I like produce. I like to grow it and I like to eat it. Plus I like to create recipes with it. I’m also kind of a nerd and like to get to know my produce. I like learning new or fun tidbits of info about the produce I’m growing/eating/baking. If you’re a weirdo like me then I hope these 10 fun facts about corn are as interesting to you as they are to me.
1. In the U.S we characterize corn as a vegetable, however in many parts of the world {and on many nutrition charts} corn is considered a grain.
2. Corn grown outside North America, Australia, and New Zealand means any cereal crop. Maize is the more formal and internationally recognized name for corn. So should we start calling it popmaize?
3. Native Americans taught the European settlers how to grow and prepare corn. For some time it was thought the Native Americans also taught them how to prepare popcorn, which the settlers ate as a breakfast cereal with milk and maple syrup. {But that myth was totally debunked, and you can read about it HERE}. I’m all about ice cream for breakfast, but popcorn?
4. Corn is the 3rd most produced crop in the world, behind only wheat and rice, but in terms of planted acres, it’s second only to wheat.
More Fun Facts About Corn…
Savory Garlic and Herb Corn recipe
5. An average ear of corn has 800 kernels arranged in 16 rows and there is actually one piece of silk for EVERY kernel.
6. One bushel of corn can make 2.5 gallons of ethanol fuel, 33 pounds of sweetener or 32 pounds of starch. Wowza!
7. Fresh corn on the cob will lose up to 40% of its sugar content after about 6 hours of room temperature storage. After that time period, the sugar is converted to starch.
8. Corn is used for many nonfood items. Fireworks, plastics, fabrics, aspirin, antibiotics, glue, paint, laundry detergent, soap, paint, ink, cosmetics just to name a few.
Roasted Corn Salad with Tomatoes and Feta recipe
9. Back in the day a farmer could only harvest 100 bushels of corn per day by hand. Modern day technology produced a combine that can harvest 900 bushels of corn per hour or 100 bushels of corn in under 7 minutes! Talk about revolutionized farming. Sheesh!
10. The corn we eat is “sweet corn” (white, yellow or bi-colored), which has become even sweeter since scientists began breeding varieties with more sugar.
Had you heard any of those fun facts before? Do you have any of your own to add? Is there a particular produce item you want to know more about? I take requests!
Grow on,
~ Mavis
Laura Z says
As a child, I remember reading a scene in Farmer Boy (by Laura Ingalls Wilder) in which Almanzo eats popcorn with milk for breakfast. It is yummy but it gets soggy fast!
Marcia HEIN says
I make cornbread with a little lemon yoghurt. That makes it a bit sweet and tart. Serve with butter.
Sue S. says
Thanks for the yummy recipes Mavis. I remember spending summer nights on the back stoop of our smallish farm shucking peas, string beans, and corn. We had a commercial freezer and what we didn’t freeze, my mom would “put up” in jars to be stored in the basement. I didn’t inherit her love for preserving. On another note I’m sorry for the negative comments on yesterday’s topic about recliners. I think your topics are interesting , humorous, and thought provoking. I didn’t take your reference to “old people” to heart because at 77 I feel like I’m 20 years younger. Keep “em coming.
Jules says
We know it’s summer when the farmer next door opens his corn stand! I always get a couple hundred ears to freeze for the rest of the year, it’s that good. I could eat corn every day and be happy