King Corn is a movie following the lives of two friends, Ian and Curt, who
travel from Boston to Iowa in hopes of planting corn and seeing exactly where their
kernels end up. This idea comes after learning that almost everything they eat has
some form of corn in it. They are interested in the link between corn and its effect
on the shortening lifespan of Americans.
While they are waiting for their corn to grow, the two friends track down
where their corn will eventually end up. They figure that about 32% will be
exported or turned into ethanol, 55% will be fed to animals to become meat, and the
rest will become sweeteners. They head to Wray, Colorado to see exactly what the
beef industry looks like. Roughly thirty years ago, cattle were fed grass or hay.
When the farm program was reoriented in 1973 by the Secretary of Agriculture Earl
Butz, the focus shifted to feeding the most people for the least amount of money.
Farmers were no longer limited in how much corn they could grow. In effect, ample
corn was available for cattle, and their diets went from virtually no grain to 90%
grain. Cattle are packed into feedlots for approximately 140 days, where they are
kept from moving around and constantly fed corn products. This makes them gain
weight very fast and they are soon sold to packing plants for a quick profit.
Multiple environmental issues exist with this practice. Cattle are not
supposed to eat this much corn for an extended period of time. After about 120
days on this diet, the animals begin to get sick. Corn produces acid, and the cows
undergo a metabolic process known as acidosis, which can be fatal. To combat this
illness, many cattle are pumped with antibiotics. It’s alarming to find out that
livestock now consume 70% of antibiotics in the United States. This means that
humans may be ingesting some of the products of these antibiotics, leading to
antibiotic resistance. The meat produced from these animals is no longer high
quality. The muscle tissue looks more like fat than muscle. Steak from a grass fed
cow contains only 1.3 grams of saturated fat, while steak from a grain fed cow has
9g of saturated fat. Another negative impact is the huge amount of waste produced
by these animals. A chance for runoff and contamination of water sources is always
a concern. One cattle owner explains that he would go back to feeding cattle grass,
but that beef would be more expensive and Americans demand cheap food.
After leaving unimpressed with this as an option for their corn, Ian and Curt
explore the option of sweeteners made from corn. Prior to the 1970s, high fructose
corn syrup was rarely used in food because it was too expensive. However, it is now
the dominant sweetener in America. Overall consumption of sweeteners has
increased 30% in the last 30 years. This is a source of some very negative health
impacts. Much of the sweeteners are found in beverages such as soda. Americans
are now drinking more calories than ever before. Americans are eating and
drinking more sugar, while eating less food with real nutritional value. This is one
factor in the obesity epidemic. Too much sugar can also have adverse metabolic
effects such as diabetes mellitus type 2. One surprising statistic is that drinking one
soda a day almost doubles a person’s chances of being diabetic. The two men return
to their corn crop, not approving of any of the ways that their corn could be used.
I really enjoyed this movie, as it highlighted many important public health
problems in our society. Corn used to be a crop much higher in protein, but has
been bred for higher productivity. This resulted in a loss of nutritional value.
Although Americans now spend less of their paychecks on food than ever before, the
food that we are consuming is playing a major role in obesity and chronic diseases.
It will be interesting to see whether the future sees a resurgence of family owned
farms, more nutritious corn, and grass fed cattle, or a continued reliance on corn for
cheap food.
Cheney, I., Ellis, C., Woolf, A. (Producers), Cheney, I., Ellis, C. (Writers), & Woolf, A.
(Director). (2007). King Corn [Motion Picture]. United States.