Food used as feed
A common misconception is that farm animals only eat things that humans wouldn't be able to eat. But this is not true.
- Pigs & chickens are not ruminants. Most of their diet consists of grains & legumes that could have instead been turned into flour to make food that people can eat. discussion TODO: talk about grain grades - debunk some other myths there. Also about types of corn: It's true that "corn on the cob" is different from the corn grain that farm animals eat. But that corn grain that farm animals eat, is the exact same grain that's used for making snacks such as corn chips.
- Cows are ruminants, so they can eat crop residues that humans can't. But most cows are also fed human-edible grains at certain stages of development. Cows also eat corn silage, which contains both the stover (fiber that only cows can eat) and the grain (which could have been used for human food instead).