corn flakes

Raiding the pantry for chocolate this afternoon, I noticed the writing on the side panel of a box of corn flakes. Essentially, corn flakes consist of corn meal with a little sugar and salt. That’s all! Simple, inexpensive, tasty, filling food.

Of course to make corn flakes, one must have access to corn, which grows tall and beautiful in the summer fields. (‘I am as corny as Kansas in August…’) During this extraordinary dry, hot, decade, agriculture has suffered mightily in the southern United States where I live. I haven’t seen a corn field for several years at least in the baked agricultural landscape, though I have come across a few raised gardens with small sections for corn. We’ve done alright though, with imported products and reserves. A fair number of genetically modified foods have been available, although many have proved nutritionally lacking. (Squirrels and birds ignore the designer products in favor of the old natural seeds and fruits and berries.) The weather has grown less extreme in this part of the planet this year. Though still much below average, there has been some rain and it is with great gratitude that I report, rain is falling tonight as I type.