Corn People

Descendants of the Maya living in Mexico still sometimes refer to themselves as the corn people. The phrase is not intended as a metaphor . Rather, it's meant to acknowledge their abiding dependence on this miraculous grass, the staple of their diet for almost nine thousand years. Forty percent of the calories a Mexican eats in a day comes directly from corn, most of it in the form of tortillas. So when a Mexican says I am maize or corn walking, it is simply a statement of fact: The very substance of the Mexican body is to a considerable extent a manifestation of this plant.