These statistics demonstrate both the complexity of the supply chain from feed farm to table, and illustrate the importance of sustainability in the American food production industry.

FORBES: Impact Investing in Sustainable Agriculture for a New Economy

The volume of cottonseed garbage during the 1800s became so problematic that a number of states passed laws to regulate its disposal.16 But while the bolls and leaves were still trash, in the early 1900s the seed began to move up the value chain to be used as fertilizer and animal feed.

NPR: Texas Cotton: 'Farmer Profits at Every Step'

Deep clams, worms, crabs and other macro-organisms feed on this community, which comes at the bottom of the food chain.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

The grain is one of the key starting links in the country's food chain, used to make cooking oil, tofu products and in feed for the burgeoning pig industry.

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The EU has recently imposed an universal testing scheme on animals older than 30 months destined for the food chain as well as a six-month ban on meat-based livestock feed.

CNN: France urges better beef labelling