This is the VOA Special EnglishAGRICULTURE REPORT.
Americans love popcorn. They eat it at home, at sports events,and in movie theaters. Popcorn has smaller pieces or kernels thanother kinds of corn. The kernels have a hard outside shell and asoft center. When the kernels are heated, the outside shells burst.The soft centers expand and become filled with air. The resultingpopcorn looks like small, white balls of cotton.
Corn grows on the parts of the plant commonly called “ears.”Corn, including popcorn, was developed in North and South Americathousands of years ago.The oldest ears of popcorn were discovered inthe American state of New Mexico. They were reported to be more thanfive-thousand years old. In Peru, scientists discoveredone-thousand-year-old popcorn kernels in a human burial area.
Early explorers to the Americas were the first Europeans to seepopcorn. Four hundred years ago, French explorers saw members of theIroquois native American tribe make popcorn with heated sand in aclay container. They said the Iroquois used popcorn to make a liquidfood, or soup.
The Europeans who settled in North America loved popcorn. Somecolonial families ate popcorn with sugar and milk for their firstmeal of the day.
In the United States, popcorn became very popular during thefirst part of the twentieth century. Large and small businesses soldpopcorn wherever crowds gathered.
Today, the United States produces almost all of the world’spopcorn. Farmers must choose the right time to harvest popcorn. Itis best to delay harvesting until the corn is fully developed.However, farmers also must guard against corn plants falling down orbecoming too wet.
American farmers use machines to pick the ears of corn from theplants. After picking, the corn must be dried. There are differentways to dry and store popcorn for future use. Some growers likenatural air-drying. Others use large machines.
After drying, the corn is taken to a processing center. Machinesremove the kernels from the ears. Separators and other equipmentremove damaged kernels or other material. Then, the kernels are sentthrough machines that clean them. After that, the popcorn isprepared to be sent to stores.
This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by GeorgeGrow.