MovieChat Forums > King Corn (2009) Discussion > The Aztecs ate a lot of corn.

The Aztecs ate a lot of corn.

posted 14 years ago by skaz21
5 replies | jump to latest

So did the Mayans, the Incas, and pretty much all of the ancient Mesoamerican cultures. Corn is still a staple food in Mexico today. They eat a lot of corn in Europe as well.

Not exactly sure what this documentary is trying to prove here. Whether we are supposed to demonize corn? Government corn subsidies are bad? Corn syrup make you fat?

Do we need a documentary to tell us this?

Not everyone is ingesting copious amounts of corn syrup every day. There are people that choose not to eat processed foods.

This documentary really doesn't make any sense to me, why it was made and exactly what it is trying to convey to the audience.

Just leaves me scratching my head.

[–] MisterVictor 14 years ago

Methinks you didn't watch the documentary. The type of corn that dominates US agriculture is a breed that is very different than the ones that Meso-American culture used to grow. It produces high amounts of cornstarch and low amounts of protein for use in more efficient HFCS production.

"Not everyone is ingesting copious amounts of corn syrup every day."

FACT: Americans, on average, consume anywhere from 45 to 60 pounds of the syrup a year.

I call 45-60 pounds 'copious amounts'.

The documentary is not trying to demonize corn, government subsidies or anything else. It was just trying to shed light on how and why corn dominates US agriculture and every Americans' diet.

[–] Deej1188 14 years ago

Yeah buddy. They type of corn that is being subsidized and overgrown isn't sweet corn that you love to eat at the dinner table.

The message wasn't to demonize corn. It really showed the dilemma from all angles. The government used to pay farmers to not grow (they still do) crops. Now they pay them to overproduce these cash crops. The American tax payer foots the bill to ensure that these surpluses do not play by the rules of supply and demand. Everyone in the documentary knew this. I especially liked it because all the farmers knew the system didn't quite make sense.

Not EVERYONE...but most people are. My family gets most of our produce from farmers markets and our garden. However, the cost is much higher. We still get meat from grocery stores because grass fed ground beef can be as high as 9 dollars a pound from organic farms.

If you think you're not eating processed food, it'll be a shock when you find out just how much processed food you really do it.

[–] karsultimate 11 years ago

Then why not cut meat out more? That way you may not have to deal with yours being grain-fed.

There's a slogan written here. 'Happiness Will Walk Away'...

[–] nrangerseven 10 years ago

ugh...clearly you didn't watch the film either...

It's not just the meat. Nearly EVERYTHING you find in a US grocery store has corn by-products in it. If it's not corn fed beef, it's corn syrup or corn meal. Even the beer was advertised as having Iowa corn in it. It's very difficult to avoid corn in the US - which anyone with a corn allergy knows. Don't be snotty unless you truly expect us to start drinking only tap water and eating only plain fruits and vegetables. Ridiculous...

The other point you obviously missed is that the corn subsidies made food cheaper. Years ago Americans spent most of their pay on food. Now it's only about 15% of our paycheck. Because it's cheap, it's everywhere. And not everyone can afford to pick and choose more expensive foods like grass fed beef. Poor people choose processed foods because it's much cheaper and also easier to carry when you have to walk to the store.

The people you idolize wouldn't like you.

[–] altanic 14 years ago

rtfm... err, I guess here it's wtfm

they really didn't do too much unfair demonizing. (maybe a bit but I happen to agree with those bits) They really didn't point any fingers, they just documented what happens with corn as they tried to trace their acre's worth of corn.