King Corn Movie Review.
Discussion Question:
One of my favorite documentaries isKing Cornsince it focuses on how corn has become such a significant part of the American diet, especially high fructose corn syrup. It also discusses how farming has changed and changed how and what we eat. And it does it in a very entertaining way!
Watch the movie here:
Write a 500 word movie review ofKing Cornfrom the perspective of an environmental health specialist.
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King Corn is a documentary about two friends who decide to drop everything and go to Iowa to grow one acre of corn. Their eyes are soon opened to how the farming industry has changed since their great grandparents were in the profession. They also find out how the subsidized corn crop drives our fast-food nation.
In King Corn, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, are best friends fromcollegeand both grew up on the east coast. After finding out they are made out of corn, due to the large amount of corn in the food industry, they move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow the worlds most used grain on one acre of Iowa soil. When it comes time to harvest the crop the friends are faced with the decision of what to do with their acre of corn. In order to figure out what to do with their corn they try to follow where their pile of corn will end up in the food system. What they find raises troubling questions about how we eat and how we farm.
The most troubling news to me was about how cattle were never meant to be fed diets based largely on corn and by eating a diet heavy in corn the cattle will not survive much past their slaughter date. By consuming a corn based diet the cattle end up producing more stomach acid which leads to the cattle developing ulcers. These cattle are farmed strictly as a food source so letting them roam in the fields doesn’t happen in fear they will not reach slaughter weight in a timely manner if they are getting exercise. These large cattle farms of CAFO’s produce a large amount of waste which is concerning for the environment. The meat that is produced from the grain fed cattle is also much higher in fat, saturated fat at that, than the grass fed counterparts. An explanation given to the friends as to why cattle are still grain fed is answered by a farmer stating that it is simply what the population prefers and wants. I for one strongly prefer grass fed beef. It is the only beef I buy and I buy it from a local farmer who has a stand each week at the farmers market. I understand that it is more expensive than your typical grain fed beef, but to me the health benefits outweigh the cost of the beef.
The film was extremely educational and eye opening. The interviews with the many different farmers were shocking. It was shocking to hear the farmers say they would not eat their own crop, stating that they are simply growing what is going to sell not necessarily what is good to eat. As a health professional it is concerning to me that corn is being used in almost every processed food you pick up. There needs to be a change made for health and environmental reasons. The environment is suffering from the large fields which use pesticides; the CAFO’s that produce and release large amounts of waste and the toxins produced while processing the corn into a number of products. This documentary points out the major flaws in the food industry today that need to be changed for the sake of health, both of the population and the environment.