King Corn Documentary Airs on PBS April 15

Folks that are not allergic or intolerant to corn haven’t got a clue as to why or how this grain is such a time-consuming nuisance for its avoiders. The growing minority of people afflicted and those that care for them are painfully aware every time they go to the store in search of a liquid soap, bottle of shampoo, piece of fresh fruit, bag of potato chips, or powder for their baby’s bum. We have our own mantra. We hum it while we shop, a Bruce Springsteen tune with our own lyrics:

Corn. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing….. I’ll say it again…..

But in the eyes of the rest of the world the answer is EVERYTHING, according to Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis’s new documentary, King Corn.

“I first found corn when, like the plant itself, I moved from my home in Mexico to Iowa sixteen years ago, to study film. I loved the Iowa landscape, and would ride my motorcycle through the fields, implausibly comforted by the notion that if I crashed, I would somehow be safe in those green rows. During those long rides, it never occurred to me that those plants would someday be the focus of a film that I would make, or that there was trouble in the garden,” says Aaron Woolf, the film’s director in a press release featured on the King Corn website.

He continues,

“But long before I studied in Iowa, fundamental alterations had been made to the corn plant, and to the role it would play in our food system. Even if I had thought to look more deeply into the effects this evolving corn culture had on our society, it would have been too soon to see. Many of the consequences of what we had done to corn and to corn policy were as yet unknown. The first corn hybrids were crafted by farmers in humble awe of the possibilities of the plant, and when corn subsidies were altered in the early seventies, the nation still struggled with widespread hunger. But bad outcomes can come from well-intentioned actions. In reality, those efforts laid the groundwork for the current problems that come from having too much food, at too low a quality. Yes, food is cheaper now, but we are only beginning to understand the full cost that cheapness demands from our environment, our health, and our social fabric.”

Check your local listings for exact premiere date and time in your area at: Independent Lens Broadcast, and set your TIVO box to record!

If you’ve missed the opportunity in your area, do consider sending for a DVD!

And read an online after-the-show chat with the creators through the Washington Post!

or this engaging article from U.S. News !

For more information about the pitfalls of ethanol production, read: “What’s For Dinner?” by Organic Consumers.com.

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Caryn Talty

The editor of this website has a master's degree in English from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor of science degree in special education. She has taught students from early elementary school through college freshman level. Today she enjoys reading and writing about both hot topics and those not so commonly discussed on other websites. Most of her days are spent playing all kinds of make-believe with her three very young and active sons. | All articles by Caryn Talty.

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