genetic criminal urges and corn

[Anal_Scurvy]

Here are two statements I’ve come across in my readings recently that I’ve raised eyebrows at. They are unrelated, but I didn’t feel like starting two GQ threads.

So, are these statements correct? (Neither came with a bibliography.)

From Lethal Intent, by Sue Russell:

“Being raised by adoptive parents with a criminal record increases the probability that a child will follow suit. But studies have shown that the biological legacy of criminality is even more powerful than the environment in determining the outcome of the child. Even if that child is removed from the parent soon after birth (or, in Aileen’s case, before it) and raised in a different envirionment, the odds are that they will be a chip off the old block.”

And the second statement…
From Eat Yourself Slim, by Michel Montignac:

"Maize has been cultivated for centuries, but has only been eaten by human beings for a few decades. Forty years ago, not a tin of sweetcom was to be found in Europe, where maize was grown exclusively as an animal feed.

In the United States, too, it was used to fatten cattle until the drought of 1929 decimated herds and ruined farmers in the Midwest. Faced with the real famine that ensued, the hungry population no longer had beef available, so decided to eat the cattle feed, or what was left of it.

And that is how America took to eating ‘corn’, a habit that was exported to Europe in the 40s with the post-war American occupation."

Michel then goes on to explain that man was not meant to eat corn: corn was used to make animals fat and now it’s making humans fat. (Don’t refute this paraphrase, just the stuff I quoted, please.)

[sugaree]

I can’t remember any numbers, but statistics (yeah, whatever they’re worth) do indicate that adoptive children tend to take after their criminal biological parents. My problem with that statement is that I am not sure if studies have distinguished between children who were adopted at birth and children who were with their biological parents for a while.

If your quote there is in reference to Aileen Wuornos, she was adopted by her maternal grandparents, thus remaining within the family as a whole. Although she didn’t know her child molester father, she claimed to be molested by her adoptive father/biological grandfather.

As for corn, it was a staple of the Native American diet, and I doubt obesity ran rampant across the Pre-Columbian Americas. I am doubtful about the 1929 date since Corn Flakes were invented sometimes in the 1800s and mass marketed before WWI. Kellogg’s Corn Flakes was a household name by 1929. In addition, selective breeding has turned cow corn and human corn into very different foods. I’ve tasted cattle feed corn. Yuck.

Polenta is a cornmeal mush (but oh so much more than that). My great-grandparents told me that polenta was a staple of their diets, more so than pasta, in pre-WWI northern Italy. I did a search and found a site that claims that maize was introduced to Italy in the 17th century.

[Acsenray]

It would be best to separate unrelated topics into separate threads.

[sugaree]

Yes, I clicked on the thread to find out what effect corn had on genetic criminal urges.

You know, the longer I sit here trying to work, the more pre-1929 references to cornbread and johnny cake and kids popping popcorn and slaves recieving their rations of cornmeal come to mind. 1929 my corn-fed ass.

[DocCathode]

@sugaree

Polenta is a cornmeal mush (but oh so much more than that). My great-grandparents told me that polenta was a staple of their diets, more so than pasta, in pre-WWI northern Italy. .

This polenta sounds quite similar to mammeliga, a staple around the Ukraine and Romania. My greatgrandmother apparently cooked mammeliga often. She came to this country around 1915.

I’ve read numerous references in textbooks to the pilgrims eating corn.

More, it makes no sense for humans not to eat corn, but grow it exclusively as cattle feed. Cattle, sheep and other ruminants can digest cellulose. They can get all the food they need grazing in unfarmed meadows. Clearing a field, plowing it, seeding it, watering it, keeping out birds, rats, bugs, watching for fungal infections etc would be a massive waste of resources if the only purpose was to feed cattle. On the other hand, all that work is worthwhile if it results in more food for the human population.

[sugaree]

@DocCathode

This polenta sounds quite similar to mammeliga, a staple around the Ukraine and Romania. My greatgrandmother apparently cooked mammeliga often. She came to this country around 1915.

How was it eaten? And with what? I’m just curious.

Polenta is firmer in texture than some types of cornmeal mush I’ve seen. In Italy, my family ate it with rabbit. My grandmother serves chicken and polenta with gravy; my husband’s grandmother makes chicken and polenta with a thin red sauce. A wine sauce, not a tomato sauce. There is always leftover polenta. My grandmother eats it scrambled with brick cheese; she fried it and topped it with maple syrup for my grandfather. She says that was how the Americans ate their mush.

Polenta is too thick to be stirred with a spoon. It must be stirred with a thick wooden implement known as the polenta stick. The polenta stick has a vital role in Italian homes: it is used for beating, or more frequently, threatening unruly children.

[DocCathode]

I’ll have to ask the relatives. I only encountered mammeliga a year or so ago. My family took me to a restaurant called Transylvania, which promised authentic Transyslvanian food. I feared some velvet laden place based on an Anne Rice novel. Instead, the place was a nice mom and pop restaurant serving what the add promised. At first, some of the relatives feared that Transylvanian/Romanian food would be bizzare and inedible. A quick scan of the menu resulted in shouts of joy and recognition. Many of the foods were things my Ukkrainian great grandparents use to cook all the time. Somebody asked about a side dish. When they were told the ingredients, they said ‘Oh! You mean mammeliga!’. Uncle Max told us the corn meal mush was indeed just like mom used to make.

[Insert non-functional smacky here]
I’ve got a relative who is a gourmet chef, and comes from a very Italian family. I’ll just ask him.

[Bill_Door]

Another potential cause of criminal behavior is lead exposure. Here is a link to a study by the Medical College of Wisconsin linking the two. I thought about his last week when I heard the test results of Washington DC’s public water. Here is a link to that. DC has long had a reputation for being the murder capital of the US, Another link. I wonder why the connection is not more talked about.