Week 10

Throughout the entire course “Writing Bout Culture” I feel we were led to believe that America uses way too much corn, and eats too much processed food. Specifically, that too much corn in our diets, as opposed to natural ingredients, was unhealthy and a prevalent cause in our nations obesity problem.  However, when I visited the website cornsugar.com, I learned that corn sugar, or High Fructose Corn Syrup, is no better or worse for you from normal cane sugar. In fact, our bodies cannot tell the difference. Corn Sugar lacks fructose, and is much cheaper and more efficient than cane sugar. So why in the movie Supersize Me did Morgan Spurlock strongly stress how many food products had corn sugar in them? Almost every processed food one can think of from soda to Gatorade to a bag of chips had Corn sugar in it. It is not like those products are going to not be made without regular sugar if HFCS did not exist. Michael Pollan mentioned in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma how corn had taken over America’s food, and how bad it was to raise our meat on corn and to use it as much as we do in processed food. Yes, it is wrong to raise our meat on foods that they do not eat, but is using corn as much as we do all that bad? Both Spurlock and Pollan did their jobs in pointing out corn’s prevalence, and opening our eyes about any health concerns.  But as far as a sweetener, cornsugar.com taught me that maybe HFCS is the better choice compared to sugar.

           

I am not going to say after visiting the website and learning about corn sugar, that I totally disagree with the points Spurlock and Pollan made. My thinking is that people are going to eat junk food no matter what is in it. If corn sugar is not going to hurt them, or change the product in any way, why fight it? If anything cornsugar.com and the natural food enthusiast should point out the benefits of one another, as well as the disadvantages. Corn sugar is not natural, but it is practically the same and a hell of a lot cheaper.  This course taught me all about our food culture, and how much has to do with corn. My newly formed idea is that corn is used way too much in our meats, and processed foods are way too unhealthy to be eaten as much as they are. But it is not hurting anyone to use corn as a sweetener, and the myth that HFCS is bad for you should be brought to light.