Customer Reviews

King Corn

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King Corn although rather long, it is worth every second. It starts with two young men having their `hair' tests showing they have a high level of `corn' in their system. When they both decide to find out why, even though they don't `eat' corn directly, this corn is in their system leads them on an adventure to find out why. They start by planting their own crop of corn and then try to track `where the corn they planted' lands up. At first I was getting tired of the film but BE PATIENT because in the middle of the film, things start to become VERY clear. Corn has taken over the STATES and replaced grass land and wheat crops. Cattle and pigs are forced to eat `corn' to put on weight even though it creates serious health problems for them. When you see what this `cheap' corn has done to our food and how it has crept into everything we eat, the film clearly shows how `disillusioned' these young men become. Big business and government subsidies has made corn a major industry where cheap and high return trumps `health'. You see the results of their discovery on their faces- a must watch!

This film appeared before Food, Inc. but didn't get as much attention for some reason. But through its focus on corn (heavily subsidized in the US), and the health fallout from its domination of the food industry, it tells pretty much the same story of corporate greed and its consequences. You should see at least one of these films if you want a little insight into where your food comes from. Both films have excellent extra features on the DVD, too. King Corn is a bit lighter and perhaps doesn't give as much information about "what you can do" as Food Inc. But it also covers its chosen topic (corn, and its main uses as beef cattle feed and source of high fructose corn syrup) in more depth than the other film, so the ideal would be to see both. If enough people see either film, perhaps the epidemic of obesity and diabetes can be reversed, and family farms will start to recover from their near-extinction by factory farms. This could also help to turn climate change around.