Of Maize and Men: The Rise
The story of how one crop came to be the world's most important ingredient. Maize is everywhere, in much of our food, drink and packaging. We find out why.
Corn is everywhere, in much of our food, drink and even packaging.
It has found its way, in a myriad of guises, into thousands of products and has come to dominate the industrialised food supply. Hundreds of millions of people in the developing world rely on it too, for their very survival.
This week we bring you the story behind the king of the crops, in the first of two programmes dedicated to its spectacular rise, and its implications.
The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Emily Thomas learns how maize rose to pre-eminence with author Betty Fussell, and takes a crash course in plant biology with Ricardo Salvador, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, to hear why corn is so productive.
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We hear one woman's unenviable, life or death battle to avoid this ubiquitous ingredient and talk to a man who can estimate your corn consumption from a single strand of your hair.
Finally, we ask what lengths a government will go to to protect their corn secrets, and find out why the Chinese government is scaling back its production of the crop.
(Image: A man standing next to a field of tall maize crops. Credit: alexsalcedo/ Thinkstock)
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Clips
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Avoiding the killer that's everywhere
Duration: 03:36
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What percentage corn are you?
Duration: 01:36
Broadcasts
- Sat 7 Jan 2017 08:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except News Internet
- Sat 7 Jan 2017 19:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa
- Sat 7 Jan 2017 22:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except News Internet
- Mon 9 Jan 2017 01:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except News Internet
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