In the case of Ontario corn, the greatest growth in market demand in the 1990s has been in food and industrial processing. Although feed for livestock and poultry will remain an important market, especially for farm-fed grain, the trend of the 1990s can be expected to continue. The market for fuel ethanol should continue to grow, driven by customer demand for improved environmental sustainability. However, there are even bigger opportunities for growth in other non-food products, e.g., bioplastics. The tendency of consumers to graze a higher portion of their diet i.e., eat snack food between regular meals also represents opportunity, especially for food which is convenient, nutritional, and tastes good.
Corn is already a dominant component of snack foods.
There is lots of scope for improvement, and market growth. Though the international market for agriculture and food will likely continue to grow, we are uncertain about the importance of this market, especially for producers of traditional, bulk, standard-grade farm commodities. Sure, the world population continues to grow, but so does the human ability to produce food, especially in countries with growing consumer affluence. India, once a major food importer, is now largely self sufficient, even though it is the globe s second most populous country. China, with more than a billion people, imports a relatively minute portion of food needs, and is a major corn exporter.