rodent unusual size kencoargoluxcom like corn original message subject interest fwd crop becomes king date fri 19 jul 2002 101423 0400 edt donald eastlake 3rd july 19 2002 crop becomes king michael pollan cornwall bridge conn southern new england corn already waist high growing avidly almost hear creak stalk leaf plants stretch toward sun ears sweet corn starting show local farm stands inaugurating one ceremonies american summer days nations nearly 80 millionacre field corn rolls across countryside like second great lawn wholesome allamerican image obscures decidedly dubious reality like tulip apple potato zea mays botanical name sweet feed corn evolved humans past 10000 years great dance species call domestication plant gratifies human needs exchange humans expand plants habitat moving genes world remaking land clearing trees plowing ground protecting enemies might thrive corn making tasty nutritious got noticed christopher columbus helped expand range new world europe beyond today corn worlds widely planted cereal crop nowhere humans done quite much advance interests plant north america zea mays insinuated landscape food system federal budget one need look 190 billion farm bill president bush signed last month wonder whose interests really served 10year program taxpayers pay farmers 4 billion year grow ever corn despite fact struggle get rid surplus plant already produces average bushel corn 56 pounds sells 2 today costs farmers 3 grow rather design program would encourage farmers plant less corn would benefit lifting price farmers receive congress decided instead subsidize corn bushel thereby insuring zea mays dominion 125000square mile american habitat go unchallenged first blush subsidy might look like handout farmers really form welfare plant economic interests profit overproduction processors factory farms soft drink snack makers rely cheap corn zea mays triumphed making indispensable farmers swiftly surely bankrupting archer daniels midlands tysons cocacolas world entire food supply undergone process cornification recent years without even noticing thats unlike mexico cornbased diet norm centuries united states corn consume invisible heavily processed passed food animals reaches us animals eat chickens pigs cows today subsist diet corn regardless whether good case beef cattle evolved eat grass corn diet wreaks havoc digestive system making necessary feed antibiotics stave illness infection even farmraised salmon bred tolerate corn food evolution prepared feed fish corn cheapest thing feed animal thanks federal subsidies even half 10 billion bushels corn produced annually fed animals plenty left companies like adm cargill conagra figured ingenious new ways dispose turning everything ethanol vitamin c biodegradable plastics far best strategy keeping zea mays business development highfructose corn syrup pushed sugar aside since 1980s soft drink manufacturers switched sugar corn sweeteners snack makers nearly 10 percent calories americans consume come corn sweeteners figure 20 percent many children add cornbased animal protein cornfed beef chicken pork corn qua corn chips muffins sweet corn plant become one natures greatest success stories turning us along several equally unwitting species expanding race corn eaters begrudge corn phenomenal success isnt way domestication supposed work problem corns case sacrificing health bodies environment growing eating much though beginning understand cornified food system health theres cause concern probably coincidence wholesale switch corn sweeteners 1980s marks beginning epidemic obesity type 2 diabetes country sweetness became cheap soft drink makers rather lower prices supersized serving portions marketing budgets thousands new sweetened snack foods hit market amount fructose diets soared would bad enough american waistline theres also preliminary research suggesting highfructose corn syrup metabolized differently sugars making potentially harmful recent study university minnesota found diet high fructose compared glucose elevates triglyceride levels men shortly eating phenomenon linked increased risk obesity heart disease little known health effects eating animals eaten much corn case cattle researchers found cornfed beef higher saturated fats grassfed beef know lot 80 million acres corn health environment serious lasting damage modern corn hybrids greediest plants demanding nitrogen fertilizer crop corn requires pesticide food crop runoff chemicals finds way groundwater midwestern corn belt mississippi river carries gulf mexico already killed marine life 12000 square mile area produce chemicals apply cornfields takes vast amounts oil natural gas nitrogen fertilizer made natural gas pesticides oil americas corn crop might look like sustainable solarpowered system producing food actually huge inefficient polluting machine guzzles fossil fuel half gallon every bushel seems corn indeed become king given land plant area twice size new york state keep well fed safe predators douse chemicals poison water deepen dependence foreign oil order dispose corn cracked system produced eat fast many ways turning fat land well fat one wonder whether corn hasnt last succeeded domesticating us michael pollan author recently botany desire plantseye view world httpxentcommailmanlistinfofork fri 19 jul 2002 105919 0400 crop becomes king