Where Did Corn Come From?

Corn is wonder of the modern world.  We grow more corn today in American than any other crop.  Its uses are diverse, from feeding our cattle to providing the sweetener in our candies  It also is one of the main sources of ethanol that we grow in this country.

This history of corn goes back thousands years and all the way to Central America where it was first domesticated.  Most historians believe that corn was first domesticated in the Tuehucan Valley of Mexico after interbreeding was done by early farmers of the area.  Then through centuries of selective breeding keeping only the best of each season the modern varieties of corn were created.

Corn is not only the most important crop we grow today but it was important in ancient times. Historical evidence shows that corn was grown from North Dakota to Argentina and was found to be in great number of varieties.  The diversification was a result of the great distances the plant traveled as it moved with the native groups that lived in the Americas.  They continued the domestication process of the plant and adapted it to withstand the climatic conditions of their specific area.

All of this domestication and breeding of specific traits led to the creation of a great variety of corn that gave us all sorts of wonderful flavors and interesting looks.

But alas times have changed for corn and the all the wonderful varieties have gone to the wayside in favor of high yielding, flavorless genetically stale specimens.  The problem with the corn we are growing today is that it is wholly dependent on a fossil fuel based agricultural system.  It requires massive inputs of pesticides, and fertilizers to grow which is not a sustainable approach to growing food.  If we expect to grow a sustainable future we cannot continue to rely solely on a industrially driven monoculture that can be wiped out by a unexpected disease or insect.  We need to grow diverse varieties of crops to fight against unexpected disasters that are potentially in our future.  So if you want to build a truly sustainable life you should grow your own food, save seed and eventually develop your own varieties of plants.