NEGenWeb
Resource Center
On-Line Library

FOOD PROBLEMS FROM THE CHEMIST'S VIEWPOINT

F. W. UPSON, LINCOLN

     The question of the world's food supply is one of the vital problems of the day. In a time of national peril such as confronts us today we must look at this question in its broadest aspect and from an unbiased standpoint. As producers of America's greatest food crop you corn growers are interested in this question of the nation's food

     I shall try this morning to give a few ideas in regard to the question of food supply as they may occur to a chemist. From a chemical point of view food represents material for building up the animal machine and keeping it in running order. In other words, food for man as well as for animals serves two general purposes. It provides the material for growth, the material out of which body substance is formed and it serves as the source of energy by means of which the body keeps up its supply of heat and does muscular work. Food in the living organism undergoes chemical changes by means of which it is transformed into muscle, hone or fat producing growth; and it undergoes another kind of chemical change termed oxidation in which energy may appear as animal heat or it may be transformed into muscular energy, enabling the body to do work.

     The important materials for growth are protein and inorganic substances such as phosphorus, lime, iron and potash. Protein is required for building muscle and the inorganic materials for building bone substance. No other materials in the food can replace them. These substances must be supplied to the growing child or the young animal in proper amounts or he will not grow. The adult human or the grown animal requires less of these substances than does the child or the young animal. When man reaches maturity he does not continue to add to his bone or musclar (sic) tissue or there would be no limit to his size. If he eats more than his body requires he may store up fat.

     The energy function of the food is taken care of by the carbohydrates and fats. Sugar and starch are the most important carbohydrates. Animal and vegetable fats are of equal value for furnishing energy. The carbohydrates come chiefly from the cereal grains and the sugars from fruits, honey, etc.

     The problem of the food supply is essentially a problem of energy supply, the ultimate source of which is the sun. The plant takes

certain compounds from the soil and from the air and by the aid of the energy of the sun's rays transforms them into food products, grains, stalks, tubers, fruits and the like. In this process energy is

Transforming the sun's energy into vegetable foods

absorbed and stored to be liberated when the food is decomposed in the animal organism. As the producer of food the plant is of first importance. Man either eats the plant products directly or he eats the animal products which have in turn been produced from plants. The animal is not a real producer of food. He is simply a transformer of one kind of food into another kind of food which is necessary for man or which he may like better.

     The density of population which a country can support is fixed absolutely by the amount of energy from the sun which can be stored in the form of plant products. The larger part of the plant material produced by an acre of corn is in the form of food unfit for human use. Fifty to sixty-five per cent of the organic matter in the corn crop is in the cobs and stover and about sixty per cent of that in the wheat crop is in the straw. The same holds true in greater or less degree for other food crops.

     Farmer's Bulletin No. 877 of the United States Department of Agriculture gives some interesting and startling figures in regard to the amount of human food produced from an acre of ground when devoted to the raising of various crops, as well as when devoted to

the production of live stock of various types. Corn stands at the top in the amount of food produced from an acre of ground. It produces about one-tenth more food per acre than its nearest competitor, sweet potatoes. Next comes Irish potatoes, then rye, then wheat. An acre of corn yields over one and one-half times as much food as an acre of potatoes, almost one and seven-tenths times as much as an acre of rye and almost exactly one and three-quarters times as much food as an acre of wheat.

     When we come to the question of animal products, the figures are even more striking. Dairy products stand at the head of the list of animal products which may be produced from an acre of land. For example an acre produces in the form of milk, more than five times as much human food as when that acre is devoted to the raising of beef cattle and about 5 per cent more than when devoted to the raising of pork. However, as compared with corn the cow and the pig stand far down the list in producing food. An acre devoted to raising corn produces four and one-half times as much food as an acre devoted to the production of milk and an acre in corn produces twenty-four times as much food as does an acre devoted to the raising of beef. In the production of animal food for man the dairy cow is most efficient, then comes the hog and then the steer and sheep.

     Since the steer and the hog must be raised on the products grown on the land it is evident from the above figures that, in putting the grain thru the animal there is a big loss in human food. Following are some figures taken at random from experiment station literature showing the amount of corn necessary when combined with other feeds to produce 100 pounds of gain in steers.

      From 406 to 922 pounds of corn are required to produce 100 pounds of gain in a steer. When we remember that about one-half

of the steer carcass is in the inedible portion and that about 50 per cent of the remainder is water, we see that the steer is a poor converter of corn into beefsteak. As a matter of fact in the production of beef, as well as of mutton, from 3 to 5 per cent, only of the total digestible organic matter of the feed is recovered as human food in the edible portions of the carcass and in the case of pork about 15 per cent is recovered. The dairy cow on the other hand is more efficient, converting from 20 to 25 per cent of the digestible matter in her feed into milk wholly digestible as human food. For each 100 pounds of food consumed the dairy cow yields about six times as much edible solids in her milk as the steer does in his carcass. Why is there this loss of human food in converting grain into animal products? The reason is to be found in the following. The animal uses up a large portion of his food in keeping his body warm and another considerable portion goes to produce the inedible parts of his carcass, the bones, hoofs, internal organs, etc. Obviously all feed converted to these purposes by the animal is lost to human beings.

     In a time of crisis such as confronts us today it seems to me that facts such as these must not be lost sight of. H. P. Armsby, the foremost American authority on the subject of animal feeding, pointed out some years ago that as producers of live stock we have in the past employed the most wasteful of methods. He said

     "We cannot continue indefinitely to use edible grains as stock feed; the waste of energy in the transformation is too great. The feeder of the future will use by-product feeds to an extent as yet unrealized. As the demands for food become more intense it will become increasingly important to so husband these by-products and to combine them into efficient rations under such conditions and to such types of animal as to save the largest possible percentage of energy which they contain."

     It was further pointed out by Armsby that because of these facts we shall soon have to reverse our point of view and design our feeding experiments not to show how grain may most profitably be converted into meat, but rather how much of it may be saved for man's direct use.

     Farmers' Bulletin No. 873, U. S. D. A., published in August of this year, expresses the same line of thought. This bulletin says: "Live stockmen of this country are confronted with a situation unparalleled in history. The unprecedented demand for grains for human consumption makes it imperative that such products be conserved to the utmost and that only those feeds be used for live stock which are not needed

for human 'food." This bulletin goes on to point out the enormous losses to the American farmers in not making the best use of roughages and by-products.

     It is estimated that the annual loss in straw and corn stover amounts to over $100,000,000. More than $35,000,000 worth of cottonseed meal is annually used as a fertilizer in our southern states, its value could be increased 50 to 85 per cent by using it as a cattle ration in combination with straw and stover. One further important fact should be emphasized. The office of farm management after a three years study of cattle raising in the corn belt has found that the breeding herds maintained most largely on roughages, such as straw, stover, etc., with a very small amount of concentrate feed such as cottonseed meal, corn, etc., are the herds from which the largest profits are returned.

     Let us consider some of the forgoing ideas as they have a bearing on the present food situation. In times of food shortage decreased production and consumption of meat products always takes place. This has happened in England and Germany since the war began and it is happening in our own country.

     In countries such as China and Japan, where the population is many times more dense than our own and, therefore, poorer, meat consumption has for centuries been far below that among more prosperous peoples. It is significant that in times of food shortage that first restrictions are placed on meats. Prosperous peoples are heavy consumers of meat. It is often argued that this greater prosperity is a result of meat eating. It is just as sensible and far more logical to argue that prosperous peoples eat more meat because they are better able to afford that more expensive form of food.

     A properly fed nation must have some meat products. Bodily well being and proper nutrition demand some animal protein. Dairy products especially milk are absolutely essential for the proper nutrition of children. The English food commissioner in a report last spring urged the English people to use less meat and more milk, pointing out that milk is in every respect a substitute for meat. In view of the fact that milk is the most economically produced of all animal products I think the dairy industry ought to be greatly increased in this country.

     The situation with regard to meat is, as 1 see it, as follows: There is a shortage of meat among our allies. Their breeding herds

have been so far depleted that their people are actually in want for meat products. The American people consume far more meat than is necessary for proper nutrition. As a nation we could reduce out meat consumption one-third to the betterment of health and the advantage of our pocketbooks. The meat thus saved would go far toward making up the deficiency among our allies and in supplying the army.

     Just now there is a campaign on to increase the production of hogs. In view of the world shortage of meat this is probably wise as a temporary measure because the hog produces meat more quickly and more economically than other animals. We also have an unprecedented corn crop to take care of. The hog is the greatest producer of animal fats. Fats are required in unprecedented amounts for the provisioning of the army. As a food administration poster expresses it, ''Fats are Fuel for Fighters.'' When men perform heavy muscular work and are at the same time subjected to great cold and exposure their requirement for energy foods are greatly increased. Fats are the best energy producers of all our foods. As a temporary measure the production of hogs seems a necessity. No less necessary, it seems to me, is the increase of our dairy herds. On the other hand if the war is to last six or eight years or longer, I think we may change our point of view. I believe we will raise more cattle and less hogs for the reason that cattle may he produced very largely on the land unfit for raising grain and they may be brought to maturity on less grain than is required for hogs. This situation has already come about in Germany.

     For the future I believe that we will use less meat and eat more of our grains, especially corn. As the population becomes more dense and food more scarce larger and larger areas of our tillable lands will be given over to the raising of grain. Dairying will be increased. Our necessary beef will be raised to a very large extent on the ranges, in the rough country which will not produce grain. Vast areas of land of this sort are still undeveloped. Please bear in mind that what I have said here represents only the general outline. The farmer of the future will, of course, keep in mind the proper rotation of crops and a well balanced agriculture. To different farmers in different climates this will mean different systems of farming. In the main, however, the farmer of the future will, I think, always have in mind the greatest production of grain crops.

     Such crops as are necessary for proper rotations, the hay crop, alfalfa and the like, will be largely consumed by dairy animals. Of the different grain crops corn will stand at the top.

     MR. BURNETT: What portion of wheat may be substituted for with corn?

     MR. UPSON: Easily one-third as much corn as wheat could be used, and we could use even more corn.

     MR. BURNETT: That would be about 200 million bushels corn per year for this country,--the market for the balance would have to be about where it has been.

     MR. UPSON : At the present time we have a great excess of corn. There is one thing I wish to point out especially it seems to me that in the future we will consume less meat and more and more grain. We will be obliged to do that as the population becomes more and more dense. Our population now is comparatively scattered in this young country of America, as compared with Europe, and we have been enabled because of that fact to use more extravagant methods of feeding than in the older countries like Japan, China and other countries. We are and have been going on the principle of extensive farming rather than that of intensive food production.

---

     I have a little corn out on my farm which 1 grew this year. I think I could sell it at a profit if I would sell it as corn. But the Government is advising and urging us to do other things with corn than to sell it. The Government wishes us to put it into hog production, and to use some of it for other live stock activities. My personal belief is, however, that unless there is a great change in the relative market values, we can not use that corn in any way open to us and make as much money as we can if we haul it to the elevator. I do not believe that my profit will he so large from feeding it to

---

© 2002 for the NEGenWeb Project by Pam Rietsch, Ted & Carole Miller