Corn, sweetcorn, and popcorn

A native Iowa friend thought all farmers grew sweet corn. Since he was confused on the topic I'm pretty sure many others would be as well.

On the left is field corn. It's 99% of what you see when you drive across the state. It's hard, gritty and not something you'd want to eat. This corn is used to make corn flakes, sweeten Coke and make ethanol. It's also the main feeding ingredient for cows, chickens and pigs. It is quite literally the product that feeds the world.

In the middle is sweet corn. This is the stuff people love to lather up with butter and salt and eat off the cob. (Except me. I always cut it off the cob. I don't enjoy corn stuck in my teeth. Besides, you can eat it much, much faster that way.)

On the right is popcorn. The popcorn you microwave or get in the theater has much bigger ears... Smaller than sweetcorn, but much bigger than this. Dad has grown popcorn for as long as I can remember and he's been slowly but surely developing his own breeds over decades of careful management. (Meaning, he picks his favorite ears from each season to plant the next season.) His popcorn is very tiny and has incredible flavor. This is why I'm willing to dedicate half of my luggage space to popcorn when I fly to the Emirates; you cannot get dad's popcorn anywhere else.