After learning about
how much corn is in everything, Michael Pollan visited a corn farm in Iowa. He described how once upon a time farms grew a variety of crops, including oats and hay for their farm animals. Now most farms in the Midwest grow only corn and soybeans, and each feed an average of 129 people. Even though farmers like George Naylor, who Michael Pollan shadows, are statistically some of the most productive humans ever (in regards to terms of output per worker), they can hardly afford to support their family living on the farm.
