Corn economics

From A hard look at corn economics-and world hunger 
"We plant more than 90 million acres of corn, and it’s in huge surplus. And it’s not even food. What if we planted actual food instead?

I put that question to Bruce Babcock, an economics professor at Iowa State University who studies corn, ethanol and renewable fuels.

"Our ability to supply the world with vegetables is practically unlimited," Babcock said.

Take corn, and add in other giant crops that basically just feed animals—crops like soybeans, barley, hay, sorghum—and two-thirds of U.S. farmland goes to animal feed.

"Such a small portion of our land goes to grow actual food that people consume," said Babcock, "that if we really wanted to increase that supply, it would be pretty easy."

The trick would be convincing the country—and other countries that import animal feed from the U.S.—to go vegan.

"There would be such a surplus of farmland to grow kumquats and pecans that we would be awash in those, in a heartbeat," says Babcock.

Would it be enough to feed the 10 billion people the United Nations projects as global population by 2100? 

"We would have more land available for the 10 billion than they would know what to do with," says Babcock.  

But we don’t. Thank markets."