I try to use canvas bags when I shop, despite the confused/annoyed looks from cashiers; my condo is lit with fluorescent light bulbs; I bought a bike for short-distance trips; and I try to frequent local farmers' markets & Whole Foods (when my bank account allows it). So when a friend invited me to see a screening of King Corn -- a documentary in which two guys travel to Iowa to grow an acre of corn after discovering they consumed so much of the stuff that it was showing up in their hair samples -- at the Miami Beach Cinematheque last Thursday, I happily accepted. Plus, it was free.

I'd never heard of the documentary, and, having lived in Miami pretty much all my life, never heard much about corn, or farming for that matter. So it was shocking to see just how many mountains of corn are overproduced each year, thanks to government subsidies, and to learn that most of it isn't even edible in its pure form. This corn is mass produced using an amonia-based fertilizer and mostly used to create the high fructose corn syrup that goes into all of the crappy, processed food and drink we consume. It's also used to feed cows instead of grass, which is what they are supposed to eat, and in turn causes the cows to develop a disease called acidosis. Mmm. Nothing like biting into juicy diseased cow. After the film, everyone was invited to stay for a short discussion on how they could help in fighting the corn crisis locally, so here's my two cents:

Stop eating crap. Pepsi, Lucky Charms -- if the first ingredient in a product is high fructose corn syrup, don't put it in your mouth. Not only is it junk, it's making you a fat lard. And don't use the I eat at McDonald's because I can't afford healthy food and don't have the time to cook it excuse. Bull crap. Lentils, beans, potatoes, basic vegetables all cost the same, if not less, than a Value Meal. Throw it all in a crock pot and you've got dinner for the whole week.

And to go a step further, pick up all your new healthy foodstuffs at a local famers' market: Coconut Grove, Lincoln Road, Normandy Isle and Legion Park in Morningside all host them, click here for more info. Or, sign up to have a box of organic goodies from local farms put together for you each month, for more info visit pikarco.com or deliciousorganics.com.

For more ways to get involved, visit kingcorn.net, and for a complete schedule of all the great films the MBC screens each week, visit mbcinema.com.

-- miaeditor