When Curt Ellis & Ian Cheney went to have their hair analyzed at a geochemistry lab, they didn’t quite expect to receive the following news…they were basically made of corn.
That doesn’t mean that Curt & Ian had been wolfing down ear after ear of corn for their whole lives, rather it’s a reflection of the immense amount of processed corn that makes its way into the diet of Americans.
To get better acquainted with the corn industry, Curt & Ian decided to move to the sleepy agricultural town of Greene, Iowa, raise an acre of corn and then travel to some of the places where corn ends up. The new documentary film, ‘King Corn’ is a record of their efforts.
The massive overproduction of corn is supported by the United States government through it’s subsidy system. In recent years, Iowa corn farmers have been producing ever-larger yields that are far too large to fit into the huge grain elevators that were built to hold all the grain. As a result of this, virtual mountains of corn overage are sitting alongside grain elevators all over Iowa, and while traveling around the state, Curt & Ian took it upon themselves to have some fun by sledding down huge slopes of corn like they were sledding hills.
‘King Corn’ is an entertaining film that deals with immensely important issues in our food system. It’s very likely that seeing ‘King Corn’ or hearing Curt & Ian talk about processed corn will make you think twice before reaching for a soda or ordering a hamburger. Judging by the state of American health, that’s probably a good thing.
-Dan Bloom
King Corn is showing this weekend in: Grand Rapids, MI & Hudson, NY
King Corn opens next week in: Columbus, OH, Iowa City, IA, Bellingham, WA & Great Barrington, MA
For a listing of all theaters and much more information:
‘King Corn’ official website
See a picture of the man with the ‘CornFed’ license plate
I was amazed when I heard the show about "King Corn" to learn that I had much more to be aware of than high fructose corn syrup. We have tried diligently to eat nothing that contains hfcs at home. Heinz ketchup now contains it, but it also produces an organic ketchup which is in the organic produce dept. of the supermarket. It is in such innocent products. Why does Campbell’s tomato soup have to contain hfcs, for instance? Its use also changes the consistency of the product; it is more gluey. But what I was unaware of was the diet of a cow, and that it will die with this overkill corn diet. I didn’t know that a regular corn plant would die if sprayed with the herbicides that a genetically altered corn plant is treated with. And I discovered, after hearing the program, and rummaging to see what my favorite cereal, Honey Bunches of Oats, contained, was that the first ingredient of this cereal is corn! So we are switching to rolled oats or cream of wheat, as of this morning. Why bar people from the plant that produces hfcs? I really wish I had a tape of the program so that I could play it for other people.