When I think of corn, I picture corn on the cob covered with loads of creamy butter that usually dribbles down ones chin when eating it. I regarded it as a vegetable and a healthy one at that.
Well, not anymore. I watched ‘King Corn’ the movie today and am in shock at the truth behind the corn industry in the USA but most probably all around the world as well.
Corn and its derivatives, such as high fructose corn syrup are in SO much of our food, and they are making us sick, very overweight, and causing massive environmental problems. Ethanol used in fuel is derived from corn also. The process is very very cheap and therefore, its really all about making the government and certain corporations money, lots and lots of it.
I do urge you to read this entry in full as its quite shocking and may make you think twice about what food you are putting into your mouth and what its doing to you, our planet and animals.
Kind Corn was created by two high school buddies with no farming experience, who wanted to document the process of growing 1 acre of corn, and to see where their corn ends up.
It is an interesting and very eye-opening movie that will have you in disbelief at the problems this staple vegetable is causing.
And the irony here is, only a very small perecentage of corn is actually grown for human consumption as a vegetable.
If you are not a vegetarian and are thinking of becoming one, I am sure this information may help you to at least start seriously contemplating it.
Interesting (aka shocking) facts about corn:
* From 1 acre of corn, 5 tons of food can be produced
* Most corn is Genetically Modified
* Through many different stages of the growth cycle, pesticides such as Ammonium, are sprayed heavily on the crops.
* The corn grown like this, cannot be eaten! It tastes terrible – and has to be heavily processed to taste ‘good’.
* 33% of 10,000 pounds will be turned into Ethanol for fuel
* 490 pounds becomes High Fructose Corn Syrup
* Rest fed to animals to make them grow incredibly fast and overweight – the meat for humans to consume
* Corn is actually very toxic for animals to eat – it causes them to develop acidosis in the stomach
* They are fed hormones and antibiotics to counteract this – If they weren’t given these ‘drugs’ they would die.
* Cattle are killed at age 6 months
* Cows need to eat green grass to function properly
* Cows in these typical farms- do not run free, they do not exercise and therefore get ‘fatter’ quicker, so that they can reach the kitchen table faster.
* 100,000 head of cattle produce as much waste as a city of 1.7 million people
* A T-Bone steak today that is fed corn will have an average of 9 grams of saturated fat versus grass fed which would have a much lower average of 1.3 grams of fat.
* Do not fall for thinking ‘corn fed chicken’ is a good thing!
* Cows ‘muscle tissue’ today is more like fat tissue – they are grown on purpose to be obese.
* Hamburger meat in the USA is the most popular type of meat (hamburgers!) – with very little meat in it, the rest is all fat.
* A typical McDonalds meal is pretty much all corn – Fries are cooked in corn oil – Beef is fed with corn – Softdrink has High Fructose Corn Syrup in it as well as the desserts.
* If you eat all these things often, you will have a high percentage (45%) of Carbon (from corn!) in your body that will show in a hair sample test
* High fructose corn syrup has NO nutritional value and EMPTY calories.
* It is pretty much the cause of diabetes and obesity and heart disease.
* 1/8 New Yorkers have diabetes – more do not know they have it.
* The process of creating High Fructose Corn Syrup is a lengthy process – over 2 days it is boiled (with a toxic enzyme mixed into it), soaked, blended, and boiled again before it turns into a sugar tasting substance.
* It is cheaper than sugar to make
* If you visit a ‘corner store’ or petrol station – you can bet that 90% of food in there has High Fructose corn syrup or corn starch in the list of ingredients. Chewing gum, softdrinks, cakes, biscuits etc etc
* The Government in the USA (and possibly other countries too) give farmers higher amounts of money depending on how much corn they grow
The two filmakers ended up buying the land that they grew the corn on and swore never to contribute to the corn industry by growing it there again.
They now spend their lives trying to put a stop to this dreadful industry.
Never before has there been a better reason to eat more organic, fresh foods and NO heavily processed foods. Processing means nothing but bad news.
Too many of us do not really look at what we are putting into our mouths – they prefer to not think about what its doing to us and the problems it will cause them later in life.
And no one wants to die of a heart attack or diabetes do we!
You can find this movie on Youtube and can watch for free.
If anyone watches it I would love to hear what you think.
