In 2012 the internet exploded. Funnily enough it 'exploded' over popcorn. You may have seen one or two of these pictures floating about.
It’s now known as ‘Glass Gem’ corn, a varietal developed by an Oklahoma agriculturalist by the name of Carl. L. Barnes. Half Cherokee and Half Scottish, he selectively bred crosses between Pawnee miniature corns, Osage red flour corn and Greyhorse varietals until he came up with these beauties [1].
Now, before you leap directly into imagining biting into these bejewelled wonders, ‘Glass’ Gem’ is actually a flint corn –so named because of the kernel’s hard outer-layer. This is a corn best used for popping, decorating or turning into meal/flour. I know, -it seems such a shame. The other huge disappointment is that the colour is not retained when it is popped. Seriously, can life get any more disappointing? The colour is unfortunately in the pericarp, -that’s the bit that gets stuck between your teeth when you’re eating popcorn –so there might be a little flash of colour in your normal sea of fluffy, expanded white starch, but that’s it. It’s not the corn you know –it’s more a grain crop than a fruit crop. It you’re still reading through wailing sobs of “it’s not fair!”, let me tell you a story that might convince you to grow it anyway…
Let’s talk flavour and nutrition –in that order. Firstly, chefs are all over Native flint corn meals [2]. The flavour that bursts forth from a polenta or flat-bread made with these flours and meals will apparently knock your socks off with its buttery, complex divinity. It’s cornmeal Jim, but not as we know it. Now, as foodie-types know, flavour and nutrition usually go hand-in-hand. As Dan Barber says: “if you are pursuing great flavour, you are pursuing great nutrition. It’s one and the same” [2]. As it happens, he’s not just being poetically hopeful. These Native and Landrace flint corns are about 4 times as nutritious as the regular cornmeal you’d find in a supermarket aisle [3].
They’re also very high in High Amylose corn starch, and that stuff’s the bomb. It has been shown to massively increase satiety, is low GI, it reduces deposition of fat in the body, lowers serum cholesterol and serum/hepatic triglycerides, increases growth of beneficial gut microflora (Bifidobacterium spp.) and increases mineral absorption (Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe and Cu) [3]. We might even be tempted to label it a ‘superfood’ if we were thus inclined (which we’re very definitely not…). Let’s just call it Bloody Good Food.
But quite aside from all that, the best reasons to grow it are (a) it’s pretty! And (b) it’s a hell-of-a-story. Is that a ‘thing’ in Nutrition Science? Aesthetics and story? Well, if we hop on over to some of our sister sciences for evidence, it bloody well ought to be. Not only is gardening proven as beneficial to both physical and mental health over countless studies [4], [5], beauty and stories are absolutely essential and intrinsic to human well-being [6], [7],[8]. It matters little whether we hear a story, or see beauty –we get a rush of oxytocin –yes, the “love hormone”. It’s one of the reasons that stories have a much greater impact than simple facts. It’s also one of the reasons that we love a great chef. The food, the restaurant, the atmosphere, the chef’s adoration of flavour and obsessiveness over quality ingredients is a story we can adore. When the food itself has a story too, you get a narrative multiverse…and it’s really damned good for you. Unlike a lot of things that you consume because they’re ‘good for you’, things with a good story actually feel good too. Who’d ‘a thunkit?
So, as you plant your Glass Gem corn seeds, perhaps you’ll ponder the following Iriquois story: In this tradition, the Sky Woman has a beloved daughter. When the daughter is a woman, she falls in love with the West wind, and becomes pregnant. She dies giving birth to twin boys, and the Sky Woman buries her body in the new earth. From her grave grow the three sacred plants –corn, beans and squash [9]. In the Ahnishnabe tales, the corn (male) is lonely. The squash maiden approaches him, but her advances are rejected. The slender bean however touches corn and wraps herself around his stalk (I know, right?...). They grow tall together. They knew this was the union that was meant to be [10]. Perhaps you just focus on your own story –your soil, your land. The myriad of life-events that will play out between planting a seed and harvest. A tale of nurturing and watering and ever-growing excitement as summer nears its end.
“Always –I never knew it any other way-
The wind and the corn talk things over together
And the rain and the corn and the Sun and the corn
Talk things over together”
-Carl Sandburg
Your story, the corn’s story, the story of an ancient people, the story of science and nutrition. It’s no real accident that we call it a kernel of wisdom.
REFERENCES
Schoen, G. (2012). The Origins and Journey of 'Carl's Glass Gems' Rainbow Corn [blog]. https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/sustainable-farming/glass-gem-corn-seeds-zwfz1212zrob#axzz2j3XsY5oSAubrey, A. (2013). Reviving an Heirloom Corn That packs More Flavour and Nutrition [blog]. Food History & Culture, Aug 22 2013. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/08/22/209844877/reviving-an-heirloom-corn-that-packs-more-flavour-and-nutritionAi, Y. (2016). Macronutrients in Corn and Human Nutrition. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 15(3), 581-598. doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.12192
4. Soga, M., Gaston, K. J., Yamaura, Y. (2017). Gardening is beneficial for health: A meta-analysis. Prev Med Rep, 5. 92-99. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2016.11.007
5. Brindley, P., Jorgensen, A., Maheswaran, R. (2015). Domestic gardens and self-reported health: a national population study. International Journal of Health Geographics, 17(31). doi: 10.1186/s12942-018-0148-6
6. Zak, P. (2013). How Stories Change the Brain. Greater Good magazine, Dec 17, 2013
7. Harter, L. M., Jopp, P. M., Beck, C. S. (2006). Narratives, Health, and Healing: Communication Theory, Research, and Practice. Routledge, UK. ISBN 1135610983
8. Stuckey, H. L. & Nobel, J. (2011). The Connection Between Art, Healing, and Public Health: A Review of Current Literature. American Journal of Public health, 100(2), 254-263. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.156497
9. Park, S., Hangu, N., Daily, J. W. (2016). Native American Foods: History, Culture, and influences on modern diet. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 3(3), 171-177. doi: 10.1016/j.jef,2016.08.001
10. https://www.birdclan.org/threesisters.htm