Counting Species: Are You Sure it Isn't Corn?

Corn—the most common species in all North American foods. If you have watched the documentary film by Robert Kenner, Food Inc., you might remember the list of products that are manufactured from corn that the documentary provides to the viewer; including: syrup, condiments, pop, diapers, margarine, batteries, and fast food. Therefore, if corn is in so many things, one may conclude that vast amounts of corn must be produced every year to maintain not only the North American diet, but also an increasing dependence for corn in other markets. Essentially, corn has become a crucial raw material that governments’ subsidize, because it is so instrumental in the industrial manufacturing system.

Moreover, corn is a crop that has been genetically altered by engineers in order to establish efficiency in its production. Most of the corn grown in North America is genetically modified (GM); however, the Government of Canada does not require food companies to label products that contain GM ingredients. As citizens, we deserve to know what is in our food. This is an issue of social justice. What enters our bodies matters, and contributes intrinsically to our health. Thus, if we want a population that is engaged and active in all realms of society, we need to demand more information about the food we consume. If you are looking to learn more about GM crops, a great video made by Greenpeace is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H9WZGKQeYg

 So, corn can be found in almost anything nowadays. Let’s bring this fact a little closer to home, and investigate how much corn is in an average North American favourite meal, the burger. I decided to take my curiosity to the Grad Lounge here on campus, for burger and beer night—which is every Monday, by the way, for only six dollars. My burger consisted of a bun, a beef patty, tomato, lettuce, onion, ketchup, mayonnaise, BBQ Sauce, and a side of potato fries.

The Grad Lounge usually sources much of their produce and meat locally; however, on burger and beer night, because of the number of people dining at such a low cost, the Lounge serves general, industrial packaged beef patties. Thus, the customer can expect to be eating corn-fed beef, along with the corn derivative products ketchup, mayonnaise, and BBQ sauce. Analyizing my meal even further would reveal that I ate more species than this list of nine products; yet, we rarely examine (or dare to look) at the ingredients that our food contains. I would argue that even though ingredient lists are long, and often diverse in their appearance, this does not translate into a variety of species. In fact, it may mean the exact opposite. A challenge to all you food-ies, next time you see a convoluted ingredients label—look up what those ingredients are derived from, it may just catch you by surprise.

If you want to experience corn in it’s natural form, try popping the kernels over the stove top. It’s incredibly satisfying, well, more satisfying than letting the microwave do it. Put enough kernels to coat the bottom of a saucepan, add a bit of butter/oil, turn up to medium heat, and once you hear the first kernel pop—start shaking the saucepan over the heat, and hear the magic of your popcorn coming to life.