The corn fields you pass every day may not contain the corn you think they do. Most of the corn grown across America isn’t the sweet, juicy corn served at summer cookouts—it’s field corn, also called dent corn, a tougher variety grown for livestock feed, ethanol, and thousands of industrial and food products.
Unlike sweet corn, which is harvested early while its kernels are tender and full of natural sugars, field corn is left to dry until it becomes hard and starchy. It is then processed into products such as corn syrup, corn starch, animal feed, fuel, and other everyday materials.
Sweet corn, on the other hand, is grown specifically for flavor and eaten fresh, frozen, or canned. Although both types come from the same plant family, they have been carefully bred for completely different purposes.
So the next time you drive past endless rows of corn, remember: you’re likely looking at a massive industrial crop powering much of modern life—not the corn you put on your dinner plate.