Corn: The Silent Killer of American Health and Environment

Michael Pollan's exposé on corn in his book 'Omnivore's Dilemma' sparked controversy twenty years ago, but the situation has worsened. Corn production is now a top political issue in Iowa, the largest corn producer.

The former director of the FDA, David A. Kessler, has filed a petition to revoke the 'generally recognized as safe' status of industrial processed refined carbohydrates. He argues that these ingredients are linked to chronic metabolic diseases like obesity and diabetes.

Corn is an environmentally hazardous crop, contaminating surface and groundwater with toxic byproducts from insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizer, and manure. The Midwest Corn Belt states have the highest cancer incidence in the country, with Iowa having the second-highest rate.

Thirty percent of the corn crop is fed to livestock and poultry, generating massive amounts of manure that pollute waters and release climate-warming nitrous oxide into the air.

A national reckoning of corn's safety has started, and its future as the king of crops is in doubt. The Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to curtail corn cultivation practices, but leaders have shown little interest in altering the conduct of corn producers.