The standard counter-argument is that the corn grown for animal feed and for ethanol production is not suited for human consumption.

But that's only partially true. We wouldn't eat it directly -- it could still be turned into masa or sugar or some other processed food and then eaten.

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reactordev 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The corn grown that’s not for human consumption is only because it’s earmarked for feed or biofuels. Corn is corn. Where I live, 1 in 4 fields is “for human consumption”

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Retric 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Filed corn is harvested at a different time resulting in a dryer product.

But yes if people get hungry enough, field corn easily qualifies as actual food.

	▲	reactordev 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		There are 4 types of corn. Dimple/dent corn, pop corn, sweet corn, and flint corn. Each variety can be eaten. Prepared differently of course as they have different starches and flavors but the vast majority of corn fields in the United States grow dent corn for feed and biofuels.

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inigyou 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Aren't there different varieties of corn?

	▲	reactordev 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yes, and they are all edible. But not all are palatable.

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brazzy 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Yeah, we're pretty good at making pretty damn anything "fit for human consumption", including quite a few things that are outright poisonous if consumed unprocessed.

	▲	stymaar an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization (Corn doesn't need special processing to be edible, but it does need special processing if you want to avoid dying from nutritional deficiency when having a corn-based diet).