Corn Almighty

So this movie King Corn has shown for the second time to a sold out crowd in Denver. Wow - what a movie! Even better, the panel discussion afterwards. Not knowing what the movie was really going to delve into, I was hesitant to sit on a panel. At the last minute, my co-worker said I could handle it and should reconsider. Gratefully, it was too late. I say gratefully because I got so fired up by some of the things being said that I wouldn't have been able to keep my seat or watch my mouth. The movie King Corn, www.kingcorn.net, is about a couple guys who move from Boston to Iowa to grow an acre of corn. They want to see where it goes and learn about the process. Corn has gotten a lot of hype in the US - food, feed, and fuel. They are informed that "typical" humans are made up of corn: from feed for the meat eaten and corn starch, high fructose syrup, etc. Gratefully, I am not typical! As Curt and Ian learn, there are thousands of acres of corn grown that cannot be eaten. The farmers don't make money growing it, so the government subsidizes them. The corn goes to feed, fuel, and lots of by-products/food additives. The faces they make when trying to eat it demonstrate that this corn does not make it to our table in its whole food state, in its most nutritious state. Farmers have to grow more and more to make it worthwhile. This means they buy modified seed that are resilient to the pesticides sprayed heavily. The fields, too, are heavily fertilized since crop after crop is grown in the same field year after year, not putting anything back into the soil, only robbing it further of nutrients. I know this sounds like me on a soap-box, but truly there are some things wrong with our system. The panel was balanced: Colorado Corn and political ag player vs dietitian, local rancher, and local grower/hunger fellow. The moderator really set them up to battle back and forth, though I think it could have been a really productive conversation if they wanted to have one. I would have liked to hear more about changes in the farm bill, how industry is trying to contribute to the health of the people, and what people can do to help facilitate change. Instead, it was very "us against them." I was sitting on the edge of my seat wanting to be at the pretend kitchen table they were encouraged to view themselves around. Arguments: - there is a market for the corn, and if it wasn't corn syrup in our food, it would be sugar, a more expensive commodity. - farmers aren't making any money growing corn, so we have to subsidize them - we are big exporters and play an important role in the global market - factory farms, corn-fed beef, and antibiotic-fed beef is necessary to meet the demands of the people, particularly for the marble cut beef everyone wants - people make their own choices - (and my favorite) high fructose corn syrup is in healthy foods too, like juice and milk!!! My problems: - we say there is a market for corn, but we flood it so badly with commodity corn, that growers can't make money growing it without subsidies. If we used a more expensive commodity, such as sugar, maybe fatty corn by-product foods like twinkies wouldn't be cheaper than carrots or healthy food. Maybe low income people who have to make choices about how to spend their meager food stamp allotment would be able to make healthy choices without fearing hunger. They aren't getting the marble cut pieces; instead, they are getting the fattiest portions for sale in their grocery stores. (There is a huge inequity among products in stores in different socio-economic neighborhoods!) Maybe this means we are using all our animal and not being wasteful, but really, with the technology and intellectual progression of the past decades, food industry should be able to produce 100% quality for everyone - the small family ranchers do. And maybe the soda pop industry should tell the corn industry they need to reduce their production because they aren't selling all their soda, instead of dumping that glut on food bank and developing countries. AND JUICE WITH CORN SYRUP ISN'T HEALTHY!!! I put back the apple juice that wasn't 100% juice. And I certainly don't think anyone should worry that their milk is grown on a stalk instead of a cow. Though those cows probably had more than their fare share of corn for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. - Cindy made a great point from the panel that we are exporting a lot of commodities and importing a lot of produce for human consumption. So why can't we subsidize the vegetable growers who are actually directly feeding people? There is some new stuff that might make it through the Farm Bill if it is ever passed in my lifetime...seems to get stuck an awful lot. If farmers cannot grow corn without subsidy, but onion growers can - as was mentioned by the ag politico. So why would we need to subsidize a single crop? Would nobody really grow it without the government check? The same man talked about how great it is that the food portion of our budgets has dropped from a third to a tenth of the average budget - and this is for the basic nutrition outlined by USDA, not beer and wine and fancy foods, just the basics. That food can be so cheap is great if you have the other 90% for your rent, utilities, transportation, health, etc. Unfortunately, the poverty line is still based on the food budget, still based on it being a third of a budget. Housing is also affordable at one third of your budget. So say this new cheap food costs $100 a month for a person, then they are below the poverty level if they make less than $300. But rent isn't $100 a month. And that person's budget really should be $1000 a month if food is only 10% for him, too. It's a jumble of numbers and percentages, but the bold print is really, that cheap food costs a lot of people a lot more in the way of government benefits, in the way of health care costs, in the way of dead earth that has to be poisoned with chemicals to grow anything, in the way of contaminated water supplies, and in so many more ways that we really cannot afford. I could go on and on, but really nobody is probably still reading. Educate yourself. Do it to make better decisions for you and for the legacy of a food system we leave behind...peace