Corn ________

“We are not only what we eat, but how we eat, too.” –Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma

How right this quote is; not only are ingredients the problem but quantity as well. Morgan Spurlock asks one interviewee how many people choose to Supersize when asked. "All of them," was her shocking response. Spurlock puts corn in the hot seat when he shows the pile of the 30 pounds of corn syrup that he has eaten in a month from the massive amount of soda and added sugars. I think it is obvious that the American style of quantity rather than quality is at the heart (and killing it too) of obesity and diet-related diseases.

It is no wonder Americans have so many health problems when the food is so processed that you cannot even tell what makes up the main ingredient. What exactly are Cheetos anyways? I assume they’re some mix of corn and wheat ingredients, but it is an unnatural mixture that transforms a food into something that the human body was not designed to digest.Pollan goes on th describe the ways in which corn products are derived: there is corn startch, corn flour, corn oil, corn syrup, and a myriad of other, lesser know cornstuffs. I discovered that while the 'corn belt' (much of the Mississippi River basin) is dedicated to corn production, only 5% of corn is eaten as a whole product; the other 95% is altered to whatever product is needed. In addition to the consumption of corn by humans and livestock, it is becoming commonplace as the additive 'ethanol' in gasoline. This is a terrible idea, seeing as it is driving corn prices sky-high and bankrupting many of the poor that depend on corn for their livelihood. It is also argued that corn uses just as much fossil fuel-derived energy to grow and harvest and process the corn such that it is not lessening our dependence on foreign energy sources and instead wastes valuable land from food production.
So I decided to post a recipe that does not use corn at all:

Tapenade- crushed olives and anchovies on toast or crackers
7 anchovies
500 g olives
2 cups café de câfres- not sure what the translation is
Mix and mash all ingredients and cool in the fridge. Spread like jam over toast and crackers