Would you like some corn with your corn?

LargeMargeSentMe

Haha, I am reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and that line just make me laugh.  But really, I am growing so angry about this whole corn thing.  I mean, even if you don't care about the health effects of what corn is being processed into, just the fact that the government is so sneaky and thinking, hey, let's get these gullible, gluttonous people to eat up the gazillion pounds of corn surplus!!  It makes me so mad they would think that's okay to turn us into sick, corn-devouring machines for their own good. 

The next thing I want to see is King Corn, has anyone seen it? 

Mrs Manners

I agree completely. I haven't seen King Corn yet, but would like to see it. In a very short period of time I read like 3 of Pollan's books (including Omnivore's Dilemma), saw and read Food Inc., Animal Vegetable Miracle, etc. It got to the point where I was really frustrated about all of it and I just needed to step away from it for a bit. I think I'm ready to ease back into it now.

Summerly2

I saw Food, Inc a few months ago, but just picked up the Omnivore's Dilemma at the library yesterday. I'm looking forward to it, although I'm sure it'll be frustrating at the same time. But knowledge is power.

katydid17

I just watched King Corn this past week - after reading Omnivore's Dilemma, I don't feel like I learned anything new... but it was still a good movie.  I agree with PP's - I get all kinds of frustrated with the way things are and just have to step back, regroup, plan a little more, and carry on.

SuperGreen

Yup, I had the same thought when I read The Omnivore's Dilemma.  I think it has less to do with "let's make these gluttenous people eat the corn surplus!" and more to do with the fact that corn is SO CHEAP, it's used for everything, not just food.  Think of corn polymers, plastics, and ethanol too.  The Farm Bill started by giving government aid to farmers during tough times so they could feed America, and over time Big Agribusiness got it changed to their liking to get paid for corn, which is a commodity crop that's easy to grow, ship, and modify to make all sorts of corn parts that Michael Pollan was taking about.  It's all about the money.  Big Ag figured they could trick the government to give them subsidies to grow corn, a cheap crop that grows quickly and ships well, which they could then slice and dice into smaller and small pieces, and put it in everything.  Now it's in everything so they "need" the government money to maintain that corn flow.  Again, it's all about the money.

I think the best way to handle this it to opt out of corn.  Don't buy processed food, that's where all the corn is hiding.  Don't eat fast food.  Use whole ingredients, and when you do need something processed,  read the ingredients and avoid corn products.  This has served me and  DH very well, we eat very little industrial corn now besides stove-top popcorn, which is not GMO.

MrsBrownsFan

I am reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle right now, and I am planning to move on to the Pollan books.  I also have Food, Inc. on my DVR right now, ready to be watched (Thanks, PBS!).  I have to say that I didn't really put a lot of thought into all this before reading AVM, and I am finding just that book (which I think is one of the lightweights of the genre, really) to be really life-changing!

Although I was vaguely aware of all this information (I have a Biology degree that had a heavy emphasis on ecology-related courses), I didn't really think too deeply about it until now.  My eyes are becoming wide open now!

I am concerned that once I watch Food, Inc. I won't be able to stomach McDonald's anymore.  And that makes me sad because I love their fries so much!