Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Baking mixes. Cheese. Peanut butter. Toothpaste. Vitamins. Adhesive. What do all these items have in common? Potentially, corn.
And that’s just the beginning of the types of items people like Jenny Connors, a corn allergy sufferer, have to avoid every day. On her Web site, www.cornallergens.com, she lists close to 200 corn-derived ingredients that she and other allergy sufferers must avoid. The list ranges from simpler items to avoid, like hominy, to ingredients such as corn starch and citric acid, which show up in thousands of food and non-food items.
Corn allergy sufferers are the canaries in the mine of the Western diet. Their search to find the few foods that don’t include corn signals huge trouble: that we’re slowly narrowing our diet down to a handful of ingredients.
Why is corn one of them? It’s definitely not because it’s overloaded with every nutrient needed to sustain a healthy human being. Corn is good for some energy, some fiber, a little bit of vitamins and not much else. It’s no super food.
But corn is the chosen one because it’s fast and easy. As Michael Pollan puts it in his book “In Defense of Food,” corn is one of “nature’s most efficient transformers of sunlight and chemical fertilizer into carbohydrate energy.” Basically, if you want the maximum number of calories per acre, corn’s your crop.
And calories equal cash. Corn pays, thanks to government subsidies and a food culture demanding large quantities of it to sweeten its soft drinks and thicken its gravy.
So if you want to survive as a farmer, you’re stuck feeding the corn system. Corn keeps corn on the table.
So now we’re in a vicious cycle. Corn’s in everything because it’s readily available, and it’s readily available because the system demands it for every product and will consistently shell out money for it.
Americans are quickly becoming cattle in feedlots. Meat producers have switched cows’ diets from their normal grassy fare, one that provided cows naturally with nutrients like omega-3s, to corn and soy.
The new diet provides the maximum number of calories as quickly as possible so they can turn cows into hamburgers as fast as possible. Nutrition compromised for cheap and fast — the name of the Western diet game.
Likewise, Americans are unknowingly narrowing down to a corn-driven diet thanks to ever-present processed foods that are, of course, cheap and fast. And it’s having the same effect on us as it does on cattle — lots of nutritionally deficient calories to help us “grow.”
We’ve got to stop letting cheap and fast dictate one of the basic needs of human existence. Staying alive is the primary concern of every individual, and eating is how we do it. As Pollan suggests, if we don’t start paying attention to what we eat, we will continue to be a paradox: an undernourished culture consuming an overabundance of food. We need to live like a corn allergy sufferer — we need to know exactly what we’re eating, and we need to adapt our diets accordingly.
Food diversity is the key to thriving rather than merely surviving. To butcher an old saying, “man cannot live by corn alone.”
So is corn really benefiting you? Or are you just benefiting the corn system?
— — McConnell is a Dallas junior in English.
Katz: A subsidized sickness
The price of cheap food ultimately adds up.
McConnell: Consuming weapons of mass construction
McConnell: Pristine produce raises concerns
Vegetables without signs of rot may hide darker secrets.
Selecting foods that are cost- and health-effective
March is Nutrition Month and this year's theme is "Eat Right with ...
McCoy: The reason fad diets fade
Popular weight loss plans don't always stand for effectiveness.
McCoy: College students can learn to eat ...
When grocery shopping, start with fresh foods and be wary of misleading ...
Letter: How high fructose corn syrup may ...
Kenny: Subsidies hurt Kansas farms, environment
The financial assistance causes unnecessary waste, among other things.
McConnell: For students with allergies, peanuts scare ...
The recent salmonella scare gives insight into the lives of peanuts allergy ...
Udder confusion
McConnell: What’s greener than reusable bags
Local Burger featured on Sundance
Doctors in the a new spin-off documentary called "Localize Me," will examine ...
Make over your breakfast
Blog: Green my guy
Are you really getting what you paid for in the grocery store?
McConnell: Increasing obesity — in moderation
McConnell: When breast isn't the best
McCoy: Personal health means smart choices
Americans need to stop using a scapegoat for their poor heath.
McConnell: Kansans entitled to know what’s floating ...
People should know if their milk contains bovine growth hormone.
Nothing perfectly sweet
Get the scoop on the high-fructose corn syrup that’s in your sugary ...
Durbin: Fast food is only convenient in ...
It’s easy to go on a burger, pizza or taco run, but ...
What's in a label?
Finding the accuracy in “healthy” food labels.
McConnell: Why the U.S. meat industry hasn’t ...
Cancer prevention 101
A new study shows developing positive habits in college may lead to ...
Gluten-free, way to be
Gluten intolerance can be life-changing but should not go undiagnosed.
Fast food remains popular, yet unhealthy
A recent survey found that most Americans prefer fast food for its ...
McCoy: Take advantage of local produce
With the rise of super-stores taking over America, Lawrencians shouldn't forget the ...
Shake it up before you go-go
Being sick, tired and stressed is no way to spend Fall Break. ...
McConnell: Fish-eaters should stay alert
Is that salmon on your plate a delicious menu item, or an ...
Students with food allergies exercise caution on ...
When eating at dining halls, it can be difficult to tell what ...
goodforyou/badforyou
Splenda is an avoidable artificial sweetener
Campus calories no longer a mystery
KU Dining Services offers NetNutrition, a nutrition calendar, online.
A fast fix
McCoy: Is honesty really the best policy?
Calorie labeling makes the bliss of a burger, the problem of obesity ...
McCoy: Calorie postings may not be best ...
The days of blissful ignorance of what exactly it means to "supersize" ...
Kenny: Buyers trust shaky science when making ...
Too often, diet tips are motivated by profit, not by health concerns.
New Better Bites campaign caters to federal ...
Is your drink making you fat?
Keith: What happens when we cut the ...
Brain fart: One cow emits 240 liters of methane daily. Are you ...
Editorial: Tips for a healthy body, longer ...
A poor diet may not only cause obesity, but it can also ...
Gross: Living gluten-free poses big problems for ...
Misconceptions about gluten-intolerance add to the challenges of those with celiac disease.
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
KUnited presidential candidate Libby Johnson and vice presidential ...
1 comment
Comments
McConnell: How corn infiltrated the entire food chain
My daughter was diagnosed with a corn allergy after suffering 6 years with a diagnosis of "fibromyalgia". She is now graduating college and doing pretty well. I was diagnosed 2 years ago and with that diagnosis came a 65 lb. weight loss. Interesting what corn will do to people.
McConnell: How corn infiltrated the entire food chain
so does Jenny not use toothpaste?
McConnell: How corn infiltrated the entire food chain
I was told when I was young that I was allergic to corn...that might explain why my allergies are always going nuts and I always feel like crap in general.
McConnell: How corn infiltrated the entire food chain
Dear Missmia, Jenny and other people who are intolerant of corn have to find a toothpaste that is corn-free such as Tom's Orange Mango for children.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID