Raleigh
King Corn
Witherspoon Cinema, N.C. State CampusAfter graduating from Yale, best friends Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis decided to take a road trip. They found a Midwest full of corn that didn’t make it to dinner tables across the country. Struck by this kernel of insight, they decided to investigate the fate of corn that isn’t grown for human consumption, but as feed for cows and as a sweetener for sodas and other products.
With an acre of land in Iowa, Cheney and Ellis sowed and fertized the soil and watched their corn grow. They explain the government subsidies that encourage the maize monoculture and they also try to eat their industrial, petroleum-fed corn. This material won’t surprise those who’ve read Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, but those who haven’t may never look at their tubs of popcorn and soda the same way again.
King Corn runs as part of a series co-sponsored by the NCSU Office of Sustainability. Other feature films include The Greening of Southie (March 18) and Flow (March 25). Visit ww.ncsu.edu/cinema. Admission for non-students is $2.50. Kelly Behling
