Geography 1500F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Genetically Modified Maize, Corn Syrup, Corn Starch
14 Nov 2016
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1500f: lecture 11: oct 24th, 2016: food and agriculture case study on corn corn/ zea mays/maize. Today: the historical origins and spread of corn, corn and social/ecological diversity. Descended from a grass called teosinte in southern mexico around 9,000 years ago. Tesosinte has few kernels, very hard seed casings. Took hundreds or even thousands of years for farmers to breed corn. 1550s: brought overland to west asia (afghanistan) 1600s: introduced to africa, perhaps by portuguese traders linking w. africa and. 1800s: advances in mechanized harvesters and hybrid varieties. 1896: ford"s first car runs on pure ethanol (model t could run on ethanol, gas, or both) Early 1900s: more processed foods from corn: corn starch, corn syrup. 1962: carson"s book silent spring raises awareness of pesticide impacts. 1960s: high-fructose corn syrup invented replaced sweeteners in pop- coca cola. 1978: first us government subsidy for gasohol. 1990s: genetically modified corn introduced (and approved): resistant to pests.
