By NATE DOUGHERTY For generations, Iroquois white corn has been
a staple of the traditional diet and an important ceremonial
food for Native Americans in this region. Now a program
organized by the non-profit Friends of Ganondagan Inc. intends
to promote the healthy food and introduce it to new audiences.
The organization is sponsoring a program that would vastly
increase production of the corn, making it an ordinary part of
the diet for all Americans instead of a food eaten mostly by the
Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois. The idea of the Iroquois White Corn
Project is to create a much wider market for the strain of corn,
which has lower sugar content than traditional sweet corn and is
gluten-free. These qualities make the corn a healthier
alternative for people with diabetes or gluten allergies, says
Peter Jemison, site manager at Ganondagan State Historic Site
and head of the Iroquois White Corn Project. "Iroquois white
corn is a slow food, so when you eat it your body digests it
slowly," Jemison says. "It's not l