Maize: Stacking the Deck

Had this been a competition with some prize riding on it, I believe all of us challenged to avoid corn or corn derivatives in our diet would have reason to complain. Our lives are simply inundated by corn. In some ways, I can see this as a blessing. Corn is simply incredible in its versatility. However, to be challenged to avoid for a week is quite separate from a blessing, much like it must be to have a corn allergy. Eating in America without consuming corn or its derivatives is something akin to trying to drive a pickup that has no metal in it. I left class last Tuesday not having eaten anything and proceeded to run straight into my first dilemma. I went to Subway to have a sandwich. Not having seen the list I started with the assumption that high fructose corn syrup is everywhere today. I knew I could not have any dressing on my sandwich, and those who know know that a sandwich needs something for lubrication. I then wondered if the bread might not have been sweetened with some amount of the corn syrup. My calculations were later confirmed... The difficulty it seems is that I simply have no say in the way that so many of the processed goods that are a staple part of my diet are made. I suppose if corn is subsidized and can be used in so many ways, it will be.

If I were to break down my diet, it would consist of meat proteins, whatever vegetable or fruit produce can be gathered at a market, carbohydrates in the form of starches in potatoes and pasta or couscous, fats and oils (for cooking and from animal proteins), rice, limited dairy, and then just junk. Now junk is really any condiment ever made, the clearly processed crud that are snacks/drinks etc, even juices more than likely are largely junk. So, the surprising challenge is I can eat the animal proteins (mainly chicken I suppose) and the produce (excluding corn) avoiding the dreaded maize because I assume that none should be added to these things in their processing. Then again, the animals I eat were fed corn, so including myself in the food chain, that would have to be excluded. I am not even entirely sure what it is the pastas I buy. Anything with even a hint of sweetness is suspect because corn syrup is cheaper than sugar. Sugar, the thing that had us oppressing millions for centuries to provide us with stimulant, and we have supplanted with another plant that is so processed that it can hardly be considered a plant anymore. I feel powerless. I have no say in where the things I eat come from because I do not grow them, and the dollar dictates what should be put into them. The dollars it costs to make them. The dollars we spend to buy them.

I do not want food to be so thoroughly run through a system to reach me, but it happened before I was born. I know that no food would reach me without the system. I know not enough Americans farm for everyone to go buy what has been grown within 50 to 100 miles. What was most frightening is that corn is not only the food but the means for conveying the food-- the plastic, the spark plugs in the trucks that move it, even the fuel sometimes. The vitality of our food is lost in the confusing maize *cough cough* constructed that is so effective our evading our eyesight while stuffing our mouths. Corn is a fine plant that evokes seasonal senses and memories, but what has happened when we have forgotten that seasonal cooking was once the only cooking? If it grew naturally in winter, you were thankful and ate it. Knowing that not much did, people canned vegetables like my grandmother still does for the winter. I used to think that was so silly considering I could always go the market and grab whatever I wanted year round. I question how is anything special or a treat if it is always there, always mediocre like our tomatoes? Then I question, how have we lost the idea of everything in moderation so thoroughly? Corn can be everywhere all the time, but should it be?