Omnivore's Dilemma Ch. 4
1: Pg. 65- The corn plant has colonized how much of the American continent?
120,000 miles of the American Continent is colonized by corn plant.
2: Pg. 66-67- How have America’s food animals undergone a revolution in lifestyle?
Animals are living is populated animal cities after leaving farms.
3: Pg. 67- What is a CAFO?
Concentrated Animal Feed Operation
4: Pg. 67- What happened to the all of the farmland once the animals left? Where did all of the
corn go?
The animals from the farmland were taken out and the corn replaced them.
5: Pg. 68- What is the idea of a closed ecological loop?
Waste will cease to exist.
6: Pg. 68- What are the two main problems with animal feedlots?
7. Pg 70- What is the coevolutionary relationship between cows and grass? Explain.
The cows are able to maintain the grass by making sure other things such as trees don't take the rest of the
sunlight and the grass provide food for the cows.
8. Pg. 71- Why would pastures become “the great American desert” without ruminant animals?
The ruminant animals allow the crops to grow through the arid conditions of the land which would normally
need a lot more irrigation and tending.
9. Pg. 71- What gets a steer from 80 to 1,000 pounds in just 14 months?
A massive amount of
10. Pg. 71- Why is weaning the calves the most traumatic time on the ranch?
The calves mope and bellow after the separation from the cows.
11. Pg. 73- What is the only reason contemporary animal cities aren’t as plague-ridden or
pestilential as their medieval human counterparts?
The reason behind this is the modern antibiotic.
12. Pg. 73- “So if the modern CAFO is a city built upon commodity corn, it is a city afloat on an
invisible sea of Petroleum”
13. Pg. 75- Why is corn fed meat less healthy for us?
We are not adapted to be fed ruminants that have been fed corn.
14. Pg. 75- What practice of feeding cows led to the “Mad Cow Disease”?
Making the cows eat each other's cow body parts.
15. Pg. 77- How are we choosing which cows we want to select to breed?
We base it on how much corn they can inject and how well they can turn it into protein before becoming sick.
16. Pg. 77- What is the #1 ailment found with cows fed on corn? Why- explain.
This ailment is bloat due to rumen exerting gas that is trapped in a slimy layer form in the cow.
17. Pg. 78- What is acidosis and what does it cause in the cow?
Acidosis is when the animal's stomach is acidic leading into cows to pant, salivate, and leave their feed.
18. Pg. 78- What percentage of cows at slaughterhouses are found to have abscessed livers?
15-30%
19. Pg. 78- What is the leading causes of the evolution of antibiotic resistant superbugs?
When antibiotics are found in the animal feeds.
20. Pg. 79- What chemicals are found in the “manure lagoon” on CAFO’s?
Nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metals, hormone residue, and persistent chemicals are found.
21. Pg. 80- How many pounds of corn does it take to make 4 pounds of beef? What is the ratio
for chicken?
32 lbs are needed for a 4 pound beef. The ratio is 2/1 for chickens.
22. Pg. 82- How has the new strain of E. Coli (O157: H7) evolved and what is the problem with
it? How can this problem be fixed?
The E. Coli have developed an acidic resistance allowing acid in the stomachs to rub off and kill us. This can be
solved through reverse acidification.
23. Pg. 82- How are the costs associated with the CAFO’s externalized? Explain.
The costs are externalized through environmental costs which is money that is not added in the selling
of corn. These are costs for things such as the use of pesticides.
24. Pg. 83- Discuss the path of corn backward from the corn fields and discuss the implications.
It begins with corn in monoculture fields . This corn is provided with fertilizers and pesticides.
Nitrogen and the fertilizers find themselves in oil fields and runoff water creating consequences
for growing corn.
25. Pg. 83- How much of America’s petroleum usage goes to producing and transporting our
food?
1/5 of the petroleum.
26. Pg. 84- If a cow reaches his full weight- how much “oil” will he have consumed in lifetime?
35 gallons of oil.
27. Pg. 84- “You are what you eat” is a truism hard to argue with, and yet it is, as a visit to a
feedlot suggests, incomplete, for you are what what you eat eats, too. And what we are, or
have become, is not just meat but number 2 corn and oil- Discuss.
This quote basically states that the cows which have ingested corn and oil are transferring these substances
into our bodies as we eat them. All the food that these cows have eaten are what made the cows grow to
become the size of which they are now. If they are composed of these substances then what we eat are also
those substances.
120,000 miles of the American Continent is colonized by corn plant.
2: Pg. 66-67- How have America’s food animals undergone a revolution in lifestyle?
Animals are living is populated animal cities after leaving farms.
3: Pg. 67- What is a CAFO?
Concentrated Animal Feed Operation
4: Pg. 67- What happened to the all of the farmland once the animals left? Where did all of the
corn go?
The animals from the farmland were taken out and the corn replaced them.
5: Pg. 68- What is the idea of a closed ecological loop?
Waste will cease to exist.
6: Pg. 68- What are the two main problems with animal feedlots?
- Feedlots have fertility problems
- Pollution
7. Pg 70- What is the coevolutionary relationship between cows and grass? Explain.
The cows are able to maintain the grass by making sure other things such as trees don't take the rest of the
sunlight and the grass provide food for the cows.
8. Pg. 71- Why would pastures become “the great American desert” without ruminant animals?
The ruminant animals allow the crops to grow through the arid conditions of the land which would normally
need a lot more irrigation and tending.
9. Pg. 71- What gets a steer from 80 to 1,000 pounds in just 14 months?
A massive amount of
- corn
- drugs
- protein
10. Pg. 71- Why is weaning the calves the most traumatic time on the ranch?
The calves mope and bellow after the separation from the cows.
11. Pg. 73- What is the only reason contemporary animal cities aren’t as plague-ridden or
pestilential as their medieval human counterparts?
The reason behind this is the modern antibiotic.
12. Pg. 73- “So if the modern CAFO is a city built upon commodity corn, it is a city afloat on an
invisible sea of Petroleum”
13. Pg. 75- Why is corn fed meat less healthy for us?
We are not adapted to be fed ruminants that have been fed corn.
14. Pg. 75- What practice of feeding cows led to the “Mad Cow Disease”?
Making the cows eat each other's cow body parts.
15. Pg. 77- How are we choosing which cows we want to select to breed?
We base it on how much corn they can inject and how well they can turn it into protein before becoming sick.
16. Pg. 77- What is the #1 ailment found with cows fed on corn? Why- explain.
This ailment is bloat due to rumen exerting gas that is trapped in a slimy layer form in the cow.
17. Pg. 78- What is acidosis and what does it cause in the cow?
Acidosis is when the animal's stomach is acidic leading into cows to pant, salivate, and leave their feed.
18. Pg. 78- What percentage of cows at slaughterhouses are found to have abscessed livers?
15-30%
19. Pg. 78- What is the leading causes of the evolution of antibiotic resistant superbugs?
When antibiotics are found in the animal feeds.
20. Pg. 79- What chemicals are found in the “manure lagoon” on CAFO’s?
Nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metals, hormone residue, and persistent chemicals are found.
21. Pg. 80- How many pounds of corn does it take to make 4 pounds of beef? What is the ratio
for chicken?
32 lbs are needed for a 4 pound beef. The ratio is 2/1 for chickens.
22. Pg. 82- How has the new strain of E. Coli (O157: H7) evolved and what is the problem with
it? How can this problem be fixed?
The E. Coli have developed an acidic resistance allowing acid in the stomachs to rub off and kill us. This can be
solved through reverse acidification.
23. Pg. 82- How are the costs associated with the CAFO’s externalized? Explain.
The costs are externalized through environmental costs which is money that is not added in the selling
of corn. These are costs for things such as the use of pesticides.
24. Pg. 83- Discuss the path of corn backward from the corn fields and discuss the implications.
It begins with corn in monoculture fields . This corn is provided with fertilizers and pesticides.
Nitrogen and the fertilizers find themselves in oil fields and runoff water creating consequences
for growing corn.
25. Pg. 83- How much of America’s petroleum usage goes to producing and transporting our
food?
1/5 of the petroleum.
26. Pg. 84- If a cow reaches his full weight- how much “oil” will he have consumed in lifetime?
35 gallons of oil.
27. Pg. 84- “You are what you eat” is a truism hard to argue with, and yet it is, as a visit to a
feedlot suggests, incomplete, for you are what what you eat eats, too. And what we are, or
have become, is not just meat but number 2 corn and oil- Discuss.
This quote basically states that the cows which have ingested corn and oil are transferring these substances
into our bodies as we eat them. All the food that these cows have eaten are what made the cows grow to
become the size of which they are now. If they are composed of these substances then what we eat are also
those substances.