The response to the showing of King Corn last night was far beyond what I expected. I counted 110 people and I may have missed a few. We had to line the walls with chairs from other parts of the bar. Someone said the Republican Congressional debate held earlier the same evening at UIS only had about 60 people.
I'd like to think the turn-out was due to my jedi-like skills as an organizer, but I've gotten smaller crowds at events I promoted more widely than this one. The articles in the State Journal-Register and Illinois Times helped, but when there's a big response like this it means you're offering something that a lot of people are strongly interested in. Corn is a major part of the economy in central Illinois and it was clear last night that people are ready for a public debate about changing our national agricultural policies.
A lot of people told me afterward that they enjoyed the movie, and the funny parts got big laughs. It was nice to see some young people since its hard to get an age diverse crowd at events in Springfield.
I've seen the movie before so the most exciting part for me was the panel discussion. Two local farmers and two staff with the Illinois Stewardship Alliance spoke about alternatives to the current system.
One of the points that came out is that people are making millions from the current system but it isn't the average farmer. One panel member contrasted the multi-million dollar salaries earned by the CEO's of ADM and Monsanto to the struggle of farmers to simply earn a living wage. Some of the biggest beneficiaries of federal farms subsidies are major land owners who live in large cities and don't personally do any farm work.
The National Corn Grower's Association and other agribusiness industry spokespersons have attempted to paint King Corn as being anti-farmer. I disagree. They would have us believe that the interests of the average farmer and the interests of the big agribusiness firms are one and the same, but that's not always true.
The two farmers on the panel both pointed out that the power to change the system rests with the consumer. You can vote at the ballot box by electing representatives who will change the current system and you can vote with your wallet when you make choices about what to eat.
King Corn is already available on DVD and I suspect other groups will do their own viewings in the future. Check it out if you missed it last night and contact the Stewardship Alliance if you're ready to do something about it.