Photo by Bop Nichols

When I drive across country from the east coast to the mid west, I can't help but notice the amount of corn being grown. Of course this is during the growing season. In some areas corn is the only crop you see. I remember when I was in a little motel in Indiana and switched on the TV, just in time to catch a commercial for the state of Indiana. A voice boomed out at me yelling "we ain't just corn". I think that says it all. Indiana has two major crops, one is corn and the second is soy beans. The fields of corn in Indiana seemed endless as I drove past them. I happen to love corn but some old timers that immigrated here from other parts of the world have disdain for it. An old German fellow I know was asked if he would like a little corn with his dinner to which he replied that corn was animal feed. I was looking over the crop ranking for 1997 and corn was a solid number one with soy beans a weak second. There is so much corn being grown in this country that it should be the cheapest veritable out there.

Photo by Keith Weller

As I said I like corn, but I liked it the way it was naturally. Today corn is being genetically enhanced. This is being done to increase the strength of the stalks so the corn has a better survivability rate and to make the corn better resistant to pests but there are also other corn hybrids out there. A lot of people are against these hybrids and many fear them. The reason for this is that they feel that the genetically altered corn may have harmful effects on people. Europe has halted importing genetically altered corn from the US. The reason they stated was that it could harm Monarch butterflies. A study had been published in a scientific magazine showing that this was possible.

There is something funny about genetically altered corn, or any genetically altered crop. Once planted, it can spread traits to other plants in the vicinity. Since this is wind and insect borne, it would seem to me that this is almost impossible to prevent. I am willing to wager that if any country goes to genetically altered crops, it is only a matter of time before the entire world will be effected by this move. The British government stated that they were afraid of our corn because it contained a gene that is resistant to antibiotics and thus poses a risk to people that need to be treated with antibiotics.

Photo by Peggy Greb (I hid identity)

Since the pilgrims came to this country and tasted their first kernel of corn, probably at the first Thanksgiving feast with their indian friends, corn has been one of the most popular foods in the U.S. But corn has many other uses. Lets look at some of the items that corn is used in. Corn is in glues, aluminum, penicillin, asbestos, aspirin and on and on and on. As a matter of fact, corn is in over 10,000 items in a supermarket. You can almost say it is in everything in one way or another. The automobile uses corn in cylinder heads, its in the windshield washer fluid as ethanol, its used to manufacture spark plugs, tires and synthetic rubber. Some dyes contain corn byproducts as do firecrackers, rugs, paper plates, livestock feed, leather tanning, latex paint and Gypsum wallboard, just to mention a few items. As many of us already know ethanol derived from corn is being added to gasoline in some areas as auto fuel. The corn plant is truly amazing.

Photo By BruceFritz (I hid identity)

When the indians grew corn they grew white, blue, yellow and red corn. The people in the northeast woodlands would dry corn for the winter months. This corn could be made into a food know as hominy. To cook it, they would stir fry it over a fire. They used corn meal to make their bread. A corn pudding was made along with corn syrup. A corn dessert was made by boiling maple syrup with corn meal. Europeans had no knowledge of corn before the indians introduced it to them.

Think you know a lot about corn? You can take the corn quiz here: http://www.ontariocorn.org/classroom/quiz.html