Family Guy Corn Maze. Walk among the rows with Brian and Stewie.
posted by jeremy b on Oct 8, 2009 - 29 comments

Coke is Corn. (Among other things.) [more inside]
posted by Sys Rq on Sep 27, 2009 - 44 comments

High-fructose corn syrup is a corn-based sweetener that has been blamed for being partially responsible for the obesity epidemic in the United States. Some producers of HFCS products have responded in the PR war over its health effects. Others may finally be giving anti-HFCS consumers what they want.
posted by jock@law on Feb 18, 2009 - 97 comments

As the days get longer and warmer, and winter turns to spring, Americans of all stripes dream of only one thing: playing some Cornhole in their backyard. Previously discussed on the blue, Cornhole has become even more popular in recent years, with the American Cornhole Organization (ACO) endeavoring to give away more than $1,000,000 in prize money in the coming years. Keep training, Cornholers, and one day you could claim the crown as King of Cornhole (seriously). For inspiration, watch The Cornhole Song. And if that's enough Cornhole for you, be sure to check out the upcoming scripted mockumentary "Cornhole: the Movie."
posted by billysumday on Feb 17, 2009 - 53 comments

This year at the Indiana State Fair: Coco the Colossal Colon.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed on Aug 8, 2008 - 19 comments

Cheap Corn Makes Your Life Short
posted by thisisdrew on Apr 20, 2008 - 41 comments

I’ve discovered that typically, a farmer who grows the forbidden fruits and vegetables on corn acreage not only has to give up his subsidy for the year on that acreage, he is also penalized the market value of the illicit crop, and runs the risk that those acres will be permanently ineligible for any subsidies in the future. (The penalties apply only to fruits and vegetables — if the farmer decides to grow another commodity crop, or even nothing at all, there’s no problem.) If you can't stop demand, curtail production. One farmer's view on the power of commodity crops. [more inside]
posted by Toekneesan on Mar 1, 2008 - 33 comments

Tonight, G.W. Bush is expected to announce a major energy proposal, including cutbacks in gas consumption and development of alternative fuels. High on the list is the development and subsidisation of ethanol, primarily as derived from corn. The utility of corn-based ethanol in meeting energy needs is debatable: its probably weakly energy positive, but not very good in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. More immediately, the US drive towards corn based ethanol has had major effects on the price of corn, and has caused the otherwise free market leaning Mexican President Felipe Calderon to introduce price controls on tortillas. Earth Policy Institute's Lester Brown: "The competition for grain between the world’s 800 million motorists who want to maintain their mobility and its 2 billion poorest people who are simply trying to survive is emerging as an epic issue.". (This post based on a column by Barrie McKenna, unfortunately subscriber only.)
posted by bumpkin on Jan 23, 2007 - 119 comments

A WTO victory came last week for the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) industry. HFCS is that controversial stuff that seemingly permeates everything in American consumer foods, from Gatorade to cough drops. Mexico had slapped tariffs on HFCS dumping in 1998 but agreed to revoke them in 2007, a move that will expand HFCS outside what is almost exclusively a U.S. market. The industry is quite firm that HFCS is safe, but there are some naysayers.
posted by rolypolyman on May 24, 2006 - 45 comments

Saab's new 9-5 2.0T Biopower sedan runs on regular boring old gas and pumps out a respectable 148 horses. But, because its an FFV (Flex-Fuel Vehicle), fill it up with E85 ethanol (or grain alcohol to you, rummy) and, with the turbo (especially suited for use in ethanol powered vehicles because of ethanol's higher octane), the power is boosted to 184 horses while reducing the bulk of emissions and using a renewable energy source. Only problem is that there are only a little over 300 ethanol fueling stations in the US, it should be noted that the car is not aimed at the US market so our loss is Europe's gain (though not for long). [More Inside]
Read about it last night in the latest issue of Popular Science. Previous MeFi ethanol post.
posted by fenriq on Jun 17, 2005 - 20 comments

Captain Cornelius is a superhero and is also an ear of corn. He's probably destined to fall for Zea Mays, who is also corn, and encourages children to invent things.
posted by Wolfdog on May 18, 2005 - 5 comments

In a surprise move, Anheuser-Busch has gone up against some of the biotech firms that would like to grow genetically-modified (GM) rice containing human DNA. The biotech firm that grows it says that their rice contains synthetic human genes which the company hopes to harvest and refine for use in medicines to fight diarrhea and dehydration.

Anheuser-Busch's concerns are not with the science of biotech, but rather the risk of crop-contamination, as has happened with farmers not only in the U.S. and Canada, but all over the world. The USDA has issued rice-tweakers Ventria Bioscience and 300 other biopharmers permission to plant various augmented plants around the country since 1995, but Anheuser-Busch is the first large corporation to threaten a boycott - unusual, because poultry and beef stock (PDF) are fed this kind of thing every day, and have been for the past 20 years. I guess the Budweiser brewers just don't want to see 'dead people' in their suds...

On the flip-side of this occurrence, the response of the anti-stem cell activists has been nothing short of sensory-deprivation. Shouldn't six-packs, cornfields and Porky be given the same human rights as the unborn?

Also related: Contaminated: The New Science of Food (quicktime movie)
posted by vhsiv on Apr 14, 2005 - 31 comments

Supersizing of America may be linked to high-fructose corn sweeteners
posted by thedailygrowl on Mar 26, 2004 - 40 comments

You are fat because there is too much corn. [NYT, forfeit of first-born son required] I love good old-fashioned materialism, and Michael Pollan (author of The Botany of Desire) scores one for the team with this article on the economics of corn production. Are we fat because New Deal agricultural policy was overturned in the 70s by Rusty Butz? Now there's a trailing question we can all enjoy.
posted by condour75 on Oct 11, 2003 - 31 comments

Amaizeing! This was mentioned once before a year ago but I missed out on the fun of the thread. It's that time of year again. This year there's over one hundred and thirty locations. Since farming alone doesn't bring enough money in for many, I guess tourism & entertainment is a nice sideline for some farmers. Gee whiz! It looks like fun! Any Texan MeFites interested in a road trip?
posted by ZachsMind on Sep 5, 2002 - 15 comments

Corn: Planted over patches of American soil totalling twice the size of New York state, corn is our national symbol of agricultural dominance, writes Botany of Desire author Michael Pollan in the NYTimes. But its proliferation may be to blame for some of the most socially and environmentally damaging food products of the last 20 years.

Plus, since the market price for corn is $1 less per bushel than its production cost, you're not only paying the price of obesity, malnutrition, and environmental damage, you're paying, well, $1 a bushel in taxpayer-supported government subsidies.

Lunch?
posted by PrinceValium on Jul 19, 2002 - 27 comments

Wild GM corn begins to overtake Mexican countryside. "It even grows out of the concrete."
posted by skallas on Jan 30, 2002 - 34 comments

Get lost in the Maize! To me, Fall means pumpkins, pumpkin pie, turning leaves, and the annual trip to the cornfield maze! See if the one near you has a haunted maze the few weekends before Halloween. (Advice: Bring a map. It's actually quite challenging, and calling for the Corn Cops to get you out is embarrassing.)

Every year I take a bunch of friends or co-workers to the maze, and to this day, this is my favorite bonding experience. What's your favorite teambuilding experience?
posted by jennak on Oct 5, 2001 - 17 comments

I wonder how many people went hungry so this monstrosity could be built? And mom always said to not play with your food....
posted by Arvid on Nov 27, 2000 - 11 comments

This is the most action-packed webcam site I've seen in ages. Look at it grow! I think I saw a seedling sprout! It's hours and hours of fun, you can't see it all in one visit...
posted by mathowie on Jun 3, 2000 - 7 comments