If you've been following this blog, you know that it's a problem when cattle eat corn. It turns out, dependence on a corn diet has even more drawbacks than we thought.
Back in 2012, the worst drought in half a century ravaged the U.S. corn crop, causing the price of cattle feed to sky rocket. Scrambling for affordable ways to keep their stock fed, dairy and beef producers gave them literally anything they could get their hands on.
As this Reuters article put it, "discarded food products" were being substituted for corn, such as candy. And if "discarded food products" weren't bad enough, how about "never was food" products? This article, from Mother Jones, adds that not only was Bessie fed the candy, but the wrapper, as well!
The article goes on to list other, even less appetizing items that appeared on the cows' menu: sawdust, ground limestone, crab guts, and chicken feces.
2015, only 4 months in as of this writing, is already the hottest year on record.
Drought will be the inevitable result of such temperatures, leading again to less corn, higher prices, and beef and dairy cows being fed candy, rocks, and chicken poop.
So, when the urge to barbecue inevitably comes this summer, before those burgers hit the barbie, it may be a question worth asking: What has my meat been eating?
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