Driving up I-69 into Muncie, the scenery is decorated not with rich, magnificent buildings or wide rivers with beautiful bridges gliding over, but rather with many sunshine-yellow flecks on green stalks. I'm talking of course about our lovely, enormous, maze-like cornfields that seem to fill every gap in between our cities.
The second I tell anyone I go to school in Indiana, their first response revolves around, "What's there to do in Indiana with all the corn fields?" And while I attempt to defend Muncie, the real question should be: what's wrong with cornfields?
If you want to know about a huge source of income that contributes to our economy in America, I suggest you look at the corn industry. Monotonous, dull and mind-numbing as this idea of the corn industry sounds, it is essential in most Americans' eating habits. More than 55 percent of America's artificial sweeteners come from corn. In fact, an average person will end up eating 43 pounds of high fructose corn syrup in their lifetime, according to www.corn.org.
The idea of corn refining began around the Civil War. Before the idea of using corn had begun, potatoes and wheat served as the best source of starch. In 1844 in Jersey City, N.J., the first corn starch plant was started. Slowly, people began to realize corn could be used not only for starch, but also that it held protein, fiber and germ, which could be turned into animal feed ingredients. Soon, high fructose corn syrup was developed and began selling in the early 1970s. This sweetener would soon become the number one choice for sodas.
America is the number one country in the world to consume natural sweeteners. According to www.carrtracks.com, the U.S. consumed about 9.3 million tons of refined sugar and about 12 million tons of corn sweeteners in 2002. In 1997, the corn sweetener industry used about 8 percent of the corn crop, about 20 million tons, and the fuel ethanol industry used about 13 million tons. These combined demands equal 13 percent of domestic demand for corn.
The American farmers who produce corn are among the most efficient in the entire world. In the corn industry alone there are over 226,000 people involved in the process. This industry makes more than $11.5 billion each year. That sum alone could boost our failing and troubled economy. It should be an honor to even live in a corn state that is aiding to stimulating the economy.
There also is the argument that the corn industry, with its use of high fructose corn syrup, is aiding our obesity epidemic. According to www.corn.org, there is a difference between high fructose corn syrup and fructose. High fructose corn syrup never contains fructose alone, but a mixture of fructose and glucose. Some argue it isn't the use of high fructose corn syrup that's making people consume more calories, but rather Americans' inability to eat in moderation and lack of exercise that is making people gain sickly amounts of weight.
A documentary was made on the corn industry by Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis called "King Corn," which showed just how much corn was used in Americans' diets. It's shocking to realize that nearly everything from doughnuts to hamburgers to sodas contain corn. Some would say this is definitely contributing to our obesity epidemic.
Whatever the reason, it should not be a bad thing to live in a corn state. Maybe we do not have the honor of the constant rushing excitement of New York City, or are not able to get on a train and travel to different countries that are full of history. But if we didn't have the corn industry, it's doubtful anyone's diet in this country would be able to function.
Next time you drive through Indiana and think you live in a boring state, I suggest you really take a close look at the enormous cornfields. They are golden flecks on green stalks.
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