King Corn

Question 1

The story of corn and farming

Answer 1

• The story of corn is the story of industrial food. Because of its ability to provide multiple products including fuel, sweetener, starch for binding food materials and other things, the corn has become the ubiquitous ingredients not only in fast food but also hidden in other daily staples such as chicken and beef. But the processing of corn incurs a lot of expended energy.

Question 2

What are the costs of corn overproduction?

Answer 2

• The costs of food monetary costs vs. ecological/physical health costs
• Corn getting cheaper
• No crop rotation
• Overconsumption
• Corn-fed animals
• More than a quarter of grocery store items contain corn

Question 3

Who do subsidies favor?

Answer 3

• Subsidy checks go to the farmer, but theya re really subsidizing the buyers of all that cheap corn…Cargilll and CocaCola—not the farmer

Question 4

What do you do with all the corn produced?

Answer 4

• Ever increasing amounts of corn grown means searching for new uses. Of the 45,000 + items in American supermarkets, more than one quarter contain corn. Disposable diapers, trash bags, toothpaste, charcoal briquettes, matches, batteries, and even the shine on the covers of magazines all contain corn.
• Fed to animals
• Ethanol
• Corn syrup

Question 5

High fructose corn syrup accounts for 20 percent of the daily calories of many children. What are the consequences?

Answer 5

• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Allergies

Question 6

Health issues? Blue baby syndrome?

Answer 6

• Infants are especially susceptible to nitrate overexposure, which can result in methemoglobinemia, or “blue baby syndrome.” Children face a decreased oxygen carrying capacity in their hemoglobin and risk death. Adults can experience the condition as well, and nitrate toxicosis has been linked to thyroid cancer, skin rashes and hair loss.

Question 7

Agribusiness monopolies

Answer 7

• Concentration of corn/beef production by a handful of agribusiness giants who control all the steps of production. Ex Cargill and ADM
 Feed the livestock & then slaughter the corn-fattened animals.
 Distill the ethanol
 Manufacture high-fructose corn syrup
 d. Exert a considerable lobby and influence over US agricultural policies.