The redneck strike again.

[Confused Ape]

The meat is actually a byproduct (in our current system or a "better one") - that's why the comment probably doesn't apply. The question was "What do we do with all of this corn?"

There isn't any excess corn to be got rid of. From that NYT article again - The Staggering cost of rising world meat production

Grain, meat and even energy are roped together in a way that could have dire results. More meat means an increase in demand for feed, especially corn and soy, an increase some experts say will contribute to higher prices.

This will be inconvenient for residents of wealthier nations, but it could have tragic consequences for those of poorer ones, especially if higher prices for feed divert production away from food crops.

The environmental impact of growing so much grain for animal feed is profound. Agriculture in the United States - much of which now serves the demand for meat - contributes to nearly three-quarters of all water-quality problems in U.S. rivers and streams, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The corn is being grown for factory farming feed. This means less land available for human food crops. When you can't grow enough human food crops to feed the population it has to be imported from elsewhere.

List Of Foods Imported Into the U.S. - Slide 3 is vegetables.

As is the case with other foods, the United States imports billions of dollars' worth of vegetables from other countries. Mexico dominates the supply of imported vegetables, supplying peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, pinto beans, broccoli, cabbage, onions, lettuce, celery, squash and spinach, to name a few. Other important suppliers like Canada and Peru supply carrots, cauliflower, asparagus, mushrooms and potatoes.

Some farmers, such as Will Harris, are going back to the old fashioned farming methods - From Factory Farm To Organic Icon

His animals and poultry are pastured. The farm has its own slaughterhouses for red meat and poultry so the animals don't have to be transported elsewhere. This means no waste because the bits which can't be used for human food can be composted while hides are tanned. Slaughterhouse discards are also used to raise black soldier fly larvae for chicken feed. He's even got a bit of room left for fruit trees and vegetables.

I found website for his farm - White Oak Pastures - Local Food

Most of the farmland in United States cannot cost effectively produce high quality grass-fed beef and free-range poultry on a year round basis. Because of our favorable climate, we are able to do this in the Gulf Coast Plain. We feel that our grass-fed beef, lamb, and poultry are local to the Southern region of the U.S. all year. During certain seasons, it is local for the entire east coast.

So what do you do elsewhere? Easy. Just adopt the methods which were used before factory farming was invented in the 1950's. My husband grew up on a traditional farm. Beef cattle were grazed during the summer and then brought into the yard for the winter. They were fed on hay and some cattle feed. Less corn needed means more land available for human food such as vegetables.

The food Will Harris produces for local markets is more expensive but this is the result of something else I've been looking into. Most of the farming subsidy money goes to the factory farms so family farmers can't compete and a lot of them have been forced to give up. Money for subsidies comes from the pockets of taxpayers so people are still paying high prices for factory farmed meat in an indirect way. The price is even higher when you consider how much extra money is spent combating the negative health effects from eating all this meat.

If people made smarter dietary decisions no amount of greed in the universe would move the food budget a single penny.

People are starting to make smarter dietary decisions now.

I'm going to finish this post with an article about a chicken farmer who got out of factory farming - 'Food, Inc.' Chicken Farmer Goes Rogue – Says Goodbye to Factory Farms

She and her husband were going through a nightmare because of 'contract farming'.

Carole Morison: The control over our farm and constant demands for upgrades to housing and equipment infuriated me. It was as if we had turned our bank account over to the company and they had a blank check. If we didn’t allow the company to spend our money for us, the threat of contract termination was used as the enforcer. Many times I had to bite my tongue to not tell the company men to put the contract where the sun doesn’t shine. When both of us had to get off-farm jobs in order to support the farm and put food on the table, it made absolutely no sense to me. It was like we were supporting a very expensive habit that we could do without.

When antibiotic-resistant bacteria and other public-health issues emerged, I knew in my mind that the culprit was the industry. Finding out that arsenic was in the feed that the company sends (which the farmer has to use—another contract item) infuriated me. It had been going on for years. Unknowingly we were spreading manure containing arsenic on our land as well as being exposed to it on a daily basis from the dust and feed in the chicken house. I went ballistic wondering how our right to know didn’t figure into the equation.

The boiling point came when the company hinted at us upgrading the chicken houses and equipment to their newest whim. It was an expensive proposition which we would have never seen a return on and would have only sunk us deeper in debt. Cost was not the only deterrent. The upgrades would have taken away all natural fresh air and sunlight to the chickens and increased stocking density, used three times the electric already being used, and drained more water from a well that couldn’t handle the increased flow. And once again our money was being spent on a company whim. We refused!