We had an amazing start to today: puppy playtime! There is a family that breeds racing greyhounds about a miles from the farm. They were the cutest puppies I have ever seen. I firmly believe we need a mascot and a puppy would be a top-notch candidate. Afterwards, we traveled to the Iowa Soybean Association for a three-hour discussion that focused on issues from the environmental impacts of agriculture to the farm bill to the world-wide outlook for soybeans demand to programs the ISA is using to promote its product:  all factual presentations. Many of the associations we have visited say the same thing, “We feed the World.” However, ISA was also interested in our definition of local. According to them, Hellman’s mayonnaise is local because it was made in Iowa and McDonalds is local because pork and eggs come from Iowa. An interesting argument to start the day, but I firmly believe local means a direct social connection with the farmer. Following our time at the ISA, we met Joe Sweeney in Ames who took the group on a tour around Iowa State – such a beautiful school! I really liked the cozy atmosphere and layout of there school. As a sustainability sciences major, there are only so many directions I can go for grad school. Currently, I am really interested in sustainable agriculture and will definitely look into the program at Iowa State. After dinner, we went to a local whole foods market and learned how to make baklava and tabouleh a Middle Eastern salad. I have always wanted to be a chef. Unfortunately, I have never really known what route to achieve this goal. By working on our cooking projects at the house and seeing different food related videos, I firmly believe I know what kinds of foods/dishes I would like to try. More importantly, I now have a sense that I can actually make them!