Chapter Four: The Feedlot: Making Meat (54,000 Kernels)



Poky Feeders: Population 37,000

1. CATTLE METROPOLIS
Kansas: Imagine a state filled with dozens, even hundreds of feedlots, and you'll be able to imagine where that McDonald's hamburger came from (well, part of it at least). Pollan visits Poky Feeders, home to more than 37,000 cows. This CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) was at this time home to the cow that Pollan bought for nearly $600 when it was a calf. Now, paying Poky Feeders $1.60/day for room and board for his cow, Pollan has come back to see the new life it lives. That is, eating corn  (cows eat grass!) on a tightly packed feedlot surrounded by chemical fertilizers and pollution--fun!
2. PASTORAL: VALE, SOUTH DAKOTA
Steer 534 was born on March 13, 2011 on the Blair Ranch in Sturgis, South Dakota. This ranch begins the first stage in hamburger production--and it is only one of many (which is very different from the four giant meatpacking companies--Tyson, Cargill, Swift & Company and National--which slaughter and market 4/5 of the cows in America.
Biology Connection: Cows and grass have coevolved; the grass can withstand grazing ruminants and benefit from the cows who prevent trees and shrubs from growing. Furthermore, cows spread, plant (hoof prints) and fertilize (manure) grass seeds. Likewise, cows are able to eat the grass because they have a highly evolved digestive organ, the rumen, that allows them to convert grass into food. And in their medicine ball-sized rumens, thousands of bacteria dine on the grass. What a wonderful cycle...
                                                         --VERSUS--

The way nature intended.

The way the FDA favors.

3. INDUSTRIAL: GARDEN CITY, KANSAS
It is quite unfortunate that the cows at Poky Feeders, and a majority of other feedlot cows haven't eaten a blade of grass since they were calves. Instead they are fed, you guessed it again, corn. Antibiotic-liquid fat (some from other cows)-protein supplement-synthetic estrogen-liquid vitamin-alfalfa hay-silage-filled genetically engineered corn mush. Really, what is better than feeding a bunch of grass-eating cows who make healthier, tastier meat when fed on grass, a bunch of surplus corn and some cow fat? It turns out that the FDA actually rewards businesses that feed their cows corn instead of grass. And anyways, calories are calories. Fat is fat. Food is food. Right? Wrong. This diet not only weakens the cows and makes them unhealthy, but a possibility for mad cow disease is increased. Plus, these cows stomachs are now the perfect breeding grounds for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. And, these cows have more fat in them, and are much unhealthier for humans than grass-fed cows. Do the beneficial cost and "ease" really outweigh all the detriments: simplicity, nature, health...? I still think no, but the industry still says yes.
(Here, Pollan describes the home of a feedlot  cow. Manure and dust filled dark pens crowded with no grass. "Not a bad little piece of real estate, all considered." Right.)
Lastly, Pollan explains how much petroleum goes into the food industry; 1/5 of America's gas consumption at this time went into producing and transporting food. One cow needs 35 gallons of oil to go from baby to hamburger. That's almost a barrel! So I guess that's us, "number 2 corn and oil."