I'll Never Look at Corn The Same Way Again

This book has given me a gift, but like a 5 year old that receives socks for his birthday, I didn't like it. This so called "present" was a slap in the face that opened my eyes to something that I didn't necessarily want to see. Corn. Is. Everywhere. Growing up, corn was those little yellow kernels of deliciousness, on the cob or off, that were buttery, sweet, and delicious. But now, corn seems to be a building block to practically everything. It's in our sodas, on our produce, even in the walls of the buildings in which we buy those products. Even more astounding is how much the farmers have to do, toiling away working their fields, to provide this product to us, and how little they get paid. According to Iowa State University, most farmers spend, on average, $2.50 to produce a bushel, but are only paid $1.45 a bushel by the grain elevators. Farmers are paid this little due to a surplus of corn, but due to the ass-backward way that the corn farming profession is set up by the government, the solution to not making enough money is to simply grow more corn. Now, a surplus isn't always bad, but it is in regards to corn. A surplus should be kept in case there is a year in which a crop can't be grown, however, due to scientific advances, it's almost impossible to be unable to grow a crop of corn. So while farmers keep growing, the elevators are overflowing. Corn is strewn upon the ground because there is no other place to put it.

It's depressing to me to see this kind of waste when world hunger is so prevalent in our world. Not just in other countries, but also in our own. One would assume that the excess corn could just be given away, BUT not all corn can be eaten. Corn today has become so hybridized, or genetically modified, that it literally has to be processed before it can be consumed. Also, some corn can't even be consumed after it's been processed because it has been grown to be put into industrial uses such as building materials.

It's depressing to me that such a fun part of my childhood, eating corn off the cob, has been twisted into a nightmare by corporate America.