Just like the diet of the ancient Mayans, the modern American diet is made up of corn and may even depend on it. Unlike the Mayans, however, today's corn can exist in a variety of hidden forms... Cereals, cups and plates, cheese, stickers, medicines, livestock feed on farms, and even the reflective sheen of magazine covers. Wow… Who knew, right? In his article “What's Eating America,” published in the New York Times Magazine, Michael Pollan suggests that widespread ignorance about the importance of corn products in American life is no accident. How could this be possible? Why would an entire industry, filled with numerous companies, choose to hide such simple information? Perhaps the answer is simple, too… If the American public realized how massive the corn industry is and how much American life depends on corn as a foundation, the public would inevitably learn more about the corn production process. and pose a threat to the industry. Upon investigation, one may learn that the corn crop boom occurred shortly after World War II due to the use of ammonium nitrate as an inorganic fertilizer. After World War II, America had a remaining supply of ammonium nitrate, which is a vital ingredient for bomb-making. Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound made up of nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen. So instead of letting those resources go to waste, agronomists, or scientists who study the science of soil management and field crop production, have suggested using the leftover ammonium nitrate as a fertilizer for agriculture. The idea of ​​agronomists to use ammonium nitrate as an inorganic fertilizer was a godsend for agricultural activity and led to a boom in crops, especially... middle of paper......yields of corn for all corn carbon based products sold only in America. If the American public were adequately informed about their dependence on corn and the negative effects of the fertilizers used to produce all the corn, Americans would be faced with a problem and a possible solution: stop using inorganic fertilizers. Unfortunately, the refusal to use inorganic fertilizers not only slows down corn production, but results in a loss of profits for companies in the agri-food sector. So, knowing that the corn industry is huge, one can possibly find out how corn is produced (with ammonium nitrate) and pose a threat to the entire industry. The mere fact that companies can lose money due to an informed population is reason enough for these companies to hide the fact that their products are based on corn and use American ignorance to their advantage..