Inside the Commodity Food Chain: Unpacking Sugar and Corn
Sugar Photosynthesis is sweet! 12 CO 2 + 11 H 2 O C 12 H 22 O 11 + 12 O 2 History Conquest: India, Persia, Arabs, Crusades Modernity: Columbus, slavery, deforestation, industrialization, working class Today: subsidies, chemicals, wetlands, HFCS, sugar beets & GMOs Geography From core to periphery & back again Health & addiction
Beef History Spanish colonies, New World frontier, British elites, buffalo slaughter, destruction of grasslands, deforestation Present Subsidies, chemicals, antibiotics, factory farming, bad working conditions, fast food, increased consumption in DCs, symbol of prosperity Declining US consumption Health concerns, mad cow disease, animal rights movement