Watch & Discuss: King Corn
Growing up in the Midwest, I have very fond memories of corn. Sweet corn was something I looked forward to every year in late summer. I do still love corn even though nowadays, it seems that corn is getting a fairly bad rap. OPB will be airing King Corn on Tuesday, April 15 at 10 pm. Here's the overview:
"Almost everything Americans eat contains corn - high-fructose corn syrup, corn-fed meat and corn-based processed foods are staples of the fast-food nation. Record harvests of corn are supported by a government subsidy program that promotes production well beyond market demand.
Filmmakers Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis decided to grow an acre of corn in rural Iowa and then document its path from farm to consumption. In America's industrial kitchens, they confront the realities of corn's uses: sweetening the sodas of a diabetes-plagued neighborhood in Brooklyn, fattening cattle in Colorado, making fast food cheap and consumers unhealthy, and driving animals into confinement and farmers off the land. Check OPB Independent Lens for additional scheduling."
Have you seen it? What do you think? Are you a compulsive label reader and generally steer clear of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)?
I saw it at a local showing where one of the directors took questions. It was funny, sobering and very interesting. And my 8yo sat through the entire thing (of his own volition).
Posted by: Zinemama | April 15, 2008 at 09:34 AM
I haven't seen King Corn (it is on my list though), but I have read the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Polan, and he gives a clear picture of the "corn industry" in the US these days. It is not a nice one... Not only we should stay clear of HFCS (which is one of the worst additions to our diet), but also from corn fed beef. Unfortunately, the latter is a hard one to do, but I buy grass fed whenever possible, and avoid corn fed as much as I can.
A book that explains very clearly about the damage that HFCS does to our bodies is called Fatland by Greg Critser. Several other books do the same, but this one really hits the nail on the head.
Posted by: Ana Naumoff | April 15, 2008 at 11:20 PM
My husband and I just watched King Corn, and I've read Omnivore's Dilemma (the author appears in the movie and helped to inspire the project) as well as Fast Food Nation. While corn itself isn't bad for you, the U.S. is WAY out of control in its use of corn ingredients and corn as livestock food. In Omnivore's Dilemma, they analyze various McDonald's foods via mass spectrometer and cite the percentages of each part of the meal made of corn (as a % of calories). Those percentages are staggeringly high. The soda is pretty much all corn, the fries are a high percentage due to the oil they're fried in, and the burger patty is predominantly corn in origin (as the beef is corn-fed). Over the last couple of years, our family has been trying to avoid 2 things in foods: unnecessary corn (mostly corn syrup) and hydrogenated oils (often corn). We buy meat from local farms that have the livestock graze and freeze it for use throughout the year, and we try to buy fresh fruit/veg/bread rather than processed. I highly recommend King Corn to those who haven't seen it. The presentation of material is pretty balanced, it's very information and also entertaining.
Posted by: Erin | April 16, 2008 at 08:55 AM
I was loosely aware of the issues with commodity corn, but the movie brought the issues together nicely. I feel more enlightened. I thought the interview with Earl Butz (Secretary of Agriculture under Nixon) was quite interesting because you sensed with his shift in farm policies, he really believed he had the best interest of the American people in mind. Cheap food to him was a good thing. It was and still is hard work to grow your own food.
A total digression, it's interesting that some of the changes that happened purportedly for the greater good during our parents/grandparents are coming to light these days as pretty detrimental to society. I felt a similar sentiment when watching The Business of Being Born with all of the so called "advances" in obstetrics. Maybe there is hope for Generation X'ers (when was the last time you heard that?) in that it seems we are striving for simplicity and informed-consumerism, or maybe it's just the Portland bubble.
A couple of interesting related pieces on NPR.
Balancing Bifuel, Food Crops a Challenge for Britian http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89676007&ft=1&f=3
Rising Demand for Meat Takes Toll on Environment http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89676010&ft=1&f=3
Posted by: hau | April 16, 2008 at 12:32 PM
I had watched the first 20 minutes or so of 'King Corn' on AOL Videos (amazingly enough, the welcome screen people promoted it, which thrilled me), and so I was eager to watch the movie. I already knew the basic content: really, really disgusting corn is subsidized by the federal government, so we can keep our food costs down and our people fat & unhappy and slowly (if not quickly!) destroy our soil. also, corn is bad for you, especially corn-fed beef and processed corn. my family (well, it's mostly me, I'm shoving it down their throats - pun not intended) has been working hard to remove all corn from our diet, buying locally-raised, free-range beef and chicken (Kookoolan Farms is the premier chicken farmer locally, and Strawberry Mountain beef is my fave).
but I didn't know some of this stuff: like that cows would *die* if they didn't slaughter 'em quick on the corn diet. from ulcers! how awful! I didn't know that beef from corn-fed cows had such a huge fat content. I didn't realize the enormous difference in cows' lives since CAFOs became the norm; that they used to be raised for several years to get to market weight, and now it's feed 'em fat quick before they perish of unnatural causes. I also didn't know that the corn most farmers grow isn't edible by itself. what are we coming to?
Everett was sick and had slept most of the day, so he woke up and was watching the movie with me. I explained a few of the concepts to him. he didn't seem all that interested, though he watched it attentively. today he asked me about cow's stomachs, and I explained to him how cows were built to eat grass, and that their stomachs were specially made to digest grass; that the way things were meant to go, was that the cows would eat grass and live with chickens and birds, who would eat the maggots in the cows' poop and spread it around, making the soil nutrient-rich and helping the grass grow again. everything in harmony.
silence for a few minutes. then... "I understand now, mama. why we shouldn't let cows eat corn."
raise 'em right! ;)
Posted by: sarah gilbert | April 16, 2008 at 01:22 PM
I haven't watched it yet, no, but it's in the queue.
Yesterday's Talk Out Loud on OPB featured the nuts and bolts of eating local, and I think it was inpsired by King Corn. You can hear it and read it here: http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/opb/posts/list/976609.page
Posted by: olivia | April 18, 2008 at 07:08 AM