Corn on the Cob or Corn in Your Car
As a part of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford University, we are coming together to open up a conversation surrounding the current use of food for fuel. This is a complex issue that cannot be simplified by generalization. Therefore we hope to open up a discussion rather than an argument.
Contributing authors: Jackie Klimes, Caitlin Morgan, Hannah Rich and Meghan O'Hara.
Michael Ramirez, Creator's Syndicate
What’s more important to you, your trip out to dinner or a starving child in a third world country? This answer may seem obvious, but are your actions reflecting the morals you claim to cling to? One reading of this cartoon reflects the current debate on the use of corn to make biofuel and ethanol. The choice between supplying food and making clean energy brings up moral questions surrounding the priorities of the American consumer and government. Although it may seem harsh, it’s becoming apparent that delegating agricultural production to biofuel plays a role in the global food crisis. Due to the interconnectedness of out the world today, no individual or country can view his or her choices with only themselves in mind. We are not arguing that biofuel is either good or bad, but that it needs to be considered in the global food crisis debate. It undeniably contributes to the uneven distribution of food worldwide. As Americans, we do not feel the effects of this unequal food distribution, yet we must understand the implications of our votes and choices as consumers. Worldwide education is necessary; worldwide compassion is necessary. We cannot continue to turn our eyes, but must look world poverty and come up with solutions that equally value all human beings.
Comments
This is funny in a very sad way :(
Posted by: Amy | October 15, 2009 03:44 AM
This is funny but sad. Good old corn saving energy
Posted by: card consolidation credit | October 18, 2009 12:48 PM
It's really interesting how you talk about one good decision (using an alternative form of fuel) having an impact on what seems to be a completely different realm (food shortage). Do you have suggestions for a solution to this problem? What can Americans do? What can people in other parts of the world, like Egypt, do?
Posted by: Julia Bleakney | October 20, 2009 07:40 PM
Why should the world concentrate on using corn as a source for bio-fuel? There are other alternatives for producing bio-fuels such as using ethanol produced from sugar cane or vegetable oil extracted from soybeans. Brazil is producing 40% alone of the bio-fuel produced worldwide.
Posted by: Mostafa El Shayeb | October 28, 2009 12:45 PM
The use of sugar cane and soy beans as alternative ingredients in bio-fuel still requires the use of land, a resource that could be otherwise allocated for food-production, living etc. Instead shouldn't we focus on ways to incorporate recycled ingredients such as frier oil into our fuel production?
Posted by: Caitlin Morgan | October 28, 2009 01:10 PM
I think this is a tough one. The cartoon really does go somewhere because it's showing what you're basically doing without even realizing it. I find that Americans think very little about what goes on around them when they are making decisions.
However, it is difficult to make everyone happy. Either way you do it, it will be a problem.
This is like when adults would tell me when I was younger that I should eat my vegetables because there were kids dying of hunger in Africa, and I never understood how me eating it or not would feed them. Either way, there was nothing I could do.
I think that the focus should not be on fuel production and how it will affect food shortages. The spotlight should be on food shortages, and everything should come behind it.
Posted by: marlen Tello | October 30, 2009 09:16 PM
I like this cartoon and your discussion of it because it really hits home and emphasizes how unequal the playing field for corn is. When people see an image like this, rather than hear the usual argument, I think it is more effective.
Posted by: Karen Ladenheim | November 2, 2009 05:33 PM