Omnivores dilemma - Corn
After reading the first section of
Omnivores dilemma all I can think about is corn. Corn has been eaten on this continent (Mexico) since before
the Europeans colonized America.
What is different about it now is the amount that we are producing has
skyrocketed. Due to the
opportunities that science brings into food, food scientists can now take the
molecules of corn and make tremendous amounts of byproducts. There are simple products that are made
clear to us that there is corn in them such as: cornmeal, popcorn, corn on the
cob, corn oil, cornstarch, corn syrup, corn cobs, and corn chips. These are all easily relatable and
traceable to corn because the name implies the usage of corn. There are also many ingredients on the
labels of processed food that are modified chemicals of corn. Here is the list that Michael Pollan
gives as a reference: modified or unmodified starch, glucose syrup and
maltodextrin, crystalline fructose and ascorbic acid, lecithin and dextrose,
lactic acid and lysine, maltose and high fructose corn syrup, MSG and polyols,
carmel coloring, and xanthan gum.
So basically, when you read the back of a processed food item it is
saying CORN CORN CORN CORN CORN and MORE CORN. Pollan also goes on to say that out of the forty-five
thousand items that are in our grocery stores, more than a quarter of them
contain corn. This is including
non-food items such as cleaners, cosmetics, batteries, toothpaste and even the
shine of magazines at the check out station. Pollan digs deeper with the claim that even the produce
section on a day with no corn for sale there is still plenty to be found. The pesticides used to help grow the vegetables
contain corn as well as the waxy shine the cucumbers have is all thanks to
corn.
What
concerns me is that this is nothing new.
Since I have been alive on this planet, these byproducts of corn have
been around. In the Midwest, people
are proud of their corn and its abilities to transform but it seems to vanish
once it reaches to consumer. Where
is the education for what is in our food?
Why do schools not teach kids about the truth of food at a young age to
help with obesity and eating disorders?
The reason I don’t trust what is in corn is because it is not
advertised. Why hide the facts if
there is nothing wrong with them?
One discussion I had about this is that the reason why it is hidden is
because people would be scared if they knew the truth. In which my response is that people
would not have to be scared if the facts were present. Hiding the truth is what is scary. Why hide something if it’s not bad?
3 comments:
I had a similar response to you, Nick, and the questions that you raise are important. I feel that we should be asking this throughout all aspects of our food. The thing that I think is sad is that if you tried to avoid all of the processed and inorganic corn products there would be hardly anything left for us to eat unless we grew food from organic seeds in our backyard.
I think the question you raise at the end of your response is very important. I think the reason why the truth is hidden is because the truth is ugly, and because the truth is ugly big agribusiness is worried about their pockets getting light. The truth is hidden for this reason. Imagine if corn just stopped being used as heavily as it is? All agribusiness would collapse. The sad thing about the food system in America is that it is fueled by corn in every sense, but it is bastardized from what it was really supposed to be. The sadder thing is that we cannot avoid it. We need to eat and these are the only options we are provided with.
Nicole I couldn't agree with you more about the use of corn being the ugly truth of great American consumerism. Based on what I've read in Polan and also after watching the documentary Food Inc. (which is another great resource in addition to The Omnivores Dilemma) it seems apparent that agribusiness is so reliant on corn that if proper labeling ever became wide spread it could financially detrimental. Based on my reaction to the reading I'm much more trepidatious when it comes to food shopping, I've since been making a conscious effort to purchase food that are less processed or free range whenever possible. If the general population were to have a similar reaction, bypassing over processed foods with a high corn content, agribusiness would be in turmoil with such a large percentage of American farming based on corn.
Pollan is right about the extent of corn's control over us. I have driven through the midwest and all there is are miles and miles and miles of corn that span for hours on end.
The issue of corn is such a small component of the issue at large. It's just a visible byproduct of the entire system we live under in America. The problem is not necessarily just the corn, or the education behind the corn, or the farmers growing the corn, or the seed producers making and marketing the corn- but it is a larger issue of capitalism affecting agribusiness in a way that is not much different than any other market. Farmers and businesses alike are affected just as much by the framework of 'more for less' competition. If it wasn't Monsanto, it would be another biotech company. We blame certain businesses when maybe its not one thing- one business, one farmer... but the entire pressure of the capitalist system food works under.
Think about it. Corn goes into much more than just food. Corn is the oil to make cheap, fast 'stuffs'. It is our economic structure, it is our incessant cultural need for more. Its the simple economics of our market system: Get bigger, make more, and drive your costs down. How do you do that? Grow F-1 hybrids. To change it, buying more expensive organics isn't necessarily the long-term solution. We would have to make a cultural shift. We would have to be farmers. We would have to create an entirely new system for food production. The realistic answer (for me) is not the easy, feel-good one. Pollan recognizes this same sentiment but I feel like a lot of people get caught up in the shocking statistics, because they never knew them before. But, he's right in the last sentence about corn. "...with the power to remake nature in the image of capitalism, Zea mays entered the industrial age and, in time, it brought the whole American food chain with it." That's a big thought. Capitalism dominating nature...Think about it.
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