Over the last couple of weeks, a local delicacy has arrived at farmers' markets and roadside stands: the sweet, white corn that - paired with crabs, burgers, barbecued chicken or grilled fish - offers one of the most exquisite treats of a Chesapeake Bay summer.
Forget the old staple, Silver Queen. Nobody in Maryland seems to grow that anymore. The new stuff is much sweeter, so packed with sugar it doesn't even need salt and melted butter. A couple of ears of a variety grown south of Annapolis called "White Out" could quickly become a habit.
What's troubling is that the whole country has a corn habit and it's spinning out of control, threatening the environment as well as the national waistline.
Federal energy policies demanding greater use of ethanol as a supplement to fossil fuels have spurred an 18 percent increase in farmland devoted to corn over the past year, growing to a total of nearly 93 million acres - more than at any time in the past half-century.
New demand may mean rich rewards for farmers who have toiled for years in return for prices lower than their costs, but there are downsides:
Farmland is limited, so new acreage for corn means less for other crops, including soybeans, wheat and cotton.
Corn requires more fertilizer than other crops. In the absence of rigorous conservation programs, this means nitrogen washes into nearby waterways, prompting the growth of algae that creates summer dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Chesapeake Bay.
Corn is not nearly as efficient or wildlife-friendly a source for ethanol as other options, such as cellulose or switch grass. It's just the cheapest and most readily available.
Corn is grown primarily for animal feed and sweeteners, thus higher prices for corn are passed to consumers in the cost of products such as beef, chicken, soft drinks and candy.
That last point might seem a blessing in disguise. High fructose corn syrup is a key component in high-calorie junk food, a major source of the nation's epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Higher prices might make such food less appealing.
But a drive is underway in Congress to eliminate or at least sharply reduce federal subsidies for grain crops such as corn in order to create a more competitive market for fruits and vegetables, which are more expensive, in part because they get no federal subsidies. That's a better tactic than bidding up corn prices by encouraging production of more corn-based ethanol.
This national craziness over corn comes cloaked in the highest of purposes: weaning Americans off oil. Renewable biofuels advance the cause of independence from foreign energy sources and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.
Less admirably, required ethanol production builds demand for a crop that politicians have subsidized for years because of the political clout of the huge factory farms and agribusinesses that dominate the Midwest and get most of the money.
Environmental groups tend to have the same ambivalence toward corn as those who love it on their picnic table but aren't sure they want to pay the price of putting it in their fuel tank. Cleaner options are available, but not soon. Meanwhile, those greenhouse gases just keep heating up the atmosphere.
What might help tip the balance in the short term would be if Congress were to provide farmers with generous help in mitigating the environmental damage caused by growing corn - money for cover crops, buffer zones, no-till farming and shore erosion repair. Maryland has been employing such practices for years, but never with enough financial support to achieve its goals.
The switchover to environmentally kinder crops could come as the technology makes it practical.
Meanwhile, make tracks to the nearest roadside stand to pick up a dozen ears of that first-planting sweet stuff for dinner tonight. It might be pure sugar, but the fiber's good for you. Everything's a trade-off.