Day 7 - "King Corn"

Since Friday's are my day of relaxation from exercise, I figured that I would go full force into the relaxing and make my Friday posts about a movie or TV show that deal with each month's topic. Therefore, I will start out my movie watching with a documentary titled "King Corn: You Are What You Eat".

After hearing a ridiculous rumor that people are made of corn, recently graduated college buddies Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis decided to have their hair genetically tested to find out what they were made of. Surprisingly, their results came back claiming that the majority of their hair makeup was in fact carbon that originated from corn! After seeing these results, the two friends decided to move from Boston to Iowa in order to learn about and grown an acre of corn in order to find out how the corn can go from the field into their hair. Throughout their experience, Ian and Curt teach us a ton about the act of growing corn, about the farming industry, and about the products corn becomes and that we consume.

Since growing corn is expensive, without government subsidies most farmers would lose money on their products. Thanks to the government, however, farmers are given money in order to still help farmers make a small profit. Though the profits the farmer makes are greatly determined by how much product they can produce, thus encouraging small farms to increase in size and squeeze other small farms out. These subsidies are given to farmers who are a part of what is called a Farm Program.

So when Ian and Curt came to grow an acre of land, the government gave them a small subsidy to help pay for the seeds and other tools needed. A $14 subsidy. In March, the boys fertilized their soil with Ammonia. This allows farms to grow 4 times as much corn as could be grown in the olden days. Another tool the boys needed to use was a tractor. When tractors were invented, their purpose was to make farming easier, to allow one farmer to do more and more work. It was also a tool to help the big farms get bigger and to get rid of many of the smaller farms.

For their one acre of soil, Ian and Curt had to plant about 3100 kernels of corn. With the help of the tractor, it took them only eighteen minutes to do. The corn that is planted today has actually been genetically altered with the goal of yield, engineering it to tolerate living closer to other plants and able to resist the chemicals used to kill weeds. For every acre of corn planted, five tons of food is produced! However, nobody can eat this commodity corn. Instead, the corn must be sent away to be processed before it is edible. The irony in this is that an Iowa farmer, who used to grow his family's food in a garden, now grows an immense amount of commodity that he can no longer feed himself on.

Once processed, the corn is put on a scale and dumped in with a bunch of other corn. After this occurs, it is practically impossible to find out exactly where the corn from a specific acre goes. Statistically, 32% of the corn will go toward making ethanol, 50% will be sent away for cattle feed (which we will later consume), and the remainder will become corn syrup.

Animal farms are feeding their cattle corn more and more each year. Their feed, called corn silage, is created by running the whole corn plant through a corn chopper and then fed to the cattle. Up to 60% of the product is actually corn. Since most animals are corn fed today and we are consuming the meats of these animals, we too are technically corn fed. Corn, however, is not good for cattle and will actually kill them after eating it for 140-150 days. So after 120-130 days, farmers will send their cattle away to a packaging place as "fed cattle", the meat then hitting our food market. Corn has replaced grass as the principle feed for cattle, mostly because it is much cheaper. On large corporate farms, cattle are raised not only on corn, but also in small confined places. This is because if the cow cannot move, then it will gain more weight and will go into the food market sooner. So cattle are raised in small spaces with an endless supply of corn feed, having gone from feeding off of no grain to now feeding off of 90% grain. This will eventually cause the cattle to succumb to acidosis and die. To combat this, antibiotics can help cattle in confinement. Thus antibiotics have been infused in much of the grain feed as well. Cattle today consume about 70% of the United State's antibiotics.

There are direct nutritional effect on our meats depending on how the animal was raised. While a steak sized portion of grass fed meat contains about 1.3 grams of saturated fat, the same portion of corn fed meat contains about 7 grams of saturated fat. Most of the meats we are served and eat today are not actually meat. Rather they are just fat disguised with meat. While these statistics are staggering, it is more expensive to produce grass fed meat and unfortunately America wants cheap food.

The other major corn product industry is the Corn Sweetener Industry. Ian and Curt wanted to have the opportunity to tour one of the companies, but most flatly refused while other said it was "for the protection of the food and the protection of the consumer". Prior to 1970, nobody ate corn syrup because it was so difficult to make. Today, however, it is beneficial for processed food to sweeten with corn syrup because it is so cheap to produce and it adds so many properties to our food products; like enhancing fruits and spices, and browning breads. With the increase of corn syrup, table sugar has decreased in consumption. The corn used to make corn syrup has been nutritionally degraded in order to breed for high productivity instead of quality. Therefore, we convert the starch of this corn into high fructose corn syrup, which has no nutritional value, possibly aversive effects, and empty calories.

With high fructose corn syrup, there is a 70% chance it will end up sweetening a beverage, particualarly soda. Since Americans are drinking a lot more calories in beverages, it has been a major factor in the obesity epidemic. It also adds to the risk of type 2 diabetes. Today, 1 in 8 New Yorkers have diabetes, which is strongly linked to food consumption and exercise. In fact, drinking 1 soda per day almost doubles the chance of type 2 diabetes than if a person were to just occasionally drink a soda every now and then!

When Ian and Curt tallied the money they spend growing their corn and the money they would make off of their products, they found they would actually loose about $18 dollars. Thanks to the government, however, they could still make a profit off of their goods. In essence, the government helps to pay and encourage the growth of cheap surplus corn that will become products like high fructose corn syrup or corn fed cattle, but they wont help to pay for the organic foods. As the movie put it, "we subsidize the happy meals, but we don't subsidize the healthy stuff".

One major difference between the United States and other countries is the amount of money spent on food. American's are more worried about the dollars they spend on their food, which amounts to the 16-17% of their paycheck as opposed to the 40-50% most other countries' people spend, than the quality of food they are ingesting.

While agriculture used to be a family operation, it is now a commercial operation. For the first time in history, we spend less of our income on food, and fewer people are needed to produce that food. The current generation is also the first to live in a time when abundance brings too much. When the way we live and the foods we eat promise us a shorter lifespan than the generations before us. Many people say this movement of the industrialization of agriculture cannot be stopped, I hope for all our sakes, and the sakes of the future generations that those people are wrong. I hope that through educating people today and working together, we can make a difference and change the outcomes of our food products for tomorrow.

Today's Workout:  Today was my relaxation day. Since it is not good for us to work our bodies hard too many days in a row, today is the perfect time for a rest. Instead of working out, spend twenty or so minutes stretching! It'll still work your muscles and help you with flexibility, while not overworking them.

Today's Food Tip: Today I want to encourage you to buy local as often as possible. Often, locally grown/raised foods are made with more care and less chemicals. The foods are better for you and you are also helping out your community at the same time! Look up your local farmer's market or find some family owned grocery stores to shop at!

Today's Relaxation Activity: Eating out with your family and friends can be both relaxing and help you to keep your relationships a priority during your week. I suggest going out to lunch with someone you are close to, just to talk about life and any exciting new goals.