By: Abby Coven

News Editor

Around the holidays, it’s customary to enjoy dishes like cornbread, corn pudding, and corn casserole. While prominent in these recipes, corn is an ingredient that sneaks into far more items on any family’s holiday dining table. In reality, corn is present in almost every cereal you eat, every candy you consume, and nearly every lunch choice you make. Cheap and easy to grow, corn is the most produced US agricultural crop and is therefore overrepresented in the American diet. Although corn can provide a cheaper shortcut to food production, industrious corporations and farmers need to recognize the startling impact it has on society and choose to prioritize the health of consumers and the environment.

Corn began as an alternative to cane sugar in the U.S. because of its plentiful and affordable nature. Corn syrup, corn starch, and corn oil are present in all processed foods, soda, and confectioneries. Corn enhances flavor and sweetness. It’s even used as a coating on candy to prevent pieces from sticking together. However, corn is stealthily contributing to health issues like diabetes and obesity due to excessive consumption of the added sugars and highly processed forms of corn. 

Corn also affects the farm industry. The agricultural industry started using corn as animal feed because it is calorie-rich and easy to grow in large quantities. Many farmers are willing to force naturally grass-fed animals like cows to live off a corn-based diet in order to bulk them up and add intramuscular fat to improve the taste for consumers. Using corn as the primary food source offers a quicker and easier path to greater marketability and profits. Additionally, the overreliance on corn-based feed can directly impact the nutritional quality of animal meat, leading to human health problems from the higher fat content and dearth of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. 

Another negative impact of our country’s heavy reliance on corn in our food system is environmental degradation. The high concentrations of corn harm biodiversity, soil health, and ecosystems. The production of corn, as a single crop, contributes to water and air pollution in the US In one study, researchers found that corn production accounts for 4,300 premature deaths related to air pollution each year, primarily due to ammonia from fertilizer use. 

Even though corn is contributing to all of these negative impacts, the true villain isn’t the food itself but the corporations who choose to abuse its capabilities. Although it may be more convenient, the truth is that every time we use corn-based products in human or animal food supply, we are slowly poisoning society. So, for your next holiday dinner, enjoy some whole corn so that you can keep you and your loved ones safe. 

(Sources: FDA, NPR, The Omnivore’s Dilemma)