By Thu Mar 6th at noon, post a comment after watching the following videos for our class discussion of Making a Living:
- A conversation with director of the documentary KING CORN (watch all 3 parts)
- A TED Talk about the Omnivore's Dilemma, looking at humans and the world from the plant's point of view. He introduced to me the concept of permaculture, and
- A TED Talk about developing a commodity exchange for maize (corn) in Ethopia.
- How did corn become so important to us according to the director of King Corn? What do you think about that?
- How much corn do you think you consume in your diet? What did you learn that was new about corn in our culture?
- What did you think about the permaculture example Pollan presented?
- How might what you learned about corn from these videos provide a great example of how culture is learned, shared, integrated, all-encompassing, and/or symbolic?
- What did you learn about Ethiopia's production of corn and what it says about small farmers' knowledge of markets?
- Anything else you'd like to share relevant to MAKING A LIVING chapter.
FOOD NEWS: A Conversation with 'King Corn' Filmmaker: Part 1
Pt. 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5bAfPsUAb8&feature=user
Pt. 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2vARSdg7bw&feature=user
TEDTalks Michael Pollan: The omnivore's next dilemma
Talks Eleni Gabre-Madhin: Building a commodities market in Ethiopia
Note: Maize is another word for corn
Posts
29 comments:
The filmmaker of King Corn offers a few reason as to why high fructose corn syrup has become a main staple in our diet. He said that an enzyme was created that made a large quantity of High fructose corn syrup at an affordable cost. When i heard this, it reminded me of how the textbook chapter on Making a Living states that when people are given a choice, they tend to make choices that maximize profit. In this case, with the large harvest of corn in the US and the cheap alternative of making HFCS, eqauls the disgusting diet Americans have today (which led to the obesity epidemic).
With regards to eating healthier, I believe Pollan offers a great idea about permaculture. It contradicts the theory that to get what we want, nature is harmed. We shouldn't feel as if we are diminishing the environment if that means eating better.
All of these clips are eye-opening and interesting. My diet is probably saturated with HFCS foods, which really sucks!
It's quite amazing how much sugar can be produced from such a small amount of cprn. That being said it is going to be quite hard to fight the cost enefits in using to corn inorder to have a healthier diet.
Yaakov Landy
I found these videos to be very interesting because i never realized there so much freakin corn in all the foods we eat. I never thought soda has anything to do with corn as french fries. The video said its to sweeten things, for example you wouldnt pour sugar on top of spaghetti. I think we need to find better ways of producing healthier food. No wonder the people in the country are disformed. I think people should start buying organig foods even if there expensive.
I'm not really surprised to be honest. The general trend in this country is that people will gravitate to what minimizes costs, to effectively maximize profits, disregarding expenses that aren't taxing to those working for the profit. Unfortunately, high fructose corn syrup has done exactly that. It minimizes costs, at the expense of American obesity, and other nutrition-based health problems. I'm not saying that we, as Americans should blame the farmers however, because in the end, it is the choice of the consumer that will determine his/her health. These videos shouldn't encourage people to blame farmers, but rather encourage people to do what they must, to keep healthy. When multiple variables contribute to one outcome, one should attempt to manipulate that which he/she can control, exercise being one of the variables one can control.
Before watching these videos, I did not know how deeply corn is ingrained into our everyday lives. As an avid label-reader on the foods I buy, I always see if the product has high fructose corn syrup. I take notice because that adds a lot of extra sugar to the food. Otherwise, corn to me was just an ingredient in ethanol as well as something I eat in the summer. The mountains of corn shown in the King Corn videos were enormous, which shows that it is being used for other everyday things. It is so intertwined into our life that even the sugar-free gum many people chew, including myself, contains sorbitol, which is a sweetener made of a corn base. It is weird thinking that chewing gum, in essence, contains corn. I think that we consume much more corn than we actually know about. I feel that, because you cant actually see the kernels in the food, we think and/or dont know know its in there. Even with the example of corn fed beef: we are not directly eating a corn product but the animal we are eating is mainly fed corn. Corn is a ubiquitous food that is causing a lot of research and investigation in the food world. Two quotes that Curt Ellis said was "the least healthy food is the most affordable" and "we are good at growing cheap food, and that food is fast food." These statements are very true in American society, which, in addition to high fructose corn syrup and other fattening agents, contributes to the obesity problem .
My opinion of Pollan's permaculture technique is that it is a novel idea. At the end of his explanation , he indicated that there was much biodiversity on the land after the harvest and all the animals complete their ecological tasks. He does not use pesticides, just the natural instinct of chickens to rid the ground of larvae. It is a great practice of horticulture and shows that we dont have to diminish nature to get what we need from it.
-Lisa Fortunato
Who would’ve thought that corn is such a vital part of our everyday life. A simple starchy grain has infinite amount of uses and comprises so many things that affect our being. Prior to watching these videos, I was aware of corn and the role it plays in our life. After working in an organic store for 4 years, I must say that my intake of “corny” products has decreased immensely. Before working there, and after watching that video, it’s safe to assume that my previous diet was filled with high fructose corn syrup.
It is amazing the shift in American culture toward a more “green” existence. The prevalence of organics, GMO free products, and alternatives to high fructose corn syrup, validates conscious individuals and increased awareness of ingredients, health, and overall environment. As mentioned in the video, there are many lower income areas that are unaware and these “poverty” stricken areas due to “minimized costs” face high levels of obesity. You can’t turn the blind eye to one area and praise the next. There has to be some balance in society.
I was not expecting corn to be such a dominant ingredient in our food intake. The fact that high fructose corn syrup is used in bread and other foods that do not necessary need this corn based sweetener did really alarm me. I think that how we use corn in our diet needs to definitely be changed.
I'll admit that, at first, Michael Pollan's idea seemed insane to me, I would never really have considered grass in any way close to how he described it as a manipulative plant trying to take advantage of trees. However, him showing that plants are not as simple as we establish them to be (i.e. the whole gene comparison with rice and humans) did get me thinking.
The video about commodities market in Ethiopia shocked me when she stated that famine was caused by an inability to access food rather than a shortage of it.
I didn't realize how much of corn actually existed in our daily diets until I saw the videos. I went to pick up everything edible that was in my house and examined the ingredients. the MAJORITY of those items included, "High fructose corn". So it was true and had been true. I eat corn in the morning, drink a can of corn at noon, eat some more corn at night. My diet is essentially, corn. We usually view farmers to be the producers of organic healthy food products that are hauled over to union square and sold to the city's population. It surprises me that they also produce one of the worst substances that is evident in every meal we consume.
-Brian Tam
I sort of get from where Eleni Gabre is coming from in emphasizing the necessity for a structured national price index between producers and distributors, just as that being proposed in Sierra Leone in the diamond markets, this is useful not only in this situation but also in many countries where a great majority of national production is constituted by small producers. I believe this is the video that most makes sense out of all because it is true that farmers struggle in their supply not only in Ethiopa but in many Latin countries too. I don't see what the big problem with corn is, it is just a great example of agriculture at its best. Another one is Why would Curt Ellis want to work hard in a farm??? Its irrational!!!! What was he going to get from this???? He should be grateful that this type of technology exists and thanks to all these techs we can meet our own demand and distribute it efficiently.
Pedro
It is amazing how much "influence" corn has on our food. With that knowledge, I'm going down to my local McDonalds to order a Big Mac, large fries and a coke. When I recuperate from that meal, I'll go down to Dallas BBQ, get ribs and pour A1 Steaksauce all over them.
It's no secret that most of what we eat is garbage. After America became a consumer society, instead of an agricultural one, the overall population's ability to obtain relatively healthy food has been diminishment. Want proof? Go down to the grocery store and see the junk being sold shelves. I just hoped that corn will not become the scapegoat for the obesity problem in this country. I like corn. :)
All five of these videos were extremely informative, and I found that it was helpful to watch all of them in succession to understand the various effects of corn on the world. Corn is in everything; I was so surprised to find out that corn is even found in toothpaste! The idea that farmers are not growing food anymore also really shocked me and was very alarming. It is true that there has been a fundamental change in the picture of the typical American family farm- and this change is not a good one. The first of the TEDTalks was a bit farfetched at first, but I eventually came to see Pollan's point. The ideas that stuck out to me were those of our grammar, which suggests that we are sovereign over nature, and the idea of coevolutionary development. I found it especially insightful when he related his point about taking the perspective of another species to the fact that there is a "triumph of corn over good sense." In the last video, there was a real contrast between the surplus and domination of corn in the earlier talks and the problems Africa faces with farmers having to take on an extreme risk and limited market access. I hope that they are able to make this problem less of an issue without compromising the role and tasks of African farmers in the ways that American farming has been changed.
corn corn CORN! It's everywhere! The "King Corn" videos made me go to my kitchen and check every food label to see how much corn based products my family eats. It is mind-boggling that tomato juice and fruits and vegetables where some of the very few, non-corn based products that we have at home. Apparently I enjoy a bit of corn in my SODA and as Lisa mentioned, some sorbitol(corn based sweetner) in my chewing gum. It is interesting to think of how easily we've adapted to the added sweetner in the majority of our foods and how most people don't even realize it. Just because the corn isn't visible in what you eat, you don't realize the actual percentage of corn based ingredients used in your food. I think if the market makes a slight effort to produce healthier foods, the public will take notice and modify their diets.
In the Ethiopia video, Eleni Gabre-Madhin's example that in Ethiopia, almost 1 million people died of starvation not because of shortage of food, since there was a surplus, but because they could not access it. I find it astonishing that a country can have this necessity, yet not distribute it to the needy.
I did not know that corn was in so many product that we eat. That is really crazy. However, I did not like that it made Americans diet sweeter. One of the reason why this was crazy for me is because when i think of corn i think of the corn people eat.
I also i like the video on the way that the farmer use all his animals and nature to produce his food without any chemical. America should take a look at that.
Sean Dickenson
I heard about that some part of American's health problem is caused by Mcdonald's. But before watching the videos, I never know those food are made of corn. It's hard to image the relationship between soda and corn.Be honesty, I like how fast food taste like. Even though I know how bad those food affect on my health, I am still keeping eating them. Because it is cheap price, and it is fast.
Food produce by the permaculture way is a great idea. Yet, it is hard to perform because of the time period. It cannot produce huge quantity to offer the market since the population is keeping growing. The high cost also could be a problem.
I believe minimum cost to produce is necessary in order to satisfy the whole market. People make choices by different reason; price could be a good example, and taste could be another. It depends how people think and what they care.
I find it extremely fascinating that corn is in practically everything we eat. I always knew that corn was in a lot of food products that we ate,but when i thought of "high fructose corn syrup" i had a tendency to think of sweet foods, rather than bread, or pasta, or even toothpaste! Well i was definitely proven wrong. I think that corn being so easily accessible in America(for example, the tremendous amount of corn surplus that we saw in KING CORNs trailer)is not necessarily a BAD thing, but definitely not a great thing. I don't think it's a negative thing per say because the truth is "cheap" food is more accessible to the lower class in America ,who are might not have the money to shop at healthy, and more expensive places like WHOLE FOODS. Now saying that, I do think that the high rise of corn found in majority foods is a huge factor in the obesity epidemic in America. For example, fast food is cheap, easy to get, and basically everywhere you turn. If more people knew about high fructose corn syrup found in the amounts of food they consumed would they modify their diet? Or would people continue eating the foods they like, but may cause negative health consequences in the future?
Both TED videos really got me thinking. One thing in particular about what Eleni Gabre-Madhin said that really disturbed me was when she said there was a surplus of food in Ethiopia, but over 1 million people have died of starvation due to the fact that they did not have easy access to food. That to me is extremely sad. Her vision to create the first commodities market in Ethiopia would help enormously in feeding these needy people, and also aid in reducing deaths that should not have occurred in the first place. Knowing this information slightly makes me feel guilty that we as Americans are facing issues such as obesity, when people in places such as Ethiopia are struggling to survive. Didn't mean to sway off the topic of corn...
It is unbelivable that so much of our diet today is made up of corn. I would never think that much of what I am consuming on a daily basis are corn products, esspecially the corn syrup. I was under the impression that anything dealing with corn has to do with sugar, therefore i didn't begin to imagine that it is included not only in a pie or a brownie but also in the non sweet carbohydrates such as pasta or bread that are the staple of our diet.
Before watching this video I was never really aware of the idea of permaculture. Of coarse it is a nice thing to think about, saving the environment, and incorporating environmentally friendly techniques in our everyday lives. Still, the bitter truth is that most people will prefer practicallity and their comfort over the environment even after watching, and hearing numerous facts about the deterioration of our environment. However this idea of permaculture is a genious idea which as it seems has been overlooked for too long. I think it's the prefect solution where people dont have to give up anything and yet still be helpful the environment around us. This seems to be the intended way of living which may have even been used before our time and has now been overlooked with the blinding factors of technology and such. This idea leaves no room for excuses.
It is unbelievable to think a about the infinite end uses of corn. I never really paid much attention to all the ingredient labels that had corn as a main ingredient. For example, I 've both ate and drunk food products with corn syrup, but never really thought about the corn aspect of the syrup. I just knew it wasn't good for you. I always thought that anything vegetable based was good for you, I guess I was wrong. I also strongly agree that highly processed foods are always cheaper and more accessible. I'd like to be able to eat healthy and not spend an arm and a leg.
Tamara P.
While I'm not all too suprised about how poor the quality America's food products is for the masses -- America's a capitalist country (not that there's anything wrong with that) meaning that most times, we will go for whatever's the cheapest just to save on money -- But I can't help but feel suddenly aware of what I'm eating nowadays...
After taking a look at "zillion uses of corn" I have a new found respect for corn. It seems corn is our staple crop and we have a comparitive advandage in producing it. However, it is argued by many that HFCS is the number cause of obesity. If that is true, then we should make an effort to raise consumer awareness about the harmfull effects of HFCS. Only then would consumers' demand for HFCS products go down. Consequently, the market would correct itself by producing less of it.
Pollen's presentation about permaculture was really engaging. It really made me believe that we can extract all the good things from nature without actually harming it.
Eleni's idea of creating a comodities market in Ethiopia was simply outstanding. I would think it is a very difficult concept to create a comodities market in a developing nation but her idea actually seemed very simple. Also, her example of how the Chicago Board of Trade was formed made me believe that it is possible to implement this idea in all third-world countries that rely on agriculture.
Sajid
While I find it extremely interesting that corn is almost in everything we eat even in toothpaste. However, as stated before although it is almost is in everything the thing is that it has always been there. The thing is Americans are lazy, and on the go being a capitalist country and everyone wants something quick. Our diet comes down to what we choose to eat. Thus speaking, more natural foods rather than quick and cheap foods.
I also found the ted videos to be interesting. Though I find it depressing that they do have food in Ethiopia but they die because there is no access to it. Her vision of building a first commodities market is simply awe inspiring and would save a lot of lives.
- Anthony Eng
Unbelievable about HFCS. But with the amount of demand for these products at the moment it would be a huge struggle to meet the demand without using these methods. I think individuals need to be more aware and make strides towards upping the standard of their own nutrition by supporting organic farming and turning to more natural produce. It's expensive now but demand would bring the prices down and help save our environment too.
Anne-Marie
ferrari3478 is alan i forgot to sign my name
I too have been reading "high fructose corn syrup" in ingredient lists on everything I've eaten over the past few years. When I went to England, though, I noticed something interesting: fewer products seemed to have corn syrup.
About a week ago, the Baruch AMA chapter hosted a guest speaker: The Regional VP for Coca Cola. In his speech about personal branding, he mentioned how on nearly any point on Earth, you can be assured that a can of Coke will taste like a can of Coke. What's interesting, though, is that in the UK, plain old sugar is used in lieu of corn syrup. The use of cheaper sweeteners is largely an American phenomenon. Around Passover time, Coke bottles are sealed with another cap to label them as containing sugar instead of corn syrup.
I think the problem is less about the extreme use of corn syrup and more about the excessive amount of sugars, whether from cane or corn, that are present in the American diet. In Subway whole wheat bread, corn syrup is actually a MAJOR ingredient. Why do I need so much sugar in a lunch sandwich?
The reason corn is chosen is simple: it's easy to grow, it's easy to convert to other forms (fuel, etc.), and it's cheaper. Period. The health implications aren't THAT much worse than sugar- it's the liberal use of sweeteners that are the root of the problem.
America produces mountains of corn in order to make cheap and profitable high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is in countless products. This makes our entire diet sweeter than it used to be a generation ago. I don’t think this good, because I have heard from many people, especially those following a macrobiotic diet that too many sweet foods, or anything in excess for that matter is very unhealthy. A couple of years ago I actually stopped eating anything with high fructose corn syrup because I read some very informative articles about its serious health impacts.
Pollan claims that industrial agriculture bends species to our will. The farm that he spent time on had six species and each animal had a symbiotic relationship with one another. The farmer had only one hundred acres, yet there was massive food production. I thought that this example was an inspiring one for the salvation of the environment. We always seem to have a “getting” attitude instead of a “giving” one, and without the shift from the first to the second, we may be in big trouble.
The examples of corn in these videos, show that almost everyone in America shares a certain aspect of culture because most of us eat bread, sweets, ketchup, or junk food that contains corn products in it. I guess this makes corn a symbol of national unity. I cannot comment on the third video because it wouldn’t load properly.
Well, I didn’t know much about this “Corn Syrup Situation”. However, what really struck me as really odd was the fact that it was an ingredient of tooth paste! According to Wikipedia “There are indications that soda and sweetened drinks are the main source of calories in [the] American diet. Overconsumption of sugars has been linked to adverse health effects, and most of these effects are similar for HFCS and sucrose. There is a correlation between the rise of obesity in the U.S. and the use of HFCS for sweetening beverages and foods.”
It’s really astounding, the video, and the piles of corn it showed. And it really upsets me that healthy food less readily available (in terms of cost) to low income households. I also thought that it won’t be possible for people to rid themselves of this corn-filled diet. We have all become so busy that sometimes it is the easiest thing to do. We like garbage!
I think that there are so many emerging markets in Africa. But we, as an industrial society, face a dilemma. How should we help Africa? Should be worry about the poeple and focus on giving them food, clothes, and basic necessities. Should we help the farmers, give them tractors, so they may produce comodities and sell them at competitive prices, which the average African is not even able to afford, or should we give the government money, so that they may repair their infrastructure in hopes that they will govern their people in what we feel is an efficient way. There is no right or wrong answer but there is a lot of hesitation to the fear. Although helping Africa's commodities is a great idea not only for Africans but for the rest of the world, considering that our agriculture is on a steady increase, America is to selfish to do anything until it is necessary and there is not other choice. As harsh as this sounds, it is a reality that we are going to be forced to deal with. As our farms dry up and we lose the corn which we apparently need to survive, we will find a way to make it grow in Africa and that will get the ball running. This country is selfish and does not do anything to that extent unless it brings some direct benefit.
I think we could definitely prosper from Africa. But what i am more worried about is pushing them through industrialization. Industrialization all over the world has had horrible conditions but amazing consequence that was necessary for a country to grow. I believe that this being that case, if we help or push Africa to something like this, we would be seen as evil for allowing exploitations and human right violations even though every country has gone through it. Any way that America helps, there will be a negative which we will have to take the fall for and that fear is again causing the hesitation.
There was a comment that was made in the second corn video that I found interesting. He said that before obesity was seen more in rich people, but now its seen as a stable of the working class. I didn't realize that until now, among other things. Corn is in toothpaste? Unbelievable. Even the people growing our food think that its crap. That says alot.
Seeing these videos has made me make more of a concious effort to try to avoid the numerous kinds of food that have corn. The guy even showed how hard that could be.
I am not surprised by this fact. I immigrated to the US from Israel and i happen to think that there is something very disturbing and different in the process of food production in the US. I learned many things about the chemicals that added in the food which millions of people consume every day. I understand that in order to maintain such large society we have to fasten the production but eventually there will be a cost for that.I would like to see more from this documentary, it is amazing how we do not think about corn when we talk about products that we purchase in the supermarket.
Nina Dekel
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