On Corn Bags

Since this is a blog, I can preface this by saying that corn-base PLA bags, cups, flatware and food containers make me crazy. I can't stand them.

There. I said it.

Now for the list:

1) Polylactic acid (PLA) plastic made from corn is generally made from the genetically modified variety. Firstly, yuck! Toxic runoff and pesticides infiltrating even farther into our everyday lives, not to mention the horrendous doings of companies like Monsanto (see links below to the case against Percy Schmeiser). It may only be a food container, but as I experienced (see #3), the material clearly leaches into what's in it. Secondly, do we really want to continue to subsidize the GMO corn industry? Thirdly, there are already too many giant fields of this Monsanto monster that could be planted with something useful, like greens or olive trees, or apples or lettuce. Fourthly, yuck. Really.

2) It does not biodegrade the same way that other compostables do. From what I read it requires a special facility, since it tends to break into pieces instead of degrading all at once. These facilities are not as widely available as they could be, so if you just toss that corn bag away in the compost, or worse, the trash, it is still simply garbage, albeit much less toxic garbage than PET.

3) You don't often hear about corn allergies, but it's been an issue for me, personally, and I'm sure there are plenty of corn-allergic people who may have problems with the material. Here's what happened to me: If you put food into a corn-based container, even if I am in no way allergic or sensitive to that food, I will react to the corn that leaches from the container into what went into my mouth. The last time I experienced that was about three years ago when I was testing agave syrup. My skin reacted exactly the same way I generally do to corn. I went back to the co-op to ask if there was any corn in the agave and was told that there wasn't. It took me a while to figure out that it was the container. I took home 1/4 cup of olives and reacted the same way.

4) Why more disposable food containers? This industry is simply supporting a throw-away culture that has to face up to the fact that we simply can't go on using things once and then discarding them. What's wrong with oiled paper, cloth, glass, or even a simple paper bag for certain food items? There are plenty of places to get a nice reusable bag, jar or box and some seriously spiffy thermoses out there. It's also perfectly possible to wash your plastic bags and reuse them for those food items that need to be encased in something soft and airtight for a short time. I've never been one of these "no waste/no trace" people, since I do understand the stresses of everyday living with kids, and I use (and usually reuse) many plastic bags, but as the years go on I move more and more toward that stance. Those Ball mason jars are amazing.

5) By using food to make non-food items we're just moving things around economically. It's bad enough that food is as expensive as it is, but as we've seen with the use of corn (surprise!) for fuel, it makes the corn used in food scarcer, and as a result, more expensive. Then fuel gets more expensive, so that the trucks that cart around all our food become more expensive and what the trucks carry get even more expensive. (I've managed to use the word "expensive" five times times in two sentences. Sounds like my life, really. :) )

(To read some of the same things I did about the pros and cons of corn bags: Smithsonian Magazine, About.com, Boing Boing.)
(To get a seriously spiffy thermos and other nice food containers, coffee filters, and even straws: Reuseit.com.)
(For more information on Percy Schmeiser: Democracy Now interview, his website, from Wikipedia.)