iffb 6 : KING CORN

site | trailer | iffbA great documentary that focuses on the U.S. corn crop as a gateway to exploring issues of family farming, economics, and health in America today.

Curt and Ian, two best friends just out of college, are struck by a surprising statistic—theirs is the first generation expected to live lives shorter than those of their parents. That was actually news to me. The pair do a little research and consultation and discover that diet may be the greatest contributor to the fulfillment of this prophecy. When they are told that, as 20somethings born and raised in the U.S., most of the food they've consumed over the course of their lives is actually made from corn (processed and used in other foods and used to fatten cornfed livestock), they decide to follow the corn. They start at the beginning, picking up and moving to Iowa to plant themselves one acre of corn, then learn how it ends up in almost every food available at the local supermarket and each sandwich, french fry, and cola of every fast food value meal. As they move forward over the next year, meeting with farmers, academics, researchers, and corporate reps, they learn about the history of corn and U.S. agriculature, corn and food processing, government subsidization and surplus/over-production of corn, and the ubiquitous presence of corn in the American diet.

It's kinda crazy.

At the same time, both 1-acre farmers learn that they have farming roots themselves, some three generations back, and they discover the parts that they're great-grands played in Iowa agriculture and industry.

The film doesn't explicitly tackle the Big Agro names you may already be familiar with, such as Monsanto and Cargill. Instead, they keep the film focused at a smaller scale, at the scope of a individuals and communities, those closely involved with the planting, harvesting, and ultimate uses of modern corn in the U.S. today. It's not a joyful journey, and not very rewarding for either the farmer or the consumer.

If you see the film listed at your local artsy/indie theater, check it out, particularly if most of your life experience has been spent in urban environments, away from farmland and agriculture. It's a very interesting look into that world, just a few state lines away. If you're up for it, I urge you to put this in your Netflix queue right next to FUTURE OF FOOD. They would make for a helluvan eye-opener documentary double feature about the social, economic, and biological dangers inherent in the intersection of agriculture, technology, and big business in the world today.

In the Q&A w filmmakers 1-acre farmer Curt Ellis and director Aaron Woolf following the screening, the question came up of where the blame/responsibility lies for America's dependence on this one crop for affordable, yet unhealthy, food for the growing population. Some audience members pointed to the corporations who manipulate the genetics, politics, and economics surrounding the crop, but Curt waved his hand across the audience and said that we all, as consumers and voters, carry some of that responsibility as well. This year, the so-called "Farm Bill" is up for renewal. It pertains to the government subsidization and regulation of farming in the U.S., important mechanisms in manipulating production and market price of foods in America. I think I vaguely recall seeing it in the news (or even on a ballot of some kind?) some years ago, but not paying it much attention. The director quoted someone and said that it should really be renamed the "Food Bill," because that's really what it's about, and urban and suburbanites would be less likely to dismiss the matter as something relevant only to the midwest farmers. I know I'll pay some more attention.

Some *SPOILER* info that comes to light in the documentary. Data, really. Nothing, honestly, that will ruin the sharing of the experience of these novice farmers, or the film as a whole....

The corn that is most profitable for farmer to grow today has been bred and engineered for very specific purposes and high yield. The government pays the famer to plant, which allows market prices to be kept artificially low. And when the boys taste-test their portion of a record-breaking quantity crop, they find it inedible. What they are growing is a raw material, industrially comparable, really, to something extracted from a mine. As a result, farmers today do not raise any food for themselves. Farms used to be best run by balancing animal husbandry and agricultural practices, but with modern sciences applied to maximizing harvest yields, artificial nutrients and treatments prove far more efficient to nature's materials. Most farms in Iowa today only grow corn, and exclude the raising of livestock altogether.

Keep on keepin on~