Our last day in Iowa was indeed last but certainly not least.  We eased into the day with a casual tour of the World Food Prize building, located in the former Des Moines City Library.  The historic architecture combined with the lavish refurbishing done to the interior of the building make it a must-see if you happen to be in Des Moines.  The World Food Prize is awarded yearly to an individual that has helped make significant advances in agricultural practices aimed at eliminating world hunger.  The prize and the building are in honor of Iowa native Norman Borlaug, whose work on wheat production is credited with saving over one billion lives in what is known as the Green Revolution.  Borlaug does have some critics that claim that his Green Revolution damaged native traditions in areas like India.  They compare Borlaug’s hybrid seeds to those that are entering India today, the GMO seeds of international companies such as Monsanto.  Critics say that the imported seeds make poor farmers dependent on the overseas company, a dependency that they say allows these companies to control the lives of the farmers.   After our tour we sped off to the BioCentury Research Farm, a facility designed for agricultural research on various topics such as biofuels and plant breeding.  Our time was spent hearing about a surplus of complex sciences, most of which were far over my head, but I came away with a general understanding of the fascinating innovations that biochemists and bioengineers are making in their efforts to develop new energy sources and viable uses for biomass materials.  The teams working at the BioCentury farm have a clear economic base by which they guide their research.  They strive to make fuel and energy alternatives, as well as additional byproducts that have the chance to provide financial gain.  Scientist can develop as many innovations as they please but only those that can withstand the market will have a noticeable impact on our lives.  These sciences will be very relevant in the near future as the price to harvest petroleum becomes higher and higher.  We then proceeded to conclude our day with somewhat of a long awaited grand finale, a visit to Monsanto.  With all the recent buzz about the company due to the GMO labeling debate and the “March Against Monsanto” which took place nation wide last weekend, the timing could not have been better.  Much of our discussion with the Monsanto representative focused on the labeling issue and the reasons why the company and many other organizations are against mandatory labeling of GMO products.  Monsanto believes that according to the FDA requirements for labeling, GMO products do not require a label because they are considered “not significantly different” than other versions of the crops from which they branch.  A label would imply that GMO products are either better or worse than the organic version, and for the majority of the American public, a label reading, “Contains Genetically Modified Ingredients,” might as well be a skull and cross bones.  In 2012 the state of California voted on GMO labeling and resulted in no policy change, but the poll itself has launch nation wide discussion for legislatures this year.  On Thursday, the United State Senate voted on GMO labeling and overwhelming shot down the labeling campaign in a vote of 71 to 27.  This federal ruling prohibits state governments from making their own decisions about the policy and set back GMO labeling advocates for the time being.  Little do most people realize, but GMO ingredients have been present in the vast majority of their foods since the early 90s, but nonetheless, labeling these products as such would most likely have a drastic affect on the sales of grocery stores, farmers, and biotech companies alike.