Daily Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, IA
11-09-07
The truth about our corn
TOM MCMAHON, Staff Writer
If you are looking for a Michael Moore-like indictment of American farming, "King
Corn" co-producer Curt Ellis said you'll be disappointed.
The Yale graduate has teamed up with his best college friend and director cousin
to make a documentary Ellis hopes will open a dialogue about farm policy,
obesity and Iowa's No. 1 agricultural product - corn. The film opened Friday night
at the Ruth Sokolf Theater in Omaha.
The yellow vegetable may be king, but Ellis said he, co-producer Ian Cheney and
director Aaron Woolf learned most Iowa farmers they talked to were not opposed
to "King Corn's" message - that America's subsidized farm policy encourages
corn production, but our over-reliance on the cheaply-produced commodity has
had a detrimental effect on health.
Ellis is from Oregon; Cheney grew up in Boston. They met at Yale. Neither
majored in film. Or agriculture.
"Ian and I were about to graduate college and were ashamed to realize we had
taken classes in English and history and science, but knew nothing about the
most fundamental thing we do - eat," Ellis said. Not that they were totally
oblivious to U.S. agriculture.
During their undergraduate years, the two let loose several sheep on the Yale
campus, leaving manure-ridden fields for Frisbee throwers. And they organized
freshman orientation trips to area organic farms.
"We realized people in our generation know little about food or farming," Ellis
said. He and Cheney studied the issue and decided corn was, indeed, king.
Upon graduating, the two teamed up with Woolf, who received a master's in film
at the University of Iowa and had directed PBS award-winning documentaries.
The three headed to Greene, Iowa, with ideas and cameras.
"From our research we realized that much of what we eat is made from corn,"
Ellis said. "High fructose corn syrup makes our sodas sweet, corn-fed beef
makes our burgers fat and corn oil crisps our fries."
A scene in the film brings the point home by showing the friends' hair being
clinically tested. The results indicate their tresses contain corn.
While they were en route to Iowa, Ellis said he and Cheney discovered their
great-grandfathers farmed a few miles apart in northern Iowa. But, neither of
them had ever lived on a farm.
"We wanted to learn by doing," Ellis said. The film follows their "learning by
doing," from leasing an acre of land from a skeptical landlord, filing subsidy
papers that will pay them $28 to grow their corn acre, planting, fertilizing,
spraying and combining what turns out to be a 10,000-pound harvest at film's
end.
Local farmers taught them every step of the way, including their reactions to the
current farm system.
"There is a misconception about the film that it is a Michael Moore-type movie
against farming," Ellis said. "While it is critical of some things about corn and
asks tough questions about farm policy, much of that comes from our
conversations with farmers. They told us it is hard to have pride in feeding the
world when what you end up feeding it is high-fructose corn syrup."
King Corn traces Ellis and Cheney's corn into the food system, from Colorado
corn-fed beef to soda consumption and diabetes in Brooklyn.
While Ellis said consumers are ultimately to blame for unhealthy diets, he said
the incentives for all-out corn production contributes to obesity. He waxes
philosophical about American farm policy and an on-screen conversation with
Earl Butz, agriculture secretary in the Nixon administration.
"Farm policy was written by people who grew up in the Depression," Ellis said. "It
encouraged production. The goal was cheap food."
But, he said, for people his age a key issue is the nation's obesity epidemic.
"When we look at the Farm Bill it is important that we look at producing cheap,
nutritious food."
While King Corn screenings began on the coast, the film is making its way into
the heart of corn country.
Ellis said he attended a screening at Iowa State University in Ames earlier this
week. He described the reaction as "almost universally positive."
"Farmers have as much concern about diabetes and other health issues as they
do about growing corn," he said.
He said he hopes the film helps generate discussion about farm policy. Ellis said
it was recently shown on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are currently crafting new
farm legislation.
He said he and Cheney plan to conduct forums around the Corn Belt later this
year and early next. And "King Corn" will be shown on PBS next April.
"We are all in this together," Ellis said. "Everyone eats."
"King Corn" will be shown at the Ruth Sokolof Theater, 1340 Webster St. in
Omaha, through Thursday, Nov. 15. For times or more information, call (402)
933-0259.