How much food is in our gas tanks?

[begreen]

This is a thought provoking essay on the sheer volume of land plus energy, fertilizers, and fuel that goes into corn production. Amazingly, only about 12% of the corn grown in the US ends up on the table. The rest goes to vehicles and animal feed. That takes a huge amount of land. The area used for fuel production is roughly equivalent to the area of the UK. Is there a better way? The author thinks so, especially when the current process is so carbon positive and increasing emissions.

Biofuels: the US could switch to electric cars and solar power on just a fraction of the land

Biofuels could be making climate change worse, not better. There's a way to put this land to good use.

www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com

 

[woodgeek]

Hmmm. Electric cars powered by renewables and driven by vegans? Never!

 

[Ashful]

We're a good 2 decades out from a total fleet change to EV's, and 3 - 5 decades out from the same with farm equipment, given typical vehicle and equipment life cycles. So, even with 100% conversion to EV's from today forward, there needs to be a better solution for fuel in the interim.

I will admit that putting food into our gas tanks never made sense to me, on so many levels. There were better ways to energy independence, even 20 years ago when this plan was first proposed.

 

[peakbagger]

IMHO, it was always a hidden farm subsidy.

 

[EbS-P]

It is really time to start phasing out all subsidies for all fuel industries. But… what will we do with all the farm ground?
KC Wheat just hit a 24 month low. I’m not saying that farmer don’t need the subsidies but may just not for fuel in the future.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Ethanol should be sipped , not burnt.

 

[begreen]

Hmmm. Electric cars powered by renewables and driven by vegans? Never!

Well, there's always an exception

 

[woodgeek]

I was going to ask 'how much food is in our food?' a reference to (1) the absurd amount of grains (and land and resources) that go into making a paltry amount of meat/dairy calories and (2) how much of our (processed) food is really food.

 

[Ashful]

I don’t have an answer to that, but can tell you I ate flatbreads loaded with roast chicken, olive oil, and an assortment of cheeses last night, with a side dish of… kale. You know which half of that meal I enjoyed more?


The strange thing is that I never even heard of kale until 10 years ago, and now it’s everywhere. A woke vegetable?

 

[begreen]

Kale has always been popular in Scotland, Denmark, Portugal, Italy and other parts of the world (Kenya). American gardeners have started growing it because it's so easy. The plant pretty much takes care of itself. As far as the taste, the variety grown is important, and how it's prepared. I never liked okra until I had it in bhindi masala. Now I love it. I'm going to try growing it in the greenhouse next year.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I’ve had great luck with okra surrounded by bush beans. The okra grows high. The beans stay low.

When I was young kale was a garnish. Only my grandmother ate it. I like it now, but remember it as bitter then.

I’m sure the garnish was grown for looks whereas it’s now grown for taste.

 

[begreen]

I’ve had great luck with okra surrounded by bush beans. The okra grows high. The beans stay low.

When I was young kale was a garnish. Only my grandmother ate it. I like it now, but remember it as bitter then.

I’m sure the garnish was grown for looks whereas it’s now grown for taste.

Yes, we only grow rainbow kale now. It's a cross between Italian Lacinato and Russian Red (Redbor) and not bitter. Tough plant. I have some in our abandoned upper garden that grows every year in spite of not getting watered. The reason some kales are popular in cold countries is that it is very cold hardy.

 

[DBoon]

The reason some kales are popular in cold countries is that it is very cold hardy.

I can row cover kale and harvest until late November, maybe mid to late December if I prepare for really cold nights with a plastic top cover as well. It won't grow further, but it will survive with good quality. This is in a Central NY zone 4 climate.

 

[Ashful]

We plant kale and cabbage in the garden at the end of our driveway, just for some fall color, as everything else is ending their season. It holds up pretty well, almost to Christmas most years.

Only in America, will you find people using food for decoration.

 

[woodgeek]

I grew Kale for my grandma when I was a teen with a veggie garden. I was annoyed that when I turned the unharvested stuff under the soil in the Fall, it would still be bright green and look fresh when I turned the soil in the spring. I figured it was made of plastic or something, and not digestible as food even to worms and bugs.

 

[Ashful]

I'm with the worms and bugs, on that one. Give me a good Romaine or spinach any day, and keep the Kale for decoration only.

 

[begreen]

Flowering kale is not the same as the edible variety.

I am not a fan of kale raw in salads but when prepared well in casseroles, kale is delicious. Baked with a little olive oil and seasoned salt, the leaves dry out to make a very tasty, crispy snack.

 

[Ashful]

Flowering kale is not the same as the edible variety.

Good to know. Had no idea!

I am not a fan of kale raw in salads but when prepared well in casseroles, kale is delicious. Baked with a little olive oil and seasoned salt, the leaves dry out to make a very tasty, crispy snack.

My wife makes these kale chips, which we all love. I don't really get into cooking, but I see her doing them in the air fryer (which looks like a toaster oven), and I suspect she spritzes some olive oil on them before they go in. They're actually quite good, and the kids like them too. Not sure how healthy kale is, after being oiled and crisped, but I guess it beats chocolate covered pretzels.

 

[DBoon]

I'm a little late to this thread, but when the onset of cold winter weather has killed off the last of the covered lettuce and spinach, Kale keeps going strong until the temperature dips well into the teens. Kale works well mixed in with other dishes as well (as begreen indicated) and I mix it into a risotto. It doesn't get soggy or clump together when mixed into hot dishes the way spinach will.

 

[sloeffle]

Late to the party too.

The guys at the local feed mill told me feed corn use to be around 9 - 10% protein. They say it's about 7% protein now because most of the corn varieties these days have a higher amount of starch for ethanol production. Distillers grain comes out of the back end of the ethanol plant and can be used for animal feed.

Last year or the year before they built a huge 200k bushel bin and he told me it was for high oleic soybeans. They looked to be used for making bio-diesel also.

I agree, biofuels in their current form is a broken system.

 

[Ashful]

Distillers grain comes out of the back end of the ethanol plant and can be used for animal feed.

This thread would be more interesting if someone had asked, "How much of my bourbon is going into your fuel tank?"

Kale... blegh!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

That'd get people going as bad as using this as a water bottle when at a gym!

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

It is really time to start phasing out all subsidies for all fuel industries. But… what will we do with all the farm ground?
KC Wheat just hit a 24 month low. I’m not saying that farmer don’t need the subsidies but may just not for fuel in the future.

We could go back to grass. The concept of renewable energy (solar/wind) farms integrated with grazing livestock that can actually be finished on grass as opposed to corn is an idea that is gaining traction. Minimal need for tractors, diesel, corn and chemical fertilizers, but then again big ag tends to make more money the more input heavy the system is.

 

[dznam]

IMHO, it was always a hidden farm subsidy.

"Hidden" in plain sight.

 

[dznam]

It is really time to start phasing out all subsidies for all fuel industries. But… what will we do with all the farm ground?
KC Wheat just hit a 24 month low. I’m not saying that farmer don’t need the subsidies but may just not for fuel in the future.

I'll say it for you then...We have no use for farm subsidies either - that's a racket brought to us by the overrepresentation (vs population) of farm states in the US Senate. Just more political graft, IMO