A Kernel Of Truth

I tell people I became a vegetarian primarily for philosophical reasons--I simply can’t justify killing another being for pleasure, even the pleasure of eating. Another reason is that I have experienced firsthand the health benefits vegetarianism brings with it. But a third reason I never mention (mostly because it sounds really shallow next to those other two) is that my name is Jodi…and I am a carbohydrate addict. I love simple sugars in all forms, but corn might just be my favorite. And corn in popped form is my most definitive downfall. Any family with two bowls reserved just for popcorn is obsessed. When Scarlett sees pots and pans in storybooks, she refers to them as “corn-corn,” which is what she calls popcorn and primarily what she’s seen pots used for in her young life. So, it seemed only appropriate that during “C” week we would check a book about corn out of the library. And, as happens so often these days, I learned all kinds of stuff I never knew from Gail Gibbons’ Corn. It was the major product of the great Mayan and Aztec civilizations. Early Euro-Americans used every part of the corn plant--kernels, cobs, husks, silk, stalks--for daily purposes. There are types of corn called “strawberry corn,” “Autumn Explosion,“ and “Hopi Blue.” Have you ever even heard of those? Me neither. People and animals use corn products virtually every hour of the day. And, best of all, there is a corn just for popcorn. I like that.

http://www.amazon.com/Corn-Gail-Gibbons/dp/0823421694

http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/1069