We need it for the ethanol.  Truly, I'm dumbfounded:

U of I Vice President for Student Services Philip Jones canceled a corn-on-the-cob eating contest scheduled for today as part of the "Beat State Week" celebration leading up to the Iowa-Iowa State football game because the corn contest "encourages gluttony," he said.

"I don't know that anyone can say that's a healthy concept," Jones said of the event planned by the U of I Alumni Association.

It could have been worse.  It could have been a pie eating contest.  At least corn is a vegetable.