Emerging Modern Agriculture  1920-present

Soybean

The soybean is a native of China, where it has been cultivated for about 5,000 years. The soybean is a legume, not a true bean. Modem soybean plants are from two to three feet high , have leaves with three leaf­ lets, and bear short fuzzy pods each usually containing two or three beans. Soybeans contain twice as much protein as ordinary beans and 20 percent oil, while ordinary beans have practically none. In the form of sprouts, soy sauce, paste, soybean cheese and curd (tofu), soybeans have been an important source of pro­tein in the diet of Chinese and Japanese for centuries. Also, after boiling, the beans are ground with water to produce a "milk", which is delivered regularly in bottles in Chinese cities. Soy sauce is a brown salty liquid made by fermenting soybeans and rice for periods from 8 months to 5 years. In 1804, the soybean was brought to the United States but it remained little more than a botanical curiosity for almost a century. Then it began to be grown as forage for cattle and as green manure for increasing soil fertility. The boom in soybean farming started in 1922 when the A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company, previously concerned with corn starch, began processing soybeans for oil and meal in Decatur. Increasing from only a thousand acres grown in 1914; in 2005, 9,450,00 acres were planted with soybeans in Illinois, producing 444,150,000 bushels of soybeans worth almost two and half billion dollars. Illinois produces more soybeans than any other state and Decatur, where huge processing plants are located, is known as 'The Soybean Capital of the World'. Soybeans thrive best on the soils of our Com Belt. In only 30 years, high-yielding varieties together with improved farming and processing methods have doubled both the number of bushels harvested per acre and the yield of oil per bushel. Today, over a hundred processing plants produce half of the vegetable oils used in the nation and two-thirds of the oil meal proteins fed to livestock and poultry. Hundreds of other soybean products now enter into the things we eat or wear or use in our daily lives. Soybeans turn up in soap, paper, paint, video tapes, ink, baby food, tofu, cereals, bread, cookies, frozen dinners, pizza, and soymilk.

U.S. Department of Energy , Division of Educational Programs, Newton BBS, Ask a Scientist; USDA Northern Plains Agri cultural Research Labo ratory, Just for Kids, Agriculture; USDA National Agricultu ral S tatistic s Se rvices , Stati st ics by State--Il

WWII and Labor

This interview with Anna Novak, a Chicago worker during the Depression, was taken as part of the Federal Writers' Project, on May 1, 1939. Anna Novak grew up in an orphanage in Wisconsin. She then came to Chicago and lived near the stockyards for fourteen years. Her home was four very small rooms in the back of a store, reached by a board walk . The house is partitioned, with another family living in three side rooms, sharing the toilet. "I've had eight years of the yards. It's a lot different now, with the union and all. We used to have to buy the foremen presents, you know....You could get along swell if you let the boss slap you on the behind. I'd rather any place but in the stockyards just for that reason alone. I tried to get out a couple of times. Went to work for Container Corp. (box factory near the yards) . Used to swing a hammer on those big wooden boxes. Look at my hands, now. (Her hands are misshapen; blunted, thickened fingers and calloused at every joint.) My husband wouldn't let me keep on there, it got to be too much for me to handle. I had to have work so I went back to the yards. I worked in the canning rooms and in sausage packing at Armour's. . . Here's one thing the union changed while I was in Armour's. Like the white girls in Armour's if they work 15 years they have some kind of honor system and they usually get better work. A little easier job, you know. What do you think they give the colored girls who work that long? They give them a black star, pasted on their time cards! They hardly ever get a chance at anything but the dirtiest, wettest jobs, that even the white men can't stand or just wouldn't take. And then that star business is such an easy way for the bosses to spot the colored women so that they won't accidentally give a good job to one, in some emergency. The union is putting the heat on that particular practice. You should see, sometimes I'll be up early in the morning, and just sit down at the window, you know, and watch old ladies, 70 years old and more, going to work in the yards, so bent over and shriveled up and sick it makes you want to cry just watching them, such old, tired women, grandmothers most of them. The bosses make it so miser able for them, too. They should give them the easier jobs, at least, if not a pension for them after they get so old.... Sometimes some of us change jobs with them for a while if the foremen aren't around, but when they catch us we get bawled out. They want to make the old ladies quit, see."

"One thing, you should see the rash the girls get, those that have to handle poisoned pork. And the acids from cans, it just gets you so that you can't stand up. You don't know what 's the matter with you but work you can' t to save your life. Then it's so easy to catch cold, one girl working right next to another coughs and you know she can't tum around, she's got production to make on a line, and there you are. The whole table of girls will be coughing and sneezing over their work. A girl can't take time off on account of a cold, the company wouldn't let them and they can't lose all that pay, anyway. Another thing , in our department we have two toilets for 100 people, girls. You should see before we got the union, you could scrape the muck off the floor with a knife.... It's things like that the union is here to prevent from happening, and to see that when some worker does meet an accident she won't be thrown out on the dump heap, maimed and thrown a little compensation that wouldn't last a year. The companies can't get away with that anymore. People know more."

Library of Congre ss, American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940

Food Stamps

With its roots in the Great Depression, the Food Stamp Program was designed to provide a nutritional safety net for low-income households while boosting demand for domestic agricultural products. Ration coupons supplemented food stamps during World War Il stamp books were required for meat, sugar, coffee, shoes, rubber, auto parts, and gasoline. One woman tells about her experiences during the war: "On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II. Things we took for granted like filling up the gas tank of our car, or buying things at the grocery store that we wanted, not only what we needed, came to a stop. We had two children now. I had a little girl, Anne, who was born the previous September, 1940. We learned quickly about rationing, as each family received War Ration books with food stamps and there were limits placed on gas. I kept busy with my family and volunteering in any capacity I could as our country pulled together. Many of our friends were in the service and I wrote letter after letter to help keep their spirits up at this difficult time. The war was stressful on everyone and we had to each do our part . My husband, Fred, worked as a crane operator and was an Air Raid Warden in our community. I managed things at home by planting a victory garden. Trading items with neighbors and saving everything so there was as little waste as possible."

USDA , Amber Waves: The Economics of Food , Farming, Natural Resources , and Rural America: "Food Stamps and Obesity: Ironic Twis t or Complex Puzzle?" USDA , The Food Stamp Program; USDA, "National Agricultural Sta tis tics Service: An Evolving Statistic

Hamburger

There is debate over the history of the hamburger and who deserves credit for its invention, but there is no disagreement about the global fame it has achieved over the past few decades as a result of the growth of the fast food industry. Every day around the world, millions of them are sold in thousands of restaurants. A number of cooks and restaurants claim to have invented the modern hamburger. One of the earliest events at which a burger in a bun was sold was the 1904 World's Fair at St. Louis, Missouri. It wasn't until the 1920s, however, that hamburgers became the centerpiece of a new concept for American restaurants, where they sold for five cents each. After World War II, the number of restaurants specializing in fast food grew tremendously. Franchising is a feature of fast food restaurants that has contributed to their growth and created opportunities for individuals to own their own business. To take one brand name as an example, McDonald's is an international chain with its headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. Each McDonald's restau­rant--there are over 39,000 in 120 countries--is owned by an individual, who is trained by the company. In the 1950s the first McDonald's franchise was opened in Illinois. From its inception, fast food has vied up to its name. In the early days of fast food, as Americans cam to depend more on their cars, the drive-in service that allowed customers to park and eat in their cars. A server, or "carhop," brought the food outside to the customers so they could eat without leaving their cars. This led the fast food industry in America to become closely associated with the automobile and reduced the cost of operating a restaurant, establishing relatively low prices. Now "drive thru" service is popular. Custom­ers can order, pay, and leave without turning off the motors of their cars. Many even eat as they drive! For many people, fast food has become symbolic of a fast-paced lifestyle that is neither natural nor healthy. But whether you prefer hamburgers over cheeseburgers, or another kind of fast food, or whether you avoid fast food altogether, there is no denying that the hamburger and the fast food industry have changed the way a lot of people eat.

(Sources: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Office of English Language Programs, English Teaching Forum Online , "Fast Food World: The Hamburger Comes of Age," by William P. Ancker .)

Food Exports

Following World War II, European nations looked to the United States to help supply their need for food. In the early 1950s, the desperate condition of agriculture throughout the Soviet Bloc even led the CIA to undertake its own forecasts and estimates of crop production. In the 1970s there was a boost in foreign demand for U.S. farm products, but the U.S. began to suspend trade with some nations whose politics it did not agree with, and some nations had trouble paying for the grain because of economic problems. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter announced a grain embargo against the Soviet Union because of that country's invasion of Afghanistan . This meant that the Soviet Union could not buy grain from American farmers. Because of these events, Congress and other Americans have debated over the implications of using food exports to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives.

Central Intelligence Agency, Center for the Study of Intelligence , Watching the Bear: Essays on CIA's analysis of the Soviet Union, Chapter II: CIA's Analysis of the Soviet Economy. The United States Senate Committee on Agriculture

Biofuels

Biofuels are fuels made from renewable resources like com and soybeans instead of nonrenewable resources like petroleum. These biofuels also have less impact on the environment. Follow this link from the USDA to learn more about biofuels.

https://www.ers.usda.gov/about-ers/partnerships/strengthening-statistics-through-the-icars/biofuels-data-sources/#four

Soil

When soil is used year after year, it can lose the minerals plants need to grow. Fertilizers can help farmers produce more food, but some fertilizers can have a negative environmental impact, especially if they run off into streams, lakes, or the ocean. Many scientists and farmers are trying to find less harmful fertilizers, and teaching farmers how to use fertilizers carefully or use other methods to conserve the fertility of the soil, such as crop rotation and planting certain plants together.

USDA, Economic Research Service , Fertilizer Use

Fuel Prices

Visit this website from the U.S. Department of Energy to find out more about current and past fuel prices.

https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/

Hypoallergenic Soybeans

Soybeans are used in everything from ink and biofuels to baby formulas and salad dressing. But this so­ called miracle crop is not for everyone. Worldwide, six to eight percent of children and one to two percent of adults suffer food allergies. Soybeans are considered one of the "big eight" food allergen sources, along with eggs, milk, peanuts, wheat, fish, shellfish, and tree nuts. Those allergic to soybeans must avoid eating foods containing its proteins. Scientists have discovered that one protein in soybeans, named P34, is what causes many allergic reactions to soybeans. "Soybeans are in many processed foods, and here in the Western Hemisphere it's hard to avoid them unless you're very careful," notes scientist Eliot M. Herman, who discovered P34 in the early 1990s. Now, using a biotech approach, he and colleagues have shut off the gene that makes the allergenic protein in the crop's seed, meaning people with soy allergies might be able to eat soybeans from these altered plants. "T his is probably the first time a dominant human allergen has been knocked out of a major food crop usin g biotechnology," says Herman, a USDAAg1icultural Research Service plant physiologist. Although scien­ tists appear to have shut off the gene for making P34, farmers are not likely to see the knockout soybeans commercialized just yet. More tests are needed to prove they are indeed hypoallergenic, or less allergy causing . So far, though , the researchers are encouraged by early results.

USDA News and Events, "Rese archers Develop First Hypoallergenic Soybeans"

Illinois Dept of Agriculture

Illinois produces corn, soybeans, dairy, pumpkins, and many other products. Go to this web page from the Illinois Department of Agriculture to learn more about modern Illinois agriculture and its importance.

https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/agr/About/Pages/History-of-The-Illinois-Department-Of-Agriculture.aspx

Locks and Dams

The Upper Mississippi River and Illinois River waterways are the leading routes for the export of U.S. grain. In 1996, approximately fifty-four percent of all U.S. com exports and forty percent of all soybean exports were loaded on barges on these waterways above St. Louis, Missouri. These two rivers also serve as a ma­jor transportation route for other products, including fertilizer, coal, steel, cement, and petroleum products. The development of these two rivers into a reliable transportation system required significant investment by the Federal Government. Navigation on the Upper Mississippi, Illinois, and Kaskaskia Rivers is possible because of a series of locks and dams, which regulate the water levels of the river so barges and boats can travel on it. Following the passage of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1930, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed these locks and dams on the Mississippi, Illinois, and Kaskaskia Rivers. Most of these struc­tures were completed in the 1930's and have reached or surpassed their capacity, and many of them are in need of repair. At several locks, barge shippers have experienced traffic-induced delays that threaten the economic value of the system. To determine the need for and location of new structures, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has initiated the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway Navigation Study.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Upper Mississippi Valley Division

Popcorn

Popcorn is the official snack food of Illinois. Scholars agree that com, including popcorn, originated in the Americas. European explorers throughout the Americas were introduced to, and intrigued by, popcorn. Around the year 1612, early French explorers in the Great Lakes region noted that the Iroquois popped pop­ corn with heated sand in a pottery vessel and used it to make popcorn soup, among other things. European settlers sometimes ate popcorn with sugar and cream for breakfast. Some colonists popped corn in front of their fireplace. Popcorn was still very much a small, home-grown crop. Popcorn caught on during the 1890s and was popular even through the Great Depression. Street vendors, pushing steam or gas-powered poppers, were a common sight at fairs, parks, and expositions, and restau­rants also began to sell the fluffy snack. During the Depression, popcorn at 5 or 10 cents a bag was one of the few luxuries struggling families could afford. While other businesses failed, the popcorn business thrived. In the 1940s, scientists created popcorn hybrids that grew well in the com belt for commercial use. During World War II, sugar was sent overseas for U.S. troops, which left little for making candy. Thanks to this unusual situation, Americans ate three times as much popcorn as usual. Popcorn sales dropped during the late 1940s, however, when television became popular and attendance at movie theaters dropped. Successful advertising in the early 1950s created a boom for popcorn use at home. In the 1980s, the popcorn industry saw another growth spurt with microwave popcorn. Americans today consume over seventeen billion quarts of popped popcorn each year. The average American eats about sixty-eight quarts.

USDA, Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library, Popcorn: Ingrained in America 's Agricultural History.)