Corn a member of the cereal family is one of the most diversely used natural resource. The little plant is so useful that the flooding of the fields’ especially in Iowa one of the largest growers would really jam the brakes on many industries including the energy sector. It would also mean that farmers would also have to work harder to pick them selves up. The lands will have to be restacked with nutrients as the flood waters are bound to wash away the essential juices from the soil.
Apart from being a major part of our diets when eaten directly, corn is an important part of many other things we use from day to day. Cornstarch is used to strengthen cloth, used to make clothing and to bind most books that are picked up in stores and libraries. Printing ink, glue, shoe polish, pills, ice-cream and cosmetics all contain some amount of corn.
Corn syrup another creation is used in a great many food products, for example baked goods and soft drinks. Chickens eats corn, eggs are laid and hey we are next in the chain we eat them all. So yes it is integral to our diet.
In recent times it has been put to use as a source of energy not only for our bodies but as a source of fuel energy. This fuel is called ethanol. It is often mixed in varying proportion with gasoline to power vehicle engines and generators. Though it might be cutting into our food basket; it seems the world has decided to sacrifice food essential to our survival, for the pleasures of increased energy use.
Certainly however, as mans’ imagination broadens more and more uses will certainly be found.
