Three square paychecks a day

Chapter 5 of Omnivore's Dilemma

This chapter spells out how pretty much everything we eat these days has corn (in one of its many forms) as an ingredient.

Wet mills process the kernels of number 2 corn through soakings and grindings. The yellow fibrous skin is turned into various vitamin and nutritional supplements and the germ of the kernel is extracted of oil. The endosperm, rich in complex carbohydrates, is broken down and separated into acids, sugars, starches, and alcohols. Cornstarch, glucose/dextrose, fructose, viscosity controlling agents, and high-fructose corn syrup are all corn products used as ingredients in processed foods sold by General Mills, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola.

In the food processing industry, we are heading towards more and more heavily altered substances, which are resembling natural foods less and less. The term 'processed food' has a bad rep., that's why the industry is now using the phrase 'food-system', and instead of processing foods they are merely 'adding value' to the food system. A heavily processed food or a high-value-added food system.. Which sounds more appetizing to you?

The food industry is faced with the biologically certain obstacle that individuals can only eat so much. In order to keep profit increases at the same pace of other industries, food companies have to either get people to spend more money on the same amount of food, or get them to eat more food. They are working on both. Heavily processed foods like cereal allow companies to charge consumers four dollars for a box of grain they paid cents for. And a new resistant starch that is indigestible by humans will lead to foods which can't be digested into calories, allowing Americans to eat as much as they want without ever getting full. The main purpose of food in America is becoming less about sustenance and more about profit.

??Questions??
1.) Processed foods have numerous claims on the packaging of being nutritious due to all the added minerals and vitamins, but they are never as good for you as unprocessed whole foods. How long until we actually see truth in the claim made by International Flavors & Fragrances that things designed for the express purpose of eating will be more beneficial than natural 'substances'?

2.) Right now, the protein Americans consume comes from petroleum, with corn and cattle as middle men. It takes about ten calories of energy from petroleum to make one calorie worth of food. If it ever became possible, would you be willing to consume protein that was directly extracted from petroleum if it had a much more efficient ratio?