Why are we working against nature?
I’ve been thinking lately about the e-coli scares we’ve had over the years and the recent contaminated pet food debacle. I have to question the wisdom of putting so many systems in place that work against what nature can provide and instead presents us with increased risk.
E-coli largely grows in the intestinal tracts of cows. Feeding cows grain instead of the grass their bodies evolved to process puts a sever strain on their bodies and, among other things, increases the quantity of intestinal e-coli dramatically. Why not avoid the problem and feed cows what’s better for them, and in turn better for us?
The contaminated wheat in pet food was sourced from China. Are we in the United States incapable of growing enough wheat for our own, and our pets, needs? Why do we need to import wheat from the other side of the planet?
It seems to me that putting these systems in place that go against nature create more problems than they solve.
I can’t remember where I heard this, but as I understand it the reason the US imports wheat gluten isn’t because it can’t grow enough wheat. In fact, it is one of the largest exporters of wheat in the world. The issue is that the process of separating out the gluten is too expensive here. In other countries, like china, many of their processed foods use wheat instead of corn like the in the US. As a result, they end up with significant amounts of wheat gluten as a byproduct. Because it is a byproduct, it is very cheap there, so it is exported to the US where it sells at a higher price.
So basically, the reason why the US has to import wheat gluten is that it has high corn subsidies. This means corn is cheap, and thus used in lots of processed foods, which means that wheat isn’t, and thus no cheap wheat gluten. China, being rich with the stuff, sells it to us cheaper than we could make it ourselves.