We Are What We Eat
People say "we are what we eat" - and if that holds true, we'd be adequately described as living embodiments of "corn."
Decedents of the Maya living in Mexico still sometimes refer to themselves at "the corn people," due to their heavy consumption of tortillas. Though, that title may be a misnomer - examining levels of carbon 13 within the body (since corn takes in more carbon 13 than any other C-3 plant) - Americans would beat out Mexicans as the leading consumers of corn. In fact, the average American consumes 1,500 pounds of corn a year (that's 4 pounds a day!)
Corn is in everything we eat: most famously chicken, beef, soda, and candy. However, corn has been known to be present in tea, sauces, cookies, chips, cosmetics, paper, paint/varnish, pharmaceuticals, toothpaste, beer, and whiskey - amongst many other things...
Corn - > Chicken (56% corn)
Corn - > Cows (52% corn)
Corn - > Cows - > Milk - > Cheese
Corn - > High-Fructose Corn Syrup - > Soda (100% corn)
Corn - > High-Fructose Corn Syrup - > Candy (100% corn)
Interestingly, speaking with meat processing analysts, they often refer to chicken as "corn with wings" and to beef as "corn with legs." After all, 60% of the corn produced in the US goes to feed livestock. Well, if chicken is "corn with wings," and beef is "corn with legs," I wonder what that makes us - "corn with heads," or better yet, "corn with ears"?? Well, corn already has ears (figuratively speaking, of course) ; )
Corn is a big part of our past (Pilgrims switched from wheat to corn, because of its versatility for growing in virtually every climate in the US) and corn already looks to be a big part of our future... which prompts for an interesting food for fuel discussion.
Thanks to a government sponsored tax break, more than 25% of American corn will be turned into ethanol, thus diverting from other uses (mainly animal feed) - this will displace less than 2% of oil consumption. Chickens (corn with wings) will also play a role in this discussion - there are already plans to mix chicken fat with diesel to create bio-diesel and high-grade jet fuel; plus, chicken feathers will soon be transformed into bio-plastics (2010/11 and beyond).
Either way, corn is an integral part of the world we life in. I guess we could say corn fuels human beings just like oil fuels machinery. So, I guess next time you refer to someone as "cheesy," the word "corny" is probably just as apropos (for you as well)... ; )
Decedents of the Maya living in Mexico still sometimes refer to themselves at "the corn people," due to their heavy consumption of tortillas. Though, that title may be a misnomer - examining levels of carbon 13 within the body (since corn takes in more carbon 13 than any other C-3 plant) - Americans would beat out Mexicans as the leading consumers of corn. In fact, the average American consumes 1,500 pounds of corn a year (that's 4 pounds a day!)
Corn is in everything we eat: most famously chicken, beef, soda, and candy. However, corn has been known to be present in tea, sauces, cookies, chips, cosmetics, paper, paint/varnish, pharmaceuticals, toothpaste, beer, and whiskey - amongst many other things...
Corn - > Chicken (56% corn)
Corn - > Cows (52% corn)
Corn - > Cows - > Milk - > Cheese
Corn - > High-Fructose Corn Syrup - > Soda (100% corn)
Corn - > High-Fructose Corn Syrup - > Candy (100% corn)
Interestingly, speaking with meat processing analysts, they often refer to chicken as "corn with wings" and to beef as "corn with legs." After all, 60% of the corn produced in the US goes to feed livestock. Well, if chicken is "corn with wings," and beef is "corn with legs," I wonder what that makes us - "corn with heads," or better yet, "corn with ears"?? Well, corn already has ears (figuratively speaking, of course) ; )
Corn is a big part of our past (Pilgrims switched from wheat to corn, because of its versatility for growing in virtually every climate in the US) and corn already looks to be a big part of our future... which prompts for an interesting food for fuel discussion.
Thanks to a government sponsored tax break, more than 25% of American corn will be turned into ethanol, thus diverting from other uses (mainly animal feed) - this will displace less than 2% of oil consumption. Chickens (corn with wings) will also play a role in this discussion - there are already plans to mix chicken fat with diesel to create bio-diesel and high-grade jet fuel; plus, chicken feathers will soon be transformed into bio-plastics (2010/11 and beyond).
Either way, corn is an integral part of the world we life in. I guess we could say corn fuels human beings just like oil fuels machinery. So, I guess next time you refer to someone as "cheesy," the word "corny" is probably just as apropos (for you as well)... ; )
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