Children of the Corn

Ok, so that was a creepy Steven King film, but we are quickly becoming the generation to consume the greatest amounts of corn.  Not only that, but we may be the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than the previous generation.  Co-inky-dink?  I don't think so.

The Jedi finished up his school work by lunch time today and I'd had enough of my research paper for a bit so we decided to watch something educational on Netflix.

If you subscribe to Netflix or can check this out at the library, it is very interesting and a surprisingly non-political documentary.  King Corn.

Did you know that anywhere from 60%-90% of cattle feed is made up of corn.  When you eat a burger you are, in essence, eating corn.  The majority of corn grown is no longer for human consumption.  It is for animals, ethanol, and processing into sweeteners.

How did we get from this?

To this?  

Originally corn had 2x as much protein, but it has been refined and genetically modified to be easily processed and broken down cheaply.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE corn (on the cob)!

But I do not like High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and my family makes pretty good efforts to avoid it.  I don't profess perfection, and I certainly have a sugar addiction, but I try to keep it as close to natural as possible.

Today, every isle in the grocery store is lined with corn.  It's found in juice, sodas, cookies, soups, spaghetti sauce, crackers, and even our meats!  If anything, this movie made us aware of how much corn we are actually eating.  In fact, the makers of the film had their hair tested and the majority of their carbon makeup is corn.

I guess mom was right, we really ARE what we eat.