Finally...it's possible (mostly)
Yesterday was my first day off since I started NoCorn, and it was also the first day where I actually ate no corn. Here's my strategy - eat local, and know exactly where your food is coming from. Now that shouldn't be so hard to do, especially if, like me, you're blessed to live in an area like Burlington, which is surrounded by farmland. Granted, it's a bit harder if you live in a large urban area, but it's still possible. Most veggies don't involve corn (for the time being at least), and as I proved this weekend, it isn't so hard to find a farmer who raises cows or chicken without the use of corn. Most towns and cities (at least during the warmer months) have a farmer's market - check it out if you haven't yet. I promise you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I even managed to eat out yesterday, for breakfast (I had oatmeal). Strangely, breakfast is actually a fairly difficult meal to go corn-free. One would not expect your typical American breakfast to involve so much corn, but in fact it's almost impossible to avoid. Eggs? Usually involve corn. Milk? Already been over this one...Bacon? Sausage? Both likely come from corn-fed pigs. Your best bet in avoiding corn at breakfast is to eat like a peasant, which, all things considered, is a very good idea. Peasant breakfasts usually involve cheap foods that are very high in energy - think beans, rice, oats and grains. I know that may not appeal to the eggs Benedict side of your morning, but maybe try it once or twice...who knows, you might like it.
I still had to use my car the last two days, so cutting corn out 100% is still a work in progress. But I can honestly say that I have not digested anything in two days that had corn as an ingredient or a feed, and I don't plan on ending that streak any time soon.
Now, just to be clear, I don't for a second think that corn is the only problem facing American society today. It's simply one problem off of a laundry list of problems. I'm a smoker, and I occasionally indulge in the pleasures of alcohol and certain other vices of humanity. I'm not perfect and I do not expect anyone else to be. We all have our weaknesses and we all make choices in life that don't have the best outcomes. But I'm aware the health risks that come from the choices I make in life. I know that my cigarette habit is detrimental to my health. Trust me, I've seen every ad campaign and public service announcement targeting smokers, and am well aware of the taxes levied against my vice. Cigarettes are demonized like little else in our society, and with good reason.
However, by focusing so vehemently on the ills caused by one of our societal vices, we often lose focus on the big picture, and that there are many, many risks to our collective health in the American lifestyle. Corn is one of the pieces to that puzzle. Again, corn isn't the only problem. It's one of them. But too few people are even aware that it's a risk (let alone trying to do something about it) and that is what makes it so dangerous. I'm just trying to make aware to as many people as I can exactly what corn has become. If two people are convinced enough by my crazy escapade to become more aware of the food they eat, than I've helped out two people.
Do not be crazy like me. Don't try to cut corn out of your life entirely. It's hard. Almost impossible. But be conscious of the fact that in the grand scheme of things, the $1.99 cheeseburger you're considering buying actually costs us all a lot more than $1.99.
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