King Corn

I saw a movie yesterday called "King Corn". It was a docudrama that followed the planting, spraying and harvesting of one acre of corn. It was also concerned with where that corn ended up. A docudrama is a dramatized version of a documentary. While the people in the movie were the real people, they were not necessarily filmed at the time that events were happening. Like the old song says...'it ain't necessarily so'. To be fair 'it ain't necessarily Not so' either. Let's just say there is room for providing for a particular point of view in a docudrama.

That being said...it was a pretty complete movie. The two young guys were intent on their premise. To follow an acre of corn from the beginning, before the seed was even planted, to the end, where it would end up. I expected to find glaring inconsistencies in the movie. The two people had never even been on a farm in their life, and had not even a beginning of an idea of farming or farm life. They were willing to learn, however. It appeared that they were respectful to all the people involved in their project. That is a definite plus. In my own life, I can remember not being particularly respectful of persons (older of course) that didn't share the view I had determined was correct. I applaud them in that.

Was it balanced? No, but then hardly anything ever is. Did it provide hard scientific proof... no, it did not. It did however raise a lot of questions. In this day and age asking questions is sometimes considered wrong. The 'establishment' (and that changes from time to time), does not like questions.

I think the questions need to be asked. I believe that the questions need to be answered. I feel that they need to be considered seriously and answered seriously. No name calling, no snotty disregard for the questioner allowed. It does not necessarily mean that someone does not share your point of view just because they are questioning that point of view. Defensiveness causes people to want to disregard your answers. And in the case of "King Corn" the questions raised need answers. The one question I want answered especially is "Is Cheap food worth the cost?" And yes, corn is cheap food, IMNSHO.

I believe that Cheap food has contributed to many of the things that have gone wrong in America today. There are way too many overweight people in this country. I believe this can be attributed to 'cheap' calories, starch in the diet. I have noticed that the people who seem to have the least wherewithal are the people with the biggest problem with obesity. I will admit that I have not done the research to prove my point of view. It is an observation, I have made. Obesity alone is the cause of a whole plethora of other problems. Knee and joint problems, diabetes, and heart problems to name a few. There are more as well.

I think that the movie raises legitimate questions and deserves real answers. I farmed for over 30 years. I like planting and producing crops, corn included. I felt the movie was doing it's job pretty well.

It is food for thought.