The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Chapter 1: How Corn Took Over America
Summary: Corn has one of the biggest impacts on the food industry. Corn is basically used in everything we eat, drink, and even used in the buildings we live in. When it come to food Corn is the number 1 product that is used. Food companies like to cover it with names like glucose syrup, lactic acid, and carmel but at the end of the day it really means CORN.
Gems: "Corn is what feeds the steer that becomes steak. Corn feeds the chicken and the pig. Corn feeds the catfish raised in the fish farm. Corn-fed chickens laid eggs. Corn feeds the dairy cows that produce the milk, cheese, and ice cream." pg. 10
I never realized that corn was such a big component in food, usually I never read the back of a package for ingredients but whenever I do i always see high fructose corn syrup, and caramel color, etc. While reading this chapter what really surprised me was how corn originated in central america and then spread to America and became such a big thing. This shows the untold truth about food and how its made and how one vegetable can be the main ingredient in the food we eat on a daily bases.
Chapter 2: The Farm
Summary: When Corn came on the seed it knocked most animals, fruits , and other vegetables down the food chain. At this point and time the only two important vegetables are corn and soybeans. Even though corn is corn there is a special type of corn called hybrid corn which grows a thicker stalk and stronger roots. With regular corn you can plant eight thousand acre's but with hybrid corn you can grow thirty thousand acre's. Which shows that corn is such a dominant vegetable when it comes to discussing food.
Gems: Today the seed companies have taken things a step further. Genetically modified corn seed which promises even higher yields than hybrid seed.
What I don't seem to understand is why corn is important why not carrots, tomato, or peers. What about corn gives it that edge above other vegetables to the point where farmers are mass producing corn with different scientific methods
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