25. August 2010 · Comments Off on The Corn Debate — Starch or Veggie? · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Considering I’m in Nebraska, it makes sense that we should take some time to discuss corn here, right?

The nickname “Cornhusker” was first adopted by the University of Nebraska football team in 1900.

The little farm stands popped up all over the Omaha Metro, as they do every year in mid-July. I’m partial to this nice stand at about 15th St. and Cornhusker Ave. The two polite young men who operate the stand are both in college and happily accept tips to help their tuition 🙂 I’ll pick up corn that’s was picked less than 24 hours ago at 50 cents an ear. I’ve probably done this 5 times so far this summer and I think everyone’s had their fill.

I know I can get corn for 10 cents an ear at Walmart, but I learned that their corn came to us from Florida!

Now why would I buy Florida corn in Nebraska of all places????

Anyway, it had gotten me thinking about how folks serve up corn in their households. I’m not talking about recipes with corn, but rather how corn is regarded for dinner service: starch or veggie?

I remember it being treated like a veggie in my house growing up, but knowing what I know about corn’s chemical composition, and how easily it can become corn chips or corn tortillas, we have migrated it over to the starch group since we’ve had kids.

So instead of rice or potatoes, we’ll serve up some corn.

I noticed, based on my oh-so-scientific poll from August 2nd, that 2/3 of my sample set continue to treat corn as a veggie, while 1/3 of us treat it as a starch. I guess that makes sense. I was definitely on the fence for this one, too.