King Corn Movie Review
Posted: October 11, 2007
The only way you get that fat off is to eat less and exercise more.–Jack La Lanne
Exercise guru Jack La Lanne may be having a comeback, if his ads for Target are any indication. The 20 somethings out there might not know who Jack is, but his messages on diet and exercise have endured. You can bet that Momma still tells the kids to eat their vegetables, drink their milk and play outside. Balance. That’s the key.
Apparently the creators of the junk movie “King Corn” didn’t get the message. This 90-minute movie (which is about 60 minutes too long) missed its opportunity to inform audiences on the contributions of U.S. farming. Instead, the movie is a poor attempt to influence the farm bill debate under way in Congress. Not surprising, slow-food movement advocate Michael Pollan was an advisor to the project, so says a New York Times article on the creation of movie. Much of the movie replays Pollan’s worn out mantra that corn is the cause of obesity.
Our suggestion? Save the $8 you’d spend on a ticket for this movie. Stay home with a rental of “Field of Dreams.”
Jef Said,
October 29, 2007 @ 1:22 am
I have weekend farmed for many years, and although I haven’t seen the movie, but have taken interest in educating myself on the insideous nature of such government subsidized commodities such as corn. The average grocery store sells 5000 or more products that contain some form of corn. Corn syrup sweetener is in EVERYTHING.
Do you think that is fair or correct? Why should our government subsidize ANYTHING at the expense of other non subsidized commodities? What are the long term effects on our children with these types of additives in every aspect of our diet?
These are the types of questions we should all be asking these days, and although I would expect NGCA to not like any challenges to their status quo, perhaps now is the time with high commodity prices and demand for corn based ethanol on the rise.
Sincerely,
Jef
mikey Said,
December 28, 2007 @ 5:39 am
“Contributions of us farming”…you’ve got to be kidding! US farming is OUT OF CONTROL. Fuel from corn? Biodiesel? Incredible waste of natural resources. Yeh, sure, let’s grow our way out of the oil industry woes. We’ll put what little water we have left on all that corn, just to burn it in our cars. Sauce it up with generous coating of pest control chemicals, and label it all as environmentally friendly. Dude, stick to kiddie movies, you’re too gullible.
Editor’s note:
Mikey, you’ve got to be kidding. I mean where have you been living? Have you NOT noticed that farming practices have improved dramatically in the past 30 years? The facts on water are this: Nearly nine out of 10 acres of corn planted require no water other than what Mother Nature provides.
And exactly how much water do you think YOU consume in a day? The average home consumes 107,000 gallons of water per year.
Clearly you don’t farm or you’d know that input costs are rising as quickly as the price of oil, maybe even faster. Pinpoint, precision farming is what it is all about today. The piece of ground being farmed had better be taken care of if the farmer wants to keep it in the family and use its resources year in and year out. That means fewer chemicals, pinpoint use of those chemicals, better crop residue management and healthier soil, water and air.
AL Said,
January 7, 2008 @ 7:30 pm
Hey MIMI:
which corn industry trade group do you work for?
just curious.
Al
Editor’s note:
Al, I proudly work for the National Corn Growers Association