[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.57,0:00:12.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Corn currently accounts for more than \None tenth of our global crop production.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.37,0:00:17.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The United States alone has enough \Ncornfields to cover Germany.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.33,0:00:20.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But while other crops we grow \Ncome in a range of varieties,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.76,0:00:28.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over 99% of cultivated corn is the \Nexact same type: Yellow Dent #2.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.59,0:00:32.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This means that humans grow \Nmore Yellow Dent #2
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.32,0:00:35.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than any other plant on the planet.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.11,0:00:38.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So how did this single variety \Nof this single plant
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.56,0:00:43.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,become the biggest success story \Nin agricultural history?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.52,0:00:47.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nearly 9,000 years ago, corn, \Nalso called maize,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.61,0:00:52.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was first domesticated from teosinte, \Na grass native to Mesoamerica.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.96,0:00:56.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Teosinte’s rock-hard seeds \Nwere barely edible,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.78,0:01:01.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but its fibrous husk could be turned \Ninto a versatile material.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.31,0:01:07.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over the next 4,700 years, farmers bred \Nthe plant into a staple crop,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.25,0:01:10.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with larger cobs and edible kernels.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.39,0:01:14.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As maize spread throughout the Americas, \Nit took on an important role,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.71,0:01:18.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with multiple indigenous societies \Nrevering a “Corn Mother”
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.69,0:01:21.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as the goddess who created agriculture.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.100,0:01:26.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When Europeans first arrived in America, \Nthey shunned the strange plant.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.53,0:01:30.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Many even believed it was the source of \Nphysical and cultural differences
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.74,0:01:32.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between them and the Mesoamericans.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.90,0:01:33.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.67,0:01:38.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their attempts to cultivate European crops\Nin American soil quickly failed,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.68,0:01:41.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the settlers were forced \Nto expand their diet.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.97,0:01:45.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Finding the crop to their taste, \Nmaize soon crossed the Atlantic,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.98,0:01:50.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where its ability to grow in diverse \Nclimates made it a popular grain
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.33,0:01:52.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in many European countries.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.78,0:01:58.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the newly established United States \Nwas still the corn capital of the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.10,0:02:01.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the early 1800’s, different regions \Nacross the country
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.98,0:02:05.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,produced strains of varying \Nsize and taste.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.50,0:02:07.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the 1850’s, however,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.40,0:02:12.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these unique varieties proved difficult \Nfor train operators to package,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.18,0:02:14.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and for traders to sell.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.30,0:02:18.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Trade boards in rail hubs like Chicago \Nencouraged corn farmers
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.66,0:02:20.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to breed one standardized crop.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.98,0:02:26.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This dream would finally be \Nrealized at 1893’s World’s Fair,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.31,0:02:31.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where James Reid’s yellow dent corn \Nwon the Blue Ribbon.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.09,0:02:35.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over the next 50 years, yellow dent \Ncorn swept the nation.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.22,0:02:38.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Following the technological \Ndevelopments of World War II,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.32,0:02:41.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mechanized harvesters became \Nwidely available.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.38,0:02:46.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This meant a batch of corn that previously\Ntook a full day to harvest by hand
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.40,0:02:49.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could now be collected in just 5 minutes.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.58,0:02:54.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Another wartime technology, the chemical \Nexplosive ammonium nitrate,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.34,0:02:57.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,also found new life on the farm.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.30,0:02:59.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With this new synthetic fertilizer,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.43,0:03:03.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,farmers could plant dense fields \Nof corn year after year,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.44,0:03:07.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without the need to rotate their crops \Nand restore nitrogen to the soil.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.96,0:03:12.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While these advances made corn an \Nattractive crop to American farmers,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.17,0:03:16.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,US agricultural policy limited the \Namount farmers could grow
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.19,0:03:18.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to ensure high sale prices.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.42,0:03:23.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in 1972, President Richard Nixon \Nremoved these limitations
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.32,0:03:27.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while negotiating massive grain \Nsales to the Soviet Union.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.28,0:03:30.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With this new trade deal \Nand WWII technology,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.91,0:03:35.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,corn production exploded into \Na global phenomenon.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.40,0:03:39.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These mountains of maize inspired \Nnumerous corn concoctions.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.65,0:03:44.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cornstarch could be used as a thickening \Nagent for everything from gasoline to glue
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.76,0:03:50.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or processed into a low-cost sweetener \Nknown as High-Fructose Corn Syrup.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.73,0:03:55.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maize quickly became one of the \Ncheapest animal feeds worldwide.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.15,0:03:57.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This allowed for inexpensive \Nmeat production,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.68,0:04:01.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which in turn increased the demand \Nfor meat and corn feed.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.95,0:04:06.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Today, humans eat only 40% of \Nall cultivated corn,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.66,0:04:12.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while the remaining 60% supports consumer \Ngood industries worldwide.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.47,0:04:16.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yet the spread of this wonder-crop \Nhas come at a price.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.10,0:04:21.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Global water sources are polluted by \Nexcess ammonium nitrate from cornfields.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.22,0:04:26.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Corn accounts for a large portion of \Nagriculture-related carbon emissions,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.34,0:04:29.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,partly due to the increased meat \Nproduction it enables.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.72,0:04:35.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The use of high fructose corn syrup may \Nbe a contributor to diabetes and obesity.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.16,0:04:37.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the rise of monoculture farming
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.88,0:04:42.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has left our food supply dangerously \Nvulnerable to pests and pathogens—
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.97,0:04:48.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a single virus could infect the world’s \Nsupply of this ubiquitous crop.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.34,0:04:51.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Corn has gone from a bushy grass
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.25,0:04:54.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to an essential element of the \Nworld’s industries.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.49,0:04:59.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But only time will tell if it has led us \Ninto a maze of unsustainability.