In Guatemala, corn fields are everywhere. For example, consider Tikal, it is in the heart of the humid jungle yet used to be a Mayan city 1000 years ago with a

In Guatemala, corn fields are everywhere. For example, consider Tikal, it is in the heart of the humid jungle yet used to be a Mayan city 1000 years ago with a population of 100-200k people in the near vicinity (population density estimates put it in the same category as LA county). They cleared vast swaths of the jungle to cultivate corn. Today you see a similar pattern among the poor, indigenous Guatemalans, though on smaller scales. As I drive through the country, I'm always astounded at how many corn fields are in the middle of a forest or on a seemingly inaccessible hillside. The majority of these rural poor are still cultivating corn by hand using techniques inherited from their ancestors. As corn was domesticated there, they have found ways to cultivate it that are very different from the industrial farms on flatland in Iowa.