Let me preface this post by saying that I grew up in Indiana and have a certain fondness for corn. With that being said, just how much this unique crop has been homogenized and commercialized is nothing short of disgusting. Released last year, the eco/foodie documentary King Corn presents a dramatic and grounding perspective on just how much corn is now a part of our lives … even in ways we didn’t expect.

If you are looking for my final say on the movie, I’ll save you some time and tell you right now: buy this movie. Don’t just go see it - buy it. Now, if you want to know what I’m such a fan of it, feel free to keep reading along.

The documentary starts off a bit slow, but it takes much-needed time to introduce everything that is going on. For the first half hour, it seemed like it is going to be all about how fantastic corn is and how it is ok for it to be such a freakishly massive part of our lives. Thankfully, that all changes pretty quickly as co-producers and co-stars Ian Cheney (left, in the picture above) and Curt Ellis (right) are shown the error of America’s ways in rapid succession. You almost feel as though your are right there with them, every step of the way, feeling their shock and awe at just how much our food system has changed in a matter of two generations.

Even though I grew up in part of the heart of the “corn belt”, I was unaware that a large percentage of these questionable changes to our industrial food system happened in 1973, thanks to a man named Earl Butz. His changes to the U.S. Farm Policy, with a noted emphasis on corn for both humans and livestock (which most of us now know is a terrible suffering for them), did help to keep a lot of farmers in business but now, 30-some-odd years down the line, it is all too clear that his decisions have had even more of an impact than he could have ever predicted.

The fellas of King Corn had the opportunity to interview the now-infamous Earl Butz and he did make a few good points. “We spend less income on food, so we can spend more money and time on other things,” he says. Thanks to his changes in the farm policy, our generation spends less on food than any other generation in history. Unfortunately, that is only looking at the surface of the issues - what other “costs” are we paying for a tomato that is 50 cents less? How are our community, environment, economy, and social fabrics being affected? For most folks in the government, things like that just aren’t as important as the all mighty dollar.

Ian and Curt also give a great perspective on how the ubiquitous high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) came to be and why it can be found in nearly every processed item on grocery store shelves. The duo even go so far as to get a recipe for HFCS and spend a few days making it. I won’t spoil the results for you, but I think it is one of the best parts of the documentary.

Now I don’t want you to think this review is all doom and gloom because it isn’t. With the rise in smaller farms, the return of organic agriculture and ever-increasing popularity of farmer’s markets, sanity is slowly returning to our food-driving consciousness and often-ignored kitchens. The ending of King Corn was not what I was expecting at all - and I mean that in the best way possible.

I had the pleasure of being able to talk to one of the documentary’s co-producers, Curt Ellis, who is now living in his native home of Portland, Oregon. Read on to find out more about the past, present, and future of King Corn, as well as some inside scoop on the Portland area.

When did you and Ian first get the idea for King Corn? How long did the project take to come together?

Ian and I got interested in food and agriculture in college. It seemed somehow embarrassing to have taken classes in biology and philosophy, but to know next to nothing about the food we were eating every day. After graduation, we teamed up with my cousin Aaron, who had been making films for a while for PBS. Four years later, here’s King Corn.

What are some of your favorite “green” destinations in the Portland area?

Forest Park is pretty incredible, along with Mt. Tabor. But my favorite green spot in town is the farmer’s market. It’s incredible to see so many people out early on a Saturday, buying real food from the people who grew it. That’s a pretty hopeful sight.

Do you think Portland deserves the title of greenest city in America?

I do. But it’s not like we’ve got everything figured out. I see the traffic on I-5 sometimes and the sprawl out Highway 26, right in the middle of beautiful farmland, and I think “what’s happened?” I love Portland so much that back in college Ian thought I worked for the tourist bureau. But it’s because I think this city does a better job than anyone of remembering that it’s resources that gave us all the luxuries we have.

Have you had any sort of negative response to your documentary?

Surprisingly little. It’s an open-minded film, and that means it tends to start conversations rather than arguments. But I’ve heard from a few farmers who thought we didn’t pay enough attention to the idea of “feeding the world”… even if we’re feeding the world high fructose corn syrup. I do think there’s a fair criticism of the film around ethanol, which has at least temporarily made corn prices high enough that farmers are earning more of their income from the market than from the government subsidies, but nobody’s saying that’s here to stay forever.

How has your diet changed since you filmed King Corn?

At first it didn’t change very much, I think because it’s hard to change your diet. We were traveling with the film, eating road-food, and audiences started asking us that question: have you changed the way we eat? We realized we were failing at something pretty important, and since then I’ve made a committed effort to eat differently. I avoid high fructose corn syrup and the processed food world it enables (except ketchup, of course, I love ketchup), and I’m especially careful not to eat meat that comes from a big corn-fueled feedlot.

What’s next for the King Corn crew? More promotion? Another documentary? King Corn Part 2?

Ha! Vacation, I’m hoping! We’re doing some ancillary projects like DVD extras and are working on telling the environmental story that we only hinted at with King Corn. But Ian and I have another documentary coming out in April, about Green Building, and I’m starting a two-year term as a Food and Society Policy Fellow with the Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute. But as for the sequel? Queen Soybean? Not yet.

[ ++ If you would like to see more with Curt, check out his three-part interview with Portland-based food show Cooking Up A Story. ++ ]