Green Options

Howard Zinn’s powerful multimedia event, The People Speak premieres this Sunday, December 13th, on the History Channel. The series draws on the experiences of scores of ordinary Americans, and is based on Howard Zinn’s hugely influential books, A People’s History of the United States and Voices of a People’s History of the United States. A cavalcade of artists perform excerpts from diaries, speeches, letters and personal histories, bringing inspiring first hand accounts of our nation’s past to life.

My friend Eliza reads her program during a free performance of The People Speak at San Francisco State University on my birthday earlier this month.

When was the last time any moviegoer hard heard words lysine and high fructose corn syrup in the same movie? I’m not talking about a documentary but rather a major motion picture with real celebrities and budgets and that sort of thing. Those hungry for a “corn- based” movie will be excited to check out the new film “The Informant!” which opens later this week.

While some film fans may be psyched to see the Matt Damon’s newest role as Mark Whitacre, and others queue up too see director Steven Soderbergh do something other than an “Ocean’s” film, my friend and I liked the whole corn based aspect of the film. What other film maybe except for documentary flicks like King Corn, or Food Inc. open with such info about how corn exists in a ridiculous amount of food and even non food items.  The Informant! delves right into the world of the corn based lysine and even high fructose corn syrup (the photo depicts a scene where one of the FBI agents spies yet another product containing high fructose corn syrup).