Want to know what the primary ingredient is in most combo meals at fast food eateries? Corn says a new report from the University of Hawaii. By analyzing food from Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Burger King, researchers found that out of 480 meals, only 12 were based on something other than corn. Investigating the sources of hamburgers and chicken sandwiches,  they found that 100 percent of the cows and 93 percent of the chickens had lived on exclusively corn-based diets.

But corn is a vegetable, so what role does it play here? The answer is that corn and, high fructose corn syrup, its unhealthy byproduct, make up a huge part of American diets and are linked to high levels of obesity, heart disease and diabetes in this country.

“In my opinion, we’re experiencing a food awakening in this country,” says Cynthia Sass, a nutritionist in New York City. “More shoppers want to know where their food comes from and how it’s grown. Consumers are starting to think about the traceability of food. They are connecting the dots in the big picture of food production, particularly in terms of how it impacts the environment, our health and the health of our children”