“You call it corn. We call it maize."
Maize is corn for the north Americans who have never heard what the rest of the world calls corn. There was a study done where they took blood and tissue biopsies from volunteers and isotopic analysis of the carbon atoms in those samples from a wide range of Americans who gave the samples. 80% of the carbon in the typical American body can be directly traced to corn. Corn is the basis of the N American food web. It is used to feed every species of livestock in north America who pass that carbon to those who eat it. In addition to all the corn flakes , corn tortillas and corn syrup that Americans guzzle. Diversity in food sources is a good thing ask the Irish and their near total reliance on the potato how than worked out for them. If I was an evil Chinese genius I would develop a corn blight virus that’s not only airbone but also formite spread by animals particularly birds then release it via balloons over the great plains and starve 80% or more of North America to death in a few months time. The survivors would be so weak and hungry they would welcome the Chinese with food rations in. Mexico would be decimated as well. The Canadians get more kcals from barley and red wheat but their livestock is still corn feed.