

King Corn Movie Review

1377 words - 6 pages

Abby Blakeley 10/4/14 ENVS
Brianna Fay King Corn Movie Review !
Paper: Drawing on your notes above, write a 900-1,000 word double-spaced review of the film for an environmental educator's journal. The purpose of the review is to help others decide whether or not to purchase or use the film for their classes in biology, environmental studies, etc. You should include a broad description of the content so they know what the film is about (2 paragraphs). As part of this description, compare and contrast the type(s) of agriculture, food production, or broad food systems thinking presented in the film with what you saw and discussed on your field trip to the Intervale. Then you should offer ...view middle of the document...

Ultimately, however,
they come to the conclusion that their corn is likely destined for one of two American industries:
animal feed or corn syrup.
At the Intervale, the type(s) of agriculture and food produced are much different than
what is depicted in King Corn. Intervale is a place that is trying to achieve a community food
system in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution and consumption are
integrated to enhance the environmental, economic, social and nutritional health of the area. On

Abby Blakeley 10/4/14 ENVS
Brianna Fay the other hand, in King Corn, the two friends lose money growing their acre of corn due to the
cost of seed, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and equipment rental. These costs outweigh the
price per bushel they get for their corn. These are significant differences between the two. One of
Intervale's goals is to promote the sustainable use and stewardship of agricultural lands, and to
ensure community engagement in the food system. These practices do not occur in the small
county in Iowa; corn is produced there with many herbicides and chemical fertilizers. Instead of
the community being engaged in it's food system, many of the corn farmers are multi-generation
farmers caught up in the governmental farm subsidy system. These current subsidies are putting
an end to the more traditional farming of generations past.
There are definitely more strengths than weaknesses in the film King Corn. On of the
main strengths of the film is its understated show-and-tell approach. For example, Ellis puts his
hand into a hole in the stomach of a live cow to demonstrate the negative health impacts of
feeding corn to animals. A Brooklyn taxi driver describes how he weighed 300 pounds from
drinking soft drinks containing high fructose corn syrup. An auction is held to sell off the farm
and possessions of the Iowa farmer who befriends Cheney and Ellis and allows them to grow an
acre of corn on his farmland. These are all good examples of the show versus tell approach that
engage the viewer and give them broad perspective into corn production and its affects country-
Another strength to the film is the fact that it's educational, but not boring. The film
provides an interesting history of how corn became king in American agriculture. It shows how
U.S. Agricultural Secretary Earl Butz under Richard Nixon changed U.S. farm policy to one

Abby Blakeley 10/4/14 ENVS
Brianna Fay based on increased...

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