King Corn

Wanting to understand exactly how this crop has taken over the American food system, Ian and Curt decided to move to Iowa, grow an acre of corn and learn along the way. Here’s what they found:

The majority of corn grown in America is genetically modified to resist herbicide, contains extremely high levels of starch, is sprayed with ammonia fertilizer, and is government subsidized. So the more corn you grow, the more money you get from the government. “There is one goal in mind: yield,” according to Michael Pollan, who contributed to the documentary.”The corn isn’t actually edible. It’s a raw material used to make processed food. Everything on your plate is corn. Our government subsidy system rewards the overproduction of cheap corn.”

Most of the corn will be fed to animals as feed or converted into high fructose corn syrup — and both of these processes lead to the deterioration of our health.

You’ve likely heard that it’s better to eat grass-fed beef than corn-fed beef. Why? Well, according to the farmers in the film, the cattle aren’t meant to be on a corn-based diet. They get ulcers and they get sick. They are confined and fed continuously until they are large enough to be slaughtered. Antibiotics are added to the corn so the livestock can survive the conditions of confinement. The farmers say the corn feed itself would kill the animals eventually, but they are slaughtered before that can happen. So you end up with meat that’s pumped full of antibiotics and is the product of obese, extremely sick cows.