“What is the name of your program?” That was a question we got at about every stop we made, and our host(s) were always amused when we simply said “Farm”. Although it was not creative, an acronym, or an initialization, it fit just right. Farm was an experience that taught all of us and affected us each in a different way. We were not told one side of the story, ever, but got a broad spectrum viewpoint from all types of people. Farm affected me specifically by opening my eyes to how much work and thought goes into farming. From the math to the sustainable research, from the mechanics to the technology, and from seed to product, farmers really do it all. On top of that, they do it with heart. There was not one farmer we met that did not love his family, community, or job. With farming being such a tough industry and one in which many people watch, will they break even this year; the people that do it really have the best interest in mind and are devoted to feeding the world. I have gained such a respect for farmers and am thankful that they do the backbreaking job that they do because we honestly could not live without them.

I have also gained new perspective on environmental factors. It is true that farmer’s spray their fields with harmful pesticides and enrich their soil with nitrogen, which has a negative effect on waterways, but what we don’t think about is that they don’t want to ruin the land. It is what keeps their livelihood afloat. They are not going to dump any more nitrogen on the field than they need because that costs them money. They have begun to use tractors that put out cleaner air than they take in. They have incorporated buffer strips and other no-till practices into their line of production because they don’t want their soil eroding. They need their soil to produce their seeds, some of which are GMOs, that have been tested and declared safe, and save them from over spraying  as well as using excess water. The technology is so advanced that it can go through a field and adjust the amount of nitrogen it puts down depending on the plant’s needs. Conventional farmers, not all, but most are doing the best they can for the environment as well as the people and they deserve a lot more respect, I believe, than they get.

I am also thankful for organic farmers and that we have the option to choose which food product we want. I know there needs to be a coexistence and there is not one perfect or right way. If it were all conventional, the soil quality would decrease, but if it was all organic, there would be no capabilities to feed the world and prices would dramatically increase. This is the same for livestock. I learned about both ways of raising livestock and although a gestation barn doesn’t sound too great, it does not seem to be having a negative effect on the animals. All of Brent’s pigs were calm and docile, that would not be the case if they hated their lifestyle, and I feel that as long as there is no harm to the animals and they are treated well, it is okay. The pigs were air conditioned, heated, looked after and given constant water. They seemed very content to me. After this trip, I will not focus on organic vs. conventional when looking at what food to buy, but I will try to buy local more. I will go to farmers markets and support my local community as much as I can, but am not against eating conventionally grown foods or GMOs.

Another thing I am taking away is knowledge about the politics of farming. It is a messy situation and there is no easy or quick fix. Crop insurance is very important to these farmers and makes their risk manageable, but could change at any time with the Farm Bill. Also, pesticide drift. There are so many issues revolving around it that it will be an ongoing debate in the future. Another complicated issue is water quality. How to keep the water clean and keep the dead zone from growing because of the actions of farmers? How do we get farmers to change their traditional practices, but also get people to comply? There is no single group to point a finger at or blame, and that makes it difficult to create change. I will stay involved in each and every one of the issues as time goes on and am curious to see what comes of it; especially if we run out of water in 20 years. That will be interesting to watch play out.

Overall, I am very thankful I got to go on this trip and really did experience a once in a lifetime opportunity. There is so much that I learned and so much that interested me that I will keep up with throughout my life. I am glad that when I go into the store now and see Non-GMO labeled, I will know exactly what that means; and when I see why the organic is priced so high, I will know all the work that went behind that, like hand picking weeds. This MayX really did open my eyes and made me aware of the food that surrounds me every day. It is something I did not really think about before, but now will never forget.

Today began with the refreshing scent of hog manure. Walking into the confinement, however, I will admit it did not smell as bad as I was expecting, but when I left I did notice not the most pleasant smell following me around. We visited hog barns from farrowing to finishing and saw pigs of each and every size. Unfortunately, with the PEDv outbreak, Brent had less than half of his normal number of pigs in the finishing barn. PEDv is a huge virus that has effected numerous farms and was the reason we were not able to visit more. It was very nice of the Friest to let us in given the circumstances because it hit him especially given that all the pigs he raises are farrow-to finish; so if all they babies die, there goes his income. This is different than people who just get the pigs delivered, and raise them until market because those pigs are insured. They get the pay check no matter what and are not dealing with the dead babies because their pigs are not producing. Now farrow-to-finsih barns are rare and in Hardin county; there are only 2 people who raise pigs this style. The county is dominated by corporate hog barns, not family-owned farrow-to-finish operations.  Something that has improved Brent’s breeding process though is AI, or artificially inseminationl.  Boars tease the sows to come into heat and then Brent sticks a small tube into a sow’s uterus, which inserts the semen. He said one container has about 10 billion semen and costs about 5 dollars. The sows do not mind this process and what was interesting to me was that when a sow is in heat, you can apply a lot of pressure to its back and they will not move at all. Another indicator is to watch a sow’s ears. Side note about their ears, they use as markers to easily keep track of the month they were born. The notches in the pig’s ear indicates numbers getting larger the higher up they go up. If a pig has a few notches, you add them up dependent on the location.

There seems to be a lot of controversy on the way pigs are managed. In the gestation barns they are able to stand, sit, and lay down, but not turn around. The big question here is, is this okay? Brent mentioned to us that this method prevents them from hurting each other because they can be rough, so it is a form of protection. Also in the barn, they were not too wild or mean. If they were truly unhappy with their lifestyle, I feel like they would be more aggressive which they were not at all. They do have different circumstances as they move from barn to barn also, so it is not like they are in one spot forever. In the finisher barn they are together and are able to move as they choose. I do not believe this is an inhumane way to raise pigs, but at the same time I am not apposed to the way Niman Ranch does it either. There is room for coexistence in farming, which is something I have seen a lot of on this trip. We could not sustain everything off of only free range livestock and organic farming. It is nice that people who really want that option have it, but overall there is a crucial need for conventional farming.

Our second stop was to Practical Farmers of Iowa where we met with Liz Kolbe. The main thing I took away was, the issues related to pesticide drift. How do you know where it came from? How do you know what chemicals it is? Is it safe to eat? How do you treat you plants if they begin to die from it? If you are organic, do you lose your certification for three years because of the drift? How do you ensure it will not happen again? There are just so many things that go into this issue, and it is so hard for people to find answers. I never thought about this topic in depth, but it is a HUGE one. In Minnesota in 2012, it resulted a signficant legal case in which an organic farmer got drifted on and called his organic certifiier who said the farmer couldn’t sell his produce and to till his fields. When he went to court, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that he should not have been directed to plow his crops into the soil and could have still sold it saying it was organic because he himself did not spray the pesticides. This is scary to the consumer as well as the farmer because he/she takes a lot of pride in being organic and does not want to sell a phony product to his/her customers. Pesticide drift is a big issue and still continuing to trouble farmers because there are so many unanswered questions about the issue.

The last thing we did was go to the Fiscus farm and deliver baby chicks. They were so cute and so fun to hold. We dipped their beaks in water so they knew how to drink and then placed them under the heat lamp. They were adorable and a great last thing to do!!

Pigglet

Baby chick!

The Leopold Center was our first stop today at Iowa State College. There we met with Fred Kirschenmann and Matt Liebman. Fred was the former head of the Leopold Center and in the movie, My Fathers Garden, where he was featured as an organic farmer. He spoke with us today about the problems arising from and the negative effects of human choices on planet Earth. His main points were that we are robbing the soil of its nutrients, draining the Earth of her water, and consuming all the cheap energy. In 1987, the Iowa legislature passed The Ground Water Protection Act, creatingthe Leopold Center as well as set aside funding for research on the effects of pollutants on health, and exploring issues related to farming and water quality. This was passed after the scare of Blue Baby syndrome that hit two families in Iowa, and as Fred said, the legislation would probably not pass today. The Leopold Center cannot be advocates for a particular position, but it can make its research readily available for either side to argue. They have not solved all the problems with the water quality, which was something the Environmental Agency was working on as well, but is too complex to be easily fixed. Another thing that tied to what we talked about yesterday (with members of the Iowa House) is that farmers need incentives to change their practices and with a demand for corn high, they do not want to take acres out of production, especially if they still get paid with the insurance coverage. Fred was also focused on the crisis coming that lies down the road–when we will be out of fresh water. But as he says, “sometimes moments of crisis are moments of grace” because they wake us up and give us reason and incentives to change the way we have been acting in the past years with farming techniques. We need to treat the soil well and keep it healthy, so we can continue to get life from it, without spraying chemicals all over it. Although he had a more doomsday view on the limited water we have left and the poor soil we are creating, he was positive when it came to the fact that young people are getting into farming and that this new movement of farmers are largely focusing on farming organically. He mentioned how well Nebraska has done because the legislature there (with help from the Center for Rural Policy) created a tax benefit for farmers who sell their land to new farmers. Again with proper incentives, positive changes happen.

Matt was a bit more on the optimistic side. His background was more on the science (agronomy) side, and he was confident that whatever happens in the future, science will find a way to fix it. There will be different attempts and new ideas, but nothing will be completely gone. His focus was on re-integrating livestock, conservation of un-farmable land, and returning native vegetation to Iowa. I prefer the optimistic view for the future.

The next thing we did was go to Monsanto. There we met with Rachel and Dave who were less on the science side and more focused on taking our questions and explaining what they actually do, and discussing what they termed the misconceptions about Monsanto. I really liked that we had a lot of time for questions because that focused the conversation how we wanted it to go. What I did not know was that even though they do sell GMO seeds, they also sell organic seeds to farmers. I also liked that when thinking about their products, they begin with first with the farmer in mind. They were thinking about what they could do best for the farmer, not informing the public that it was okay, because it was known to them that if they made it and sold it to their community, it was safe. I think they are at the disadvantage of the uninformed public who just hears Genetically Modified and thinks its automatically bad. They have now created a place for people to call in or email questions about GMOs to clear the air that they are safe, but at the same time they have not lost focus on the farmer. They now have an app that is called ClimateCorp and it tells the farmer everything about his field from rain fall to heat index without him having to even walk outside. I really like that they keep the farmer at heart because it is the farmer that matters. Also, I think they relate to the argument that we talked about earlier in the day that we are running out of water. Well, if you have a plant that adapts to use less water and is safe, by all means use it! There is no need to waste resources when we do not need to. I did like visiting the Monsanto group and find nothing wrong with GMOs. That is finally the stance I have taken on them. I understand that insects will evolve, but so will the seeds they are currently making. I look at it as evolution. We evolved as humans and nobody is complaining and wishing to go back to being a homo-habilis because that was safer, so why are they complaining about seeds that we have helped to evolve? I think if the people who just buy the non-GMO label because they think it sounds better came out to Iowa to farm, they would change their mind quickly when they were out there on their hands and knees picking weeds from their non-GMO plants.

This morning we got a nice break from animals and corn fields. We got to explore Iowa City for a few hours. I got my much needed girly fix by getting my nails done and buying a bracelet. I also bought a ring at a more “hipster” store and got called out for being a preppy girl, and she told me I was taking a step in the right direction buying something hipster… whatever that means. Once we got back together we went to Mary Mascher, a Democratic Iowa House Representatives’s, house. There we met with Mary, Sally, Jim, Lance and a few others to discuss policies, practices, and politics. The discussion began with Jim describing Iowa. He told us it was the state with the most changed landscape, smallest amount of public land, highest density of roads, and full of corn and soybeans. His questions with the way things are being run now was, is the the right way? Is this sustainable? Sally responded with the reoccurring conflict that we have been discussing this whole trip. Conventional vs. Organic in looking at the economics and sustainable issues with both. If the conventional farmer is going to have the big equipment they need the high yield to pay for it. Also with corn prices going up, everyone wants to plant as much as possible. On the sustainable side, they want incentives to plant grass waterways because that land contains acres they could be making money off of with planting corn. The economic factor plays a bigger role in the conventional farms than the sustainable. They want to feed the world and the way they see to do that is with chemicals. There is a however a coexistence of organic farmers in the mix, who do have sustainability in mind more, but they cannot mass produce the food the conventional farmers can. It is important, I think, that they work together. You will not convince all conventional farmers to go organic, but you can slowly get them to change their ways to be more sustainable. But, we still need both kinds of farmers.

Another big topic discussed was population and our negative effects on the Earth. The population is continuing to grow, but according to Jim there will not be a decent world for them to live in. There will be no more wild fish, he believes, because of the way we fish with large nets and the soil will be in worse condition than it is now. Jim’s way to fix this is by fixing yourself. He said you can’t change others, but you can change yourself. Then he went on a rant about how we need to be skeptical because we are not as smart as we think we are. He claimed the doctors didn’t have a clue about how the brain works. I know that we don’t have everything figured out just yet, but I do not agree that we are just “advanced monkeys” as he called us.I think we have a lot to thank doctors for and give them major respect and thanks for all they have done to better our health. I mean life expectancy has nearly double, and he thinks we don’t have doctors and modern medicine to thank for that? He is wrong there in my opinion.

Another interesting thing discussed was the fact that Republicans don’t 100% attribute climate change to humans and Democrats don’t believe science when it says GMOs are safe. That is interesting to me and I don’t really know why this is. Mary was telling us to be skeptical about what we are told as well. It was a little bit scary to hear her say not to always trust the government though. But I do agree you can’t always believe what you hear and it will be interesting to see if any new information comes out in my life time about GMOs or global warming. It will also be interesting to see how farming changes as well in the future. There is no telling what will happen because so many things go into it that are too complicated for us to find a solution for yet.

The day began with another one of those business meetings. Entering it, I was scared I would be lost in the technical terms, but I came out surprised and full of knowledge about crop insurance. Renae Zoske spoke with us today, keeping in mind we were not business people. I thought she did a very good job of explaining everything with ease. I now know that if I were to have crops, my insurance would cover 65-85% of my yield and revenue loss, and hail, wind, or other insurance can cover the rest. Many farmers do use the insurance system as a way to manage their risk. Renae said that up to 90% of farm land in America is covered by insurance, which proves the system we have now is working. What she does not want to happen is farmers to self insure or changes to occur in the amount of money put into the crop insurance subsidy. Either of these changes could come about if the Obama Administration’s desire to lower the crop insurance subsidy in 2015 materializes, but Renee is hoping that things do not change too much. The system is complex already and involves 10 years of past yields going into the calculations of the amount of insurance they will receive. One bad year can really hurt a farmer because it will stay with them for 10 years. There are hundreds of acronyms that go into crop insurance and changing what farmers are used to and understand, especially with cutting the funds that go to them will negatively effect farming as a whole.

The next place we went was Seed Savers Exchange, which was really cool! It started with a couple who wanted to save the seeds that were important to their family. They wrote into a popular magazine and found others who were interested in saving seeds as well. Once all these seeds began to gather in their home they realized they needed a farm and more space. They moved to Iowa and began what is now Seed Savers Exchange which employs over 60 persons and has grown in size over the past forty years. It was so fascinating how many seeds they have collected over the years, keeping some from extinction. They now sell some of the seeds to the public and are working on mass producing others so they can expand even more. It was an awesome place, and I love what they are doing there to preserve seeds for the next generation.

The last thing we did was watch a movie on the importance of preserving the natural soil and not polluting it with chemicals. It was called My Father’s Garden and was focused on treating the land with respect and working with it, rather than against it by covering it in chemicals. One person in it had a large-scale organic farm and that is something we haven’t really seen. All the organic farms we have been to have been small, CSA farms and it was neat to see how organic can be done on such a large scale. I agree that we need to take care of our soil, so it can take care of us.

5:30 A.M. is when our day began as we ventured our way down to the Cory Farm. The first thing we participated in was the milking of the goats. It was a skill to squeeze the utter just right but as soon as I got it down, it was very easy. You have to squeeze at the upper part and bring that pressure down with the rest of your hand so it goes out. It was cool to do, and the goat was very calm. The next thing we did was move the fence so that the sheep and cattle could graze in a new area of the pasture. They move the fence daily, so the sheep and cows have new grass to eat as well as to keep all of the land fertilized. It was easy to move and was also electrically charged at 4, which Mr. Cory, our host said keeps the predators out. The way he moved the sheep from one area to another was awesome. He just called, “Sheep, sheep, sheep” and the whole herd came running towards him. It was like he was a sheep whisperer. Once they were moved, we went to the wet land part of the land and took some water out of the ground to water the sheep and cattle, since there is no other source of water for the animals in the pasture. The animals drink about 300 gallons a day, so they had to make sure they had enough water daily because the heat was so strong and their was no shade available. Once all of this was done we laid some baled hay down for them to munch on because they aren’t used to an all-grass diet just yet, and we took a sick lamb out of the field. It was so sad listening to it cry in pain because it couldn’t breath with the respiratory issue it was having. Tom said it was a twin and must not have developed right in the womb. When we got back to the house, it had unfortunately died. It was really sad. After the animals, it was time to work in the garden. We laid down cardboard, and topped it with mulch compost to keep the weeds from growing. I had never seen this practice before, but they said in a few months it would all be gone. Finally it was time for lunch and a break from the heat. We went inside and ate the asparagus we picked earlier that morning along with lamb chops, bread, and potatoes. The sides were good, but I did not eat the lamb. The fermented vegetables were not my favorite either. They were big on the idea that we should not eat processed food and wanted to distance themselves from all additives in food. They mentioned that gluten was in every item in the grocery store except the laundry aisle. Also, as we know from King Corn, high fructose corn syrup is in many items as well. They ensured that their children ate healthy and natural and did not want them having foods that were processed. They told us that they had more energy and felt better than they had been before when they had the normal food which is what the people from Fed Up said as well. I thought it was also interesting the home remedies that they had. They have done a lot of research and reading about what to mix and what naturally works to heal the body. I thought that was cool and something you don’t see too often. I will definitely try some of the home remedies if I get the chance or for some minor things, but if anything major happens I will for sure be going to the hospital. The Cory family seemed very on top of things and very busy as well. I liked visiting their farm, but wish we had a little more time just to talk. I was curious about their views on natural death and other things, but i did enjoy the time there.

The next thing we did was go to the ethanol plant. We learned the steps that were involved in turing corn into ethanol. It seemed similar to the biodiesel plant though. He went through the steps from corn to ethanol and: you grind up the corn, mix it with water, add enzymes to break down the starch, disk the mill, so the liquid goes through and pulls out the fiber, then they grind it, do the process of liquefaction to let the sugar break up the enzymes, ferment it, add yeast and enzymes to create sugar that the yeast will consume. Next they ferment it, distill it, purify it, and remove the 5% excess water, and lastly add natural gas to poison it so there is not trouble with people trying to steal 200 proof alcohol. It was cool to see the all the steps involved and to stand on the corn grate. All in all it was a busy day, but a neat one.

Also, we stopped at the store and got Kombucha. It is an acquired taste, but not necessarily bad. The only thing that was a little weird is you cannot shake it. I thought it was good to try and will try to get my taste buds more acquired to the taste because it is so good for you.

Where to even begin?

I will start with the movie Farmland. I thought it was a good portrayal of farmers, and I know it was made to change their public image because that is something they really care about. The public is very uninformed about what its like to be a farmer, what they do, and where food comes from, so I am glad they are trying to inform the public as well as create a good image of the farmer. The movie was very family based which is something that is a huge motif here. Every farm we have been to has told us about the family history of the land and how much help they have gotten from their family. It is great to see such strong ties and how the family really is the center of life here. Another thing that it accurately portrayed was the amount of work that goes into farming. It is a lot of hard work as well as the knowledge you need to succeed. The movie did mention how they many of those featured in the film left the farm for college and then returned to pursue farming. I thought it was interesting, and I was very proud that I knew everything happening because we already had learned about it or done it ourselves.

The next thing to mention would be the Blue Gate Farm, which is an organic farm run by Jill and Sean. The farm is 100% chemical free, and there are 52 members in Blue Gate’s CSA. Jill and Sean also do farmers markets, which is different from the other organic farms we have visited such as Table Top. I asked them if the time and effort that goes into the markets are worth it, and she said absolutely yes! They do farmers markets to keep their name out there in the minds of people, to keep them visible as well as to know their customers. They get to create a strong relationship with the community when they go to the Farmers Market and they get to sell the extra stuff that is left over after CSA boxes go out. They also mentioned that the customer feedback has done a lot for their farm. One customer recommended that Jill make a jam, and it has become their most popular online jam. Like many farmers, they were also connected to their family and that is why they have the land to farm. Even though they are surrounded by their family farms, they were still effected by a pesticide overspray incident coming from the neighboring land. Jill’s Uncle had hired a guy to spray for him while he was away and the pesticide applicator was unaware that Jill and Sean’s farm followed organic principles.  Moreover, he sprayed on a windy day, which was illegal, and as a result of this incident their vegetables on that portion of the farm were affected.  They had lots of concerns, among them how to communicate with their CSA members; while they offered to buy out the shares of their members, only one member took them up on that offer.  However, their customers stayed loyal to them throughout the tough year and that really says something good about the community feel here in Iowa.

Today we went to the Hardin County Extension Office, which is more or less the campus of Iowa State in Hardin County, and we learned that there are people in every state there to help you when you have questions. They range anywhere from how to remove stains to how to raise a child to how to take care of crops. It seems like a very practical and useful resource. I had never heard about these, but can already see how beneficial they are. The information was endless and they really seemed to care about the community, which I liked.

When we talked to the government people I found it interesting that they were the last to find out what the regulations were on the new Farm Bill. She mentioned reading about the changes in the law in her husband’s farming magazines before she knew the fate of a particular rule, which was very concerning. I would want the people helping me out to be the first people informed.

The next thing we did was talk to Phil Kramer, who is field representative with Niman Ranch. He was very informative on how the company operates and how much they have animal welfare at its heart. They seemed like a strong company who focused on the farmer, not just their business. I thought it was great that they held a yearly farmers’ dinner and also gave scholarships to their kids. It was a company with the right intentions I felt. The way they treated pigs also seemed to be very humane and better than the confinements. I liked that they were able to be outside, and they had room to roam around. The only concern I had was the manure management. They had no specific regulations as a company, but ensured they follow the government ones. I do think they treat their farmers well as well as the pigs and would support them if I saw their product in the stores. However, I understand that this practice is not reasonable for all companies to do because there just is not enough land. I am not opposed to confinements as long as the pigs are cared for and treated with respect. They have come a long way in improving the hog barns, and I hope they continue to do so.

The last session of the day was talking to Denny and Caleb Knutson (the elderly neighbor of the Neubauers) about tiling. Before, when tiling was mentioned I thought of the bathroom floor, but now I know it is a water drainage system set up under the ground in Iowa to make it possible to farm the historic wetlands of North Central Iowa. Caleb also told us it was not originally done so farmers could plant row crops; rather, the wetlands needed to be converted to grow grass for cattle. Also, the amount of labor it took to do these before was very intensive, and Denny and Caleb mentioned that the original tiles were put in by immigrants who drank heavily.  Now it is very easy to do; you just use a machine. The tile has changed as well. It used to be foot long clay circles with a diameter of about 6″, but now they are plastic and about 18″ in width. There are slits in this plastic so the water can leak through unlike before when it just went through the cracks. There has been such improvement in farming and it was fun to hear them laugh about old times. My favorite story was that they used to go buy dynamite and stick it on big rocks to blow them up and so they could pick them up to take them off the farm land. It was really nice getting the information from such experts and people who really have been around to see significant changes in farming.

The day began with a Memorial Day service at the Radcliffe Cemetery. We honored those who served in the previous wars by reading out all of the names of the veterans. There were soldiers from the Spanish-American War all the way to the Vietnam War. There were soldiers from both the Confederate as well as the Union side of the Civil War, as well as a few women mentioned, one being a nurse. It was a nice ceremony, and I am glad we showed our respect to those who served our country and fought for our freedom. They really are the super heroes of the nation, as the speaker was saying.

When we got back to the farm, we got to go in the garden and pull weeds. Dalona planted us a garden before we came and we saw the effects that happen to a garden if you don’t care for it for a few weeks. The weeds had taken over, but with all of us working together we got those weeds out efficiently and had the garden looking nice.

The next part of our day was spent watching the movie, Symphony of the Soil and learning the perspective of organic farming and treating the soil as the most important aspect. The Green Revolution introduced putting nitrogen into the soil to increase productivity. This brought about the demand for pesticides as well. Putting the nitrogen in the soil brakes down the carbon in the field so the plants can feed on them. What they are trying to encourage now is the no-till practice. With 1/3 of the land being unusable for farming because of erosion, no till has become a popular practice in some quarters because it is more natural and allows earth worms to aerate the soil, making it healthier. There are also farmers like Denny Friest, however, that do till the land to stimulate the decomposition, and he believes it produces a higher yield for him that way. He is also uses less nitrogen on his field to improve water quality, so the environment is improved even though he isn’t practicing no-till like the movie wanted. The movie’s main point was that they wanted all that was taken out of the soil to be returned to it, and so the soil is so rich that GMOs are not needed.  The movie’s perspective was that biotechnology would not solve the problem of feeding a planet with 9 billion (the projected world population in 2050) people on it.

The second movie, starring Denny Friest, was titled Ocean Frontiers and focused on why we need to protect the Earth. The film makers went from coast to coast, including talking to farmers in Iowa about reducing the amount of nitrogen escaping from the agricultural lands, which are responsible for creating the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico to conservationists and shippers in Boston, Massachusetts who were trying to find a way to move ships to the Port of Boston without disturbing whale habitat.  They movie crew also visited the Florida Keys and an Oregon fishing town to see how multiple stakeholders came together to see how their livelihoods were linked to better stewardship of oceans.  The movie was important in its message of protecting the wild life that live in the oceans so we can continue to enjoy them for generations to come as well as keeping the animals flourishing to continue the circle of life.

The last thing to mention is our chapter in Food Politics about the problems we face with the rising obesity rates. Worldwide obesity has nearly doubled in the last three decades and are no where near declining. We are projecting that the U.S. life span will shorten by 2-5 years by 2050. As Americans spend more time in front of computer and television screens as well as jobs that revolve around sitting in a desk, this lack of physical exercise contributes to obesity. Also, the way we eat has changed drastically. From eating fresh foods to now eating fast, processed foods high in calories and sugars have helped us to change in weight. The leaders in this contribution have been an increase in red meat consumption as well as sugary drinks and potatoes, especially chips. In my wellness course, I learned the reason we love chips is not our fault. The chip companies spend tons of money testing the exact crunch that will make our brains want more as well as a flavor that is powerful, but disappears quickly making us want more. The chips also are not filling so our brain does not tell us to stop, leading to an overconsumption of them. The food companies control us in a way by making us crave their products that are high in calories and high in sugar, which are bad for us and cause us to gain weight, especially if we are sitting most of the day. In 2010, a study by the OECD found that our government is doing a poor job in changing these statistics by relying on information campaigns and subsidies to try to make us make healthier choices. It is not completely the government’s fault that we are fat as a nation, but if they don’t do something to make a change, tons and tons of our money will go into treating the raising numbers of diabetes and hypertension, all of which are preventable if we change our eating habits and increase exercise.

The garden with weeds

The garden afterwards!

With the weather being off and on we didn’t know how the day would go, but we lucked out and got to see the bees with Mark Tintjer. It was crazy how much goes into bee keeping. We started looking at just three colonies and watched as Mark transferred the bees from one small hive to a larger one. He smoked them before he did so to calm them down because it was supposed to make them think it was a forest fire; in the forest scenario, the bees would want to store honey in case they had to flee. He pulled out each row of honey comb to try to find the queen bee to show us. The process is very neat on how the hive operates. The drones, or males, are only made to fertilize the eggs. They have no other purpose because all the worker bees are female. The queen bee has no stinger so she can’t die and she is fed royal honey at the beginning to become fertile and bigger than the rest. The colonies attitudes reflect the queen bee, which I found fascinating. Also its a long process from when Mark gets the honey out to when its ready to eat–a very time consuming process, which until our visit this afternoon I never knew. And honey is HEAVY! The bees also produce an insane amount. In 2013, his 42 hives produced 2.5 tons of honey. WOW! Also, we ate a drone bee larvae. It was very slimy and very gross, but apparently a good source of protein.

Another topic that was touched on by Mark and his wife was the harmful effects of the pesticides being sprayed on the corn fields by his neighbors. The wind blew these pesticides onto the Tintjners’ organic garden and exacted significant damage.. The pesticide drift caused a dramatic loss to their vegetables and impacted the food they were able to put on the table that year. Finally they filed a claim and got reimbursed for the loss of the produce.  Even though they got the money back they were not able to enjoy their organic veggies because of the harmful effects of pesticides.

Lastly, we went to a no till farm ran by a man named Glen Hodnefield who had been using no-till practices since 1991. The land has been in his family for over 100 years and he was very proud that he was keeping it going, along with the innovations he had made to the farm practices. By using no till he was able to minimize soil erosion. He showed us a spot where the soil would have been moved by a rainstorm but rather than washing out the corn plants, the water moved the residue, not the topsoil.   He also informed us on the drainage system of the farm and showed us the tile that was under the ground taking the water away so the Iowa pot hole prairie could be farmed.. It’s hard to imagine that people put these tiles down by hand in the early 20th century. The amount of work that went into the land to make it able to farm on is very impressive.

The erosion of the no-till protecting the soil

This morning we visited Table Top Farms and met Luke and Sally who ran their own organic practice farm. They began as a partnership, but now it is just them two, mostly Sally, and a few employees. Their main focus was community supported agriculture (CSA); in this business model, the farmer sells shares to customers who are then provided with boxes of fresh produce on a weekly basis over a set period of time.  It is something that I will look into when I get home because I had never heard of it before, but it sounds like a great option. It both supports your community and improves your nutrition by giving you weekly fruits and vegetables.

Speaking of improving nutrition, we saw the movie Fed Up today and its main focus was on the negative effects of sugar and processed foods have on our diet. It is obvious that we are becoming a more obese nation, beginning as children, which the movie focused on. Also, the main focus seemed to be on how big of a role the food companies play in our every day life and even when we try to combat them, they cover their own butts to ensure we don’t stop eating their products. They have the dollar sign in mind more than they have the nutrition of the people they serve. These big companies use their labels that say 20% less fat to draw us in, but fail to mention all the added sugar that harms us even more. I knew lots of things had sugar, but I didn’t know how much. I think CSAs could play a huge role in reversing some of these statistics if there was just a more informed public. The movie did downplay exercise which caught me a little off guard, because instead of saying everything is okay in moderation and to limit these things, the movie more or less called for them to them to be eliminated, which strikes me as something that will never happen. You cannot make people quit cold turkey on sodas, candies, and fast food, but if you keep them informed as well as give them healthy alternatives, a change may occur. I do agree with the movie that the change needs to start in the public school lunch rooms. If kids learn healthy alternatives they may take them home with them or encourage their parents to eat better as well. If not, they at least get one healthy meal a day.

The BIG protest of the day, also known as the March Against Monsanto, was no march. It was not the wild protest with fire and signs and screaming that I was expecting. It was a calm, small group of people who were wanting foods containing GMOs to be labeled as well as ending the use of pesticides. We did see the community garden which was cool because it gave people living in apartments a place to garden. That was my second favorite part of the protest. My favorite would have to be making the bombs. We made seed bombs out of papier mache and flower seeds. You roll the seeds up in the paper, squeeze out the water, and then throw it in an abandoned lot to make the wild flowers grow and make the scene a little more beautiful. That was about as wild as the protest got…