King Corn

[Polly]

Hi All!

I'll bet this post caught Tex' eye! LOL!

I heard a review on the radio today of a documentary, "King Corn", that is to air on PBS TV tonight. Unfortunately, not in my area until a later date. But perhaps others would like to watch it tonight.

Two guys became interested in how so much of our diet consists of corn products.....from corn syrup to corn-fed livestock. Even mentioned products like xanthan gum and citric acid usually made from corn. One of the guys had a strand of his hair analyzed and found that 51% of the carbon in his hair could be traced to corn. Tex - I didn't know they could determine the food source of carbon in the body.....did you?

Anyway, as these two were making the film, they actually farmed an acre of corn on the farm of a longtime corn grower to gain first-hand info.

If anyone catches it, let me know. Sounds interesting. I'd be especially interested in Tex' review, of course!

Love,

Polly

[tex]

Hi Polly,

Hahahaha. Yes, it did indeed catch my eye - (the one that's still working correctly despite the oak pollen. LOL). And no, I certainly wasn't aware that carbon in the body could be traced back to the food source. That certainly adds some weight to the old statement that says "you are what you eat", doesn't it. We may already be half corn. LOL.

I usually don't get to the TV until after midnight, but when I do, it's almost always the PBS documentaries that capture my interest, so I'll definitely be trying to catch that one, if it ever shows up down here in the boondocks.

Thanks for the "heads up".

Love,
Tex

[mle_ii]

Michael Pollan (sp) talks about this. I think it's in the "Omnivors Dilemma" (sp) book.

[tex]

It wasn't on any of my local PBS stations, but I plan to keep looking for it.

Tex

[hazel]

It was on PBS here in Atlanta (still at my son's) so we all watched it. Good premise--farming an acre of corn and trying to follow it through to its final destination. They lost $$ of course--it cost more to grow than it brought at market, but the government subsidies had them turn a few dollars in profit. They attributed the huge growth in corn production to Earl Butz and also to the fact that the yield per acre has increased because the new corn plant doesn't need as much space between itself and its neighbor. They tried to make their own high fructose corn syrup. It was sympathetic to the farmers but also mentioned our obesity epidemic and the prevalence of HFCS in our drinks, etc. Told of the demise of the family farm and the growth of feedlots and how we love our cheap food prices! Today we apparently spend a far smaller portion of our income on food than we used to. Well, that's my short summary. It was very well done. Better than you would think, given my synopsis!

[tex]

Kathy,

Thanks for the report. I'll keep looking as long as it takes, I reckon.

Tex