The history of the world according to corn - Chris A. Kniesly

翻译人员: Carol Wang 校对人员: Jiasi Hao

Corn currently accounts for more than one tenth of our global crop production.

玉米目前占全球农作物 产量的 1/10 以上，

The United States alone has enough cornfields to cover Germany.

仅美国的种植面积 就足以覆盖整个德国。

But while other crops we grow come in a range of varieties,

但是，尽管我们种植的 其他作物品种繁多，

over 99% of cultivated corn is the exact same type: Yellow Dent #2.

但超过 99% 的耕种玉米 都是一个品种：

黄马牙 2 号玉米。

This means that humans grow more Yellow Dent #2

也就是说，人类种植的 黄马牙 2 号玉米

than any other plant on the planet.

比地球上任何其它植物都多。

So how did this single variety of this single plant

那么，这类植物的单一品种

become the biggest success story in agricultural history?

如何成为农业史上最成功案例呢？

Nearly 9,000 years ago, corn, also called maize,

约 9000 年前，

玉米首次从中美洲的原生草 玉蜀黍驯化而来。

was first domesticated from teosinte, a grass native to Mesoamerica.

Teosinte’s rock-hard seeds were barely edible,

玉蜀黍的坚硬种子 几乎无法食用，

but its fibrous husk could be turned into a versatile material.

但它的纤维状皮 可做成用途广泛的材料。

Over the next 4,700 years, farmers bred the plant into a staple crop,

在接下来的 4700 年中， 农民将这种植物培育成主食，

with larger cobs and edible kernels.

玉米穗轴更大，且谷粒可食。

As maize spread throughout the Americas, it took on an important role,

随着玉米传遍整个美洲， 它发挥了重要作用，

with multiple indigenous societies revering a “Corn Mother”

被多个土著部落誉为

as the goddess who created agriculture.

“玉米母亲”，

即创造农业的女神。

When Europeans first arrived in America, they shunned the strange plant.

当欧洲人第一次抵达美国时， 他们避开了这种奇怪的植物。

Many even believed it was the source of physical and cultural differences

许多人甚至认为，

这是其与中美洲人之间 物质和文化差异的根源。

between them and the Mesoamericans.

However,

their attempts to cultivate European crops in American soil quickly failed,

他们尝试在美国土地上 种植欧洲农作物，

但很快就失败了，

and the settlers were forced to expand their diet.

这些定居者被迫扩大饮食范围。

Finding the crop to their taste, maize soon crossed the Atlantic,

他们发现玉米符合自己的口味后， 玉米很快就抵达大西洋彼岸。

where its ability to grow in diverse climates made it a popular grain

玉米适应各种气候的生长的能力

使其成为受许多欧洲国家欢迎的谷物。

in many European countries.

But the newly established United States was still the corn capital of the world.

但是，新成立的美国 仍然是世界玉米之都。

In the early 1800’s, different regions across the country

在 19 世纪初期，

全国不同地区生产出 大小和口味各异的玉米。

produced strains of varying size and taste.

In the 1850’s, however,

然而，在 19 世纪 50 年代，

these unique varieties proved difficult for train operators to package,

对火车运营商来说， 很难对这些独特品种进行包装，

and for traders to sell.

对商人来说，也很难出售。

Trade boards in rail hubs like Chicago encouraged corn farmers

芝加哥等铁路枢纽贸易委员会

to breed one standardized crop.

鼓励玉米种植者 种植一种标准化作物。

This dream would finally be realized at 1893’s World’s Fair,

这一梦想最终在 1893 年的 世界博览会上得以实现，

where James Reid’s yellow dent corn won the Blue Ribbon.

詹姆斯 · 里德（James Reid）的黄马牙玉米 在会上赢得了蓝丝带奖。

Over the next 50 years, yellow dent corn swept the nation.

在接下来的 50 年中， 黄马牙玉米席卷整个美国。

Following the technological developments of World War II,

随着二战期间的技术发展，

mechanized harvesters became widely available.

机械收割机开始广泛普及。

This meant a batch of corn that previously took a full day to harvest by hand

这意味着以前人工一天所收获的玉米，

could now be collected in just 5 minutes.

现在只需 5 分钟就收获完毕。

Another wartime technology, the chemical explosive ammonium nitrate,

另一种战时技术化学炸药硝酸铵，

also found new life on the farm.

在农场也找到了新用途。

With this new synthetic fertilizer,

有了这种新的合成肥料，

farmers could plant dense fields of corn year after year,

农民就可以年复一年地 在地里密集种植玉米，

without the need to rotate their crops and restore nitrogen to the soil.

无需轮作种植以恢复土壤中的氮。

While these advances made corn an attractive crop to American farmers,

尽管这些进步使玉米 成为美国农民喜欢种植的作物，

US agricultural policy limited the amount farmers could grow

但为确保玉米高售价，

美国农业政策 限制了农民种植玉米数量。

to ensure high sale prices.

But in 1972, President Richard Nixon removed these limitations

但是在 1972 年，理查德 · 尼克松总统 （Richard Nixon）取消了这些限制，

while negotiating massive grain sales to the Soviet Union.

同时谈判向苏联出售大量谷物。

With this new trade deal and WWII technology,

通过这项新的贸易协议 和二战期间的技术，

corn production exploded into a global phenomenon.

玉米产量猛增成为全球现象。

These mountains of maize inspired numerous corn concoctions.

大量的玉米催生了无数玉米制品。

Cornstarch could be used as a thickening agent for everything from gasoline to glue

玉米淀粉可用作增稠剂， 从汽油到胶水都有使用，

or processed into a low-cost sweetener known as High-Fructose Corn Syrup.

也可以加工成低成本的甜味剂， 称为高果糖浆。

Maize quickly became one of the cheapest animal feeds worldwide.

玉米迅速成为全球 最便宜的动物饲料之一，

This allowed for inexpensive meat production,

这使得肉类生产成本降低，

which in turn increased the demand for meat and corn feed.

进而增加了对肉类 和玉米饲料的需求。

Today, humans eat only 40% of all cultivated corn,

如今，人类食用的玉米 仅占所有种植量的 40％，

while the remaining 60% supports consumer good industries worldwide.

而其余 60％ 支持全球消费品行业。

Yet the spread of this wonder-crop has come at a price.

然而，这种神奇作物的传播 也付出了相应代价。

Global water sources are polluted by excess ammonium nitrate from cornfields.

玉米田中过量的硝酸铵 污染了全球水源，

Corn accounts for a large portion of agriculture-related carbon emissions,

与农业有关的碳排放中， 玉米占了很大比例，

partly due to the increased meat production it enables.

部分原因是，它增加了肉类产量。

The use of high fructose corn syrup may be a contributor to diabetes and obesity.

高果糖浆的使用， 可能是糖尿病和肥胖症的病因。

And the rise of monoculture farming

单一农作物种植模式的兴起，

has left our food supply dangerously vulnerable to pests and pathogens—

使我们的食品供应极易 受到病虫害和病原体的侵害——

a single virus could infect the world’s supply of this ubiquitous crop.

单一病毒可能会感染这种 无处不在的农作物的全球供应。

Corn has gone from a bushy grass

玉米已由丛生禾草

to an essential element of the world’s industries.

成为世界工业的重要组成部分，

But only time will tell if it has led us into a maze of unsustainability.

但是，只有时间才能证明， 它是否令我们陷入了不可持续的迷宫。