WASHINGTON — A New York congressional candidate who made a documentary about the hazards of a corn-fed diet is up to his ears in conflict since his wife owns more than $2 million worth of stock in food companies dependent on corn products, records show.
Aaron Woolf, who owns a Brooklyn organic eatery, slammed corn as the “building block of the fast-food nation” following his 2007 film “King Corn.” But disclosure reports show Woolf’s wife, Carolyn Sicher, owns $1 million in Coke stock and another $1.3 million in Kraft Foods holdings.
Together, the couple also own at least $400,000 worth of stock in McDonald’s — a company Woolf singled out for its fatty corn-fed burgers and high- fructose corn-syrup sodas.
Bill Allison, editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation, a campaign-finance watchdog, called the family investments “strange.”
“You don’t find too many people who are members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving investing in breweries, distilleries and bars,” he said.
A Woolf spokesman declined to comment on the corn-fed holdings, but said the family’s wealth means it can stand up independently for the voters of New York’s 21st Congressional District.
Woolf is vying for the seat of retiring Rep. Bill Owens against Republican Elise Stefanik.