposed to the sun that cause heat-related issues. Farm workers have limited resources that makes it difficult to be treated. Most are immigrant workers and do not have enough money for medical expenses. In being low-income this limits their resources to care of their health.
Part of their health is having access to food. Farm workers and other groups have limited access to healthy food. In low-income areas in urban communities’ people do not have resources or access to health food. Most of these cities are labeled as food deserts in how fresh local food is not easily available. The food that is available in these communities are mostly fast food places or convince stores that primarily sell processed food or junk food that leads to health issues such as obesity. In urban areas that do have access to local fresh food are mostly beneficial to high-income or white community members. To accessibly to obtain fresh produce is mostly related to a person’s class, gender, and social stance such as how in Oakland when white people moved into suburban areas this caused a stop the devolvement of food retails in areas where mostly black or African American lived (Sbicca 29). In addition, to low-income communities having limited resources to healthy food they are also prone to exposure of harmful chemicals due to them living near factories. Although, industrialization of the agriculture business had led to it impacting people’s ability to obtain healthy food because of corn and other crops being exported to other countries and being used in other ways instead of consumption for humans. As well as the inequality of food in low-income versus high-income communities’ people in urban areas are getting involved in the food movement to learn about food injustice and how alternative farming is beneficial for them.
During Food Day 2015 the Los Angeles Food Policy Council and the Equity Summit discussed about how to work on food equity and New York also held a conference called, “Putting MOVE in the Movement!”, that discussed what the food movement was about and other important topics that spread awareness on food injustice. The movement of alternative farming has occurred since the 60s when people wanted to eat non-processed organic food. This issues with this movement is in did not take into accounts other movement or take into account how classism, racism, and social status also play an important role in gifting for food justice and sustainable farming (Sbicca 30-32). Currently permaculture and urban gardening as been increasing and motiving people to want to learn more about alternative ways to purchase food to not partake in the agriculture industry. What is great about these alternatives is that people get to learn how to grow their own food. There is not need to buy expensive or difficult to obtain fresh food because it is growing in a person backyard. Urban gardening and permaculture take effort to learn and be able to use the least number of products because it is all about being able to reuse or reduce the use of materials. People are fighting back and not letting the corporations take away their food rights and produce more harmful chemicals to Earth.
Conclusion
As people are becoming more aware of the how the agriculture business is continuing to shift into monoculture, alternative farming practices are becoming more known and are being applied to people’s daily life. Alternative farming practices unlike the agriculture business focus on understand how to incorporate practical and environmental conscious methods of producing fresh healthy food.  Not only are sustainable agriculture practices beneficial to communities because it allows them to have easier access to healthy food instead of processed foods. It also no longer provides profit to the agriculture corporations that provide limited right to the farm worker and increase waste that harm the environment. This shift is going from anthropocentric to eccentric in how the people are trying to create a relationship with nature. In becoming aware of alternative farming methods that allow for ecosystem to interconnect instead of human being the center just like how the agriculture has led to profit being important (Robbins et al. 78).  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Works Cited
- “A Brief History of Corn.” Https://Naitc-Api.usu.edu/Media/Uploads/2016/03/30/Brief_History_Corn.Pdf, Environmental Impacts of Corn and Corn Products.
- “Feedgrains Sector at a Glance.” USDA ERS - Food Environment Atlas, www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/corn-and-other-feedgrains/feedgrains-sector-at-a-glance/.
- “Corn and Livestock .” National Corn Growers Association .
- “Corporate Control of Agriculture – Farm Aid.” Farm Aid, 10 May 2016, www.farmaid.org/issues/corporate-power/corporate-power-in-ag.
- “UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.” Occupational Safety and Health Administration, www.osha.gov/dsg/topics/agriculturaloperations/hazards_controls.html.
- Alternative Fuels Data Center , U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office, afdc.energy.gov/data/.
-  The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Corn.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 7 Dec. 2018, www.britannica.com/plant/corn-plant.
- “UNdata | Record View | Maize.” United Nations, United Nations, data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=FAO&f=itemCode:56.
-“Evolution of Corn.” Nutrition & the Epigenome, University of Utah, learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/selection/corn/.
- “About.” Bracero History Archive , braceroarchive.org/about
Bender, Steven W. “Beasts of Burden: Farmworkers in the U.S. Field of Dreams.” Mea Culpa: Lessons on Law and Regret from U.S. History, NYU Press, New York; London, 2015, pp. 59–75. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1287jdd.8.
Bosso, Christopher. “The Food System: Or, Why Governments Don’t Leave Agriculture to the Marketplace.” Framing the Farm Bill: Interests, Ideology, and Agricultural Act of 2014, University Press of Kansas, 2017, pp. 14–26. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1kzcdb6.5.
ORTIZ, ELISABETH LAMBERT, and Nick Caistor. “CORN.” The Flavour of Latin America: Recipes and Stories, Latin American Bureau, London, 1998, pp. 1–16. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1hj56t4.3.
Robbins, Paul, et al. Environment and Society: a Critical Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell, 2014.
Sbicca, Joshua. “Inequality and Resistance: The Legacy of Food and Justice Movements.” Food Justice Now!: Deepening the Roots of Social Struggle, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis; London, 2018, pp. 23–48. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.ctv3dnnrt.4.

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