(A) read and answer some discussion questions on a 2004 article, “The Oil We Eat” published in Harper’s. A pdf of the article is on eCampus, or read it online here: www.harpers.org/archive/2004/02/0079915

(B) Watch and respond to the 2008 video King Corn, a film by Aaron Woolf. It is available on DVD from the WVU and Morgantown public libraries, and I have requested a streaming copy as part of our course reserves. You can also stream it for free if you have Amazon Prime, or watch a pirated copy with ads on YouTube (This link worked as of 9/22/20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWv29KRsQXU

By way of introducing this article and video, I’ll note that there is now an entire sub-genra of articles, videos, and documentaries all focused on the many shocking aspects of our modern industrial food system. Honestly, I find much of that sub-genera to be very one-sided, and difficult to engage with. So, even though this reading and video are a bit older, I still like them for how they consider our industrial food system in an open-minded and evidenced-based manner.

Part A: The Oil We Eat
As you read the article, answer the following questions.

1. About what percentage of the earth’s primary productivity do humans use? What does this mean for other species on planet earth?
2. Is farming easier than hunting and gathering? Why does the author believe farming began in the first place?
3. Why did agriculture first take hold near rivers?
4. “Iowa’s fields require the energy of 4,000 Nagasaki bombs every year.” What is it about the corn or soy plants planted on an Iowa field that requires so much energy?
5. Where do we get all this extra energy needed to sustain an Iowa farm field?
6. What were the three types of “catastrophic agriculture” that developed in the world? Where did each develop?
7. When did the world run out of new arable land? Why have we not seen the famine predicted by this loss of new arable land?
8. What are some reasons why we should we fear nitrogen more than pesticides?
9. “Agriculture in this country is not about food…” So, what is it about?
10. Why is eating tuna “like a thousand times less efficient than eating a plant (e.g. seaweed)”?
11. Give an example where eating meat can be more energy efficient than eating a plant-based food.
12. What percent of the grain in the US goes to feed livestock? Why does this worry David Pimentel?
13. “I killed, but then so did you when you bought that package of burger.” Why is the author more satisfied with his “particular bit of violence?”.

Part B: King Corn
The following questions are in sequential order through the video. You can either pause and answer each one, or read them over first, make notes as you go, and then answer at the end.

1. What kind of plant is corn? Where did it originate?
2. What was the purpose of the “old” government subsidy system?
3. What changed to the government subsidy system in 1973? Who made the change, and what was his position in government?
4. Ian and Curtis note that they can grow “4 times more corn” than their grandparents on the same plot of land. What is the reason that they cite was largely responsible for this increase?
5. What is Liberty Link corn? What is it specially designed to do?
6. Michael Pollan says in the video: “An Iowa Farmer can no longer feed himself”. If not edible food, what are Iowa farmers growing?
7. What are the percentages of the produced corn that go into:
   Ethanol:
   High Fructose Corn Syrup:
   Animal feed:
8. What happens when cows eat a corn-based diet?
9. The DIY project of making High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is one of the more humorous parts of the video. What are some uses of HFCS that are “part of a complex innovative system that makes these foods available to us in such a variety of choices for such low prices”.
10. The HFCS public relations rep that said the quote in the previous question is pretty slick, but stop for a second and think about what she said: How exactly are these not actually real “choices”? Or “such low prices”?
11. Why is corn less nutritious now?
12. The video concludes with some profiles of people, both inside of Iowa and outside of Iowa (e.g. in Brooklyn), who are most affected by the corn-based system of industrial agriculture. Who are these groups of people, and how does this system disproportionately affect them?

Synthesis: Response to Industrial Agriculture
The Oil We Eat article is from 2004, and the King Corn video is from 2008, yet their messages are still highly relevant (if not more so) in our election year of 2020. In particular, the reading and video demonstrate how our political decisions are written into the agricultural and food landscapes of America. Based on what you learned, what are some specific policy questions that you would pose to our state and national officials?