 “King Corn” is a great documentary explaining the dynamics of our surplus of corn and how it is affecting our health. Director Aaron Woolf and co-writers Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis provide proof that this starchy vegetable is overgrown with government subsidies and an intentional effort to slip the stuff into our diet. Cheney and Ellis, both Yale graduates, took it upon themselves to grow an acre of corn themselves. Throughout the documentary, they meet with agronomists, historians, and other experts, educating both themselves and their viewers about the multitude of factors that play into our corn-rich diet.
Even if you read food labels, chances are corn is slipping into your diet more frequently than you know. Corn gets into our food in clever ways, such as hydrologized corn protein and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Americans even find corn in our meat products. Most animals that end up on our plates come from commercialized animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Such animals live a life in close proximity to their fellow to-be-dinner friends with a diet of mostly corn in some form or another, whether it’s corn kernels, corn meal, or a blend of the two.
The corn in animal diets changes the chemical makeup of their meat, adding cholesterol and lowering nutritional content. Quite simply, cows were not meant to eat corn. The rumens and four stomachs present in the digestive tract of a cow evolved to eat grass. But, since there is such a surplus of corn in our country, the cows make do with corn.
Cheney and Ellis compare grass-fed cattle and the modern corn-fed cattle and examine the links between corn syrup and obesity and diabetes. Even Michael Pollan, the celebrated author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” assists them with their efforts to make sense of it all.
Despite the abundance of science present in this documentary, it is remarkably playful and engaging. As the cover describes, “King Corn” is a “fun and crusading journey into the digestive tract of our fast food nation where one ultra-industrial, pesticide-laden, heavily subsidized commodity dominates the food pyramid from top to bottom.” Cheney and Ellis document the comically ludicrous hidden truths of the presence of corn in our diets in a very engaging, dynamic, and interesting way. It’s humorous, yet chillingly scary, especially when viewers realize that, even if you order a hamburger, you’re eating corn, both in the bun and in the meat, in more ways than one.
The corn industry affects our environment in many ways. The monocropping of corn reduces the quality of life for farmers and consumers alike. It challenges the very livelihoods of farmers, who are slaves to the fixed price of corn. It reduces soil integrity, leaches astronomical amounts of chemicals into the water column, and affects our health. Studies have shown that eating beef is not bad at all, as many health experts claim. It is bad if you eat beef from corn-fed cattle. But, if you’re eating free-range, grass-fed beef, it’s nutritionally the same as eating salmon or chicken, with the same omega fatty acids that are present in those other meats.
This is an excellent DVD that will make you think twice about what you eat. It’s essential to be aware of this food chain faux pas, and this documentary makes the lesson a very enjoyable one.
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