Well, its actually over. I’ve spent three weeks in Iowa, gained five pounds, and learned more than I ever hoped to know about agriculture and food. I can honestly say that I’m coming away from this trip a different person.

I have officially become a foodie. I know I’ll never be the same in a grocery store again. From now on, I’ll be checking labels and ingredients. I’ve decided to start buying organic as often as I can and would like to support free range chicken and gras-fed cattle farmers. I’m going to try to convince my mom to let us join a CSA, and I’ll definitely make more trips to the local farmers market. Now that I actually understand GMOs, I’m going to keep up to date and try to get involved in our local politics surrounding it. I’m going to try to convince my parents not to use, or at least use less, pesticide to try to protect the creek behind my house (this one may not work, though).

Everything considered, the days that we were outside and working hands on were my favorite. I learned a lot from the lectures, but I really feel like I’m taking away more from when I could physically experience what the farmers experience. I can sympathize with people when I can experience it for myself. Out of all of the meetings, however, I thought that the one with the Iowa Environmental Council was by far the most engaging. Jenny has a vibrant personality, and Susan was great at getting her point across.

I guess if I have any advice for next year’s group, its bring extra hoodies and be prepared to go nonstop. Its worth it.

Today was such a good last day to this incredible trip. We got to start by going to the Friest farm and learning all about their hog operation. We went from sows that had just been inseminated, to pigs that had just been born, to weanlings, to “teenagers,” to finally full-grown hogs. It so fascinating hearing just how much care and effort Brent puts into his animals. I learned that the pig’s birthday is identified both by their ear tag and the number and location of ear notches. I got to hold baby and “teenage” pigs, and it was amazing that they were so curious about us. It took them about three minutes before they came up to us and started sniffing and nibbling on us. We got to see Brent feed the pigs and even watched him artificially inseminate two sows. Artificial insemination made me uncomfortable with one of the pigs, mainly because it seemed like it was in pain and it bled, but Brent reassured me that that hardly ever happens. I think I would feel better if I saw it more often. The first pig obviously didn’t care and stood there peacefully, though, and that makes me feel better. Experiences like this, like the day we castrated cows, are definitely the days that I like better.

After that, we went to Ames to talk to Liz Kolbe from Practical Farmers of Iowa. I liked the different perspective she provided about pesticide. Basically, she insinuated that lots of farmers were almost forced to buy pesticide and herbicide resistant seeds to protect themselves from drift incidences. I had assumed that vegetables were covered under crop insurance and was shocked to learn that they are not. It is amazing to me that anyone chooses to grow vegetables and fruits when there is hardly any safety net available, if they should fail. I was also appalled at the Minnesota Supreme Court decision that Liz referenced where the victim of herbicide drift was given no help or support legally.

We finished the day by getting 130 baby chicks for Dalona. We brought them to the Fiscus chicken house, 30 future layers and 100 broilers, and dipped each of their little beaks into some water. They were so small and soft. They’re cute when they’re that age, and the layers stay cute, but I know the broilers will turn pretty ugly, pretty quick. I’m glad none of the chicks died, and we didn’t have to see any dead pigs today because I’ve seen enough dead animals these past three weeks. Now its time for a final dinner by Dalona finished by a delicious vegan chocolate cake!

I learned a lot today. First, we went and met with representatives from the Leopold Center at Iowa State. Fred Kirschenmann was very pessimistic and really kind of scary, especially since everything he was saying made sense. Matt Liebman, however, was much less drastic and was very adamant that things can change for the better. I liked their idea of perennial crops, but I was unsure whether they meant using plants like prairie grass or developing perennial corn and soybeans. In the middle of talking about the farm crisis, Matt said “every moment of crisis is a moment of grace.” I really liked that and it really resonated with me because I think it showed that people can have hope even in the darkest of times, and there is usually a silver lining.

After we ate lunch and hung out in downtown Des Moines, we went to the Monsanto building in Ankeny. I initially got a bad vibe, and I felt like they were rushing through the tour. We didn’t get to go in the labs like we did in Pioneer, but they did explain what they did. It seemed like they left a lot of things out, though, until we asked about them. For example, they didn’t mention genetic insertion at all until I asked about it at the end of the tour. Also, when I asked about the health pros and cons to feeding livestock stover instead of just corn they seemed to avoid the question and just focus on how they were doing what they were doing. Once we were in the conference room to talk, though, I felt better. They were very open and helpful and honestly they may have skewed my beliefs. I still would rather eat non-GMO and non-chemical food, but I’m not as afraid of it as I was this morning. I think the most interesting thing that I learned was that mandatory labeling for GMOs would raise the price of food $400 per year per family. I’ll definitely have to do more thinking, since they did a good job of shaking my opinions.

We finally had a sort-of break this morning. We slept in a hotel last night in super comfy beds and didn’t have to wake up until 9:30. We went to breakfast at a small vegan restaurant called Trumpet Blossom Cafe. I’m really glad Adam and Cecily found a place where they had lots of choices, but I certainly picked the wrong thing! I got cardamon pancakes with unidentified berries in them with maple syrup. I had never had cardamon before and I will never be eating it again! They really did taste like cleaning supplies. Cecily really enjoyed them, though, and finished mine up. I caught up on lunch later at a noodle place in Iowa City.

After breakfast, we had three hours to kill in Iowa City. It was such a huge and cool place! I figured it would be like Downtown Greenville or smaller based on the rest of Iowa, but it was more like Atlanta. We went to a used book bookstore first called the Haunted Bookshop. It was probably the best bookstore that I’ve ever been in. It had two cats and two floors overflowing with books, new and old. I could have spent all day in there, and I’m pretty sure Cecily felt the same way, but we wanted to see the rest of the city, so we bought our books and left. We went to get ice cream at Whitey’s, which satisfied my sweet tooth. We met up with Hedley and explored a few of the clothes shops. Iowa City actually had lots of alternative and vintage stores. I liked a lot of things, but everything was pretty expensive, so I didn’t buy anything but my books. There was a t-shirt in a place called Raygun, though, that had a picture of a cat and said “You’ve cat to be kitten me right meow.” Jon (my boyfriend) says that all the time, so I wanted to get it for him as a souvenir, but it was expensive. I wouldn’t mind coming back sometime.

At 3, we left to go to Mary Mascher’s, a state legislator, house. We were meeting her to get a democratic perspective for once. HN described her as the complete opposite of Annette, the anti-Annette. I could absolutely see that now that I’ve met her. There were lots of people that joined us at her house, including another state legislator, a naturalist farmer, and organic farmer, and a beekeeper. I liked hearing all of their diverse opinions, but having such varied beliefs led to tense moments in the room. I found myself disagreeing with Mary and Sally a lot and siding more with the organic farmer and beekeeper. I definitely sided with Annette. I think they handled the discussion well, though, even when people seemed to disagree. We talked about a lot of topics, but stayed pretty broad instead of going deep. We unfortunately didn’t get to meet with Connie the naturalist this evening, but that was ok because I’m pretty sure everyone is pretty worn out, including me.

This morning started with Dalona and me making biscuits and gravy. It was the first time I made it without help, and it was kind of an adventure. It wound up much thicker than normal, but it still tasted pretty good. I hope everyone liked it.

After that, Renee Zoske talked to us about Crop Insurance. She went really in depth and, much like the banker, most of it went over my head. I learned a lot about how much the government does or doesn’t subsidize crop insurance and that regular crop insurance does not cover 100% of a farmer’s crops. Renee was very interactive, though, so it was pretty easy to pay attention.

After a long drive, we arrived at Seed Savers in Decorah. I really enjoyed this place. Basically, the idea was to collect as many rare and old seeds to preserve many diverse breeds of plants. I really liked that their purpose was so pure; they didn’t seem to care hardly at all about money. Our tour guide, Toby, was fun and easy to relate to. Her garden was gorgeous! She decided to create a theme for her garden: foods and plants from different countries focusing on Mexico, Italy (where she spent a year), Korea, and Germany.  It was really creative, and I can see why they hired her in Seed Savers Education Program. Seed Savers also had the very first chicken breed in the United States and a rare breed of cow, Ancient Park Whites. We didn’t get to see the chickens and we only saw the cows from a distance, but they looked huge! They were really pretty, though. I bought a t-shirt and some seeds as my first and probably only Iowa souvenir.

In the second long drive of the day, we watched the movie My Father’s Garden. I was given the task of making the DVD work in the mini-van, and I figured it out!  Although repetitive of what we’ve heard before, I did like it. My favorite part was how they showed the difference between soil that had been sprayed with chemicals and soil from an organic farm. After all this time, I’m finding myself leaning with organic farms. It just seems better all around, for the environment and for the people who eat it.

Getting up early today did me no favors. I haven’t felt well all day and I’m sure that played into my reaction. As usual, I seem to take a very different viewpoint than everyone else in the group.

We first went to the Cory family farm. It was such a beautiful place with tons of animals. We got to start by milking goats. I had never had the pleasure of milking an animal before, and it was harder than it looked! Stuart and Kris went first and they had the worst time trying to figure out how to do it, so I was a little nervous. Both Hedley and I got it pretty quick, though, and I thought it was a really cool experience. I wish we had the chance to taste the milk. After that, we went to see the chickens. Even though we’ve seen multiple places with chickens, this was the first place that really stunk because of it. The contraptions that they kept the chickens in, both the broilers and the layers, were so creative! I liked their idea of moving the chickens often to let the grass regenerate.

After that, we went to the pasture where Tom keeps his sheep and cows. On the way there, he started talking about why he doesn’t vaccinate his children, which really irked me. Vaccinations have saved so many lives that I personally think it is ridiculous to not take advantage of that. More parents have decided to not vaccinate their child these days, and it is causing outbreaks of deadly diseases that haven’t been around for a long time. One of his reasons is that vaccines lead to autism. First of all, there is absolutely no scientific proof of this. Second of all, even if there were, if you would rather put your child at risk of dying of something like the measles than have to deal with a handicapped child, I think your priorities are more than a little skewed. Anyway, his pasture was gorgeous, and it was clear that he took that much pride in the maintenance of his land. I wish he would have the same respect for his animals, since it seemed to me that he saw them as merely profit. There was a sick lamb that he said he noticed was sick a long time ago. It died today and, although I’m not sure if they would have helped, antibiotics or some kind of extra attention could have saved that lamb’s life. When I asked why he chose not to do any of this, he said that the costs of saving it outweighed the costs of losing it. I believe he as an animal caretaker has a moral responsibility to take care of his animals to the best of his abilities even if it means losing money on one lamb. His idea that money was more important than trying to save an animals life immediately made me like him less.

We got back to the farm and began to work in the garden. By this point, I was very hot and didn’t feel very well. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I felt better, as I normally like garden work, but I really didn’t enjoy it. Also, the water they brought out to drink smelled and tasted like sulfur. I did not feel comfortable drinking it and it made my stomach hurt even worse. Lunch was a much needed break, but I did not feel well enough to eat much unfortunately. What I did have was very good, though. I especially liked the bread and asparagus. I noticed they ate a lot of butter, which I found ironic considering how much they stressed a healthy diet.

We finished at the Cory farm by seeing Mary’s home remedies. I know I’m biased because I’m a doctor’s daughter, but I once again found myself disagreeing with their principles. Modern medicine has come a long way and saved a lot of lives. Not going to the doctor when you or your children are sick can make it much worse and even lead to death. The story that struck me especially was Mary’s story of how they didn’t get Lorinda a tetanus shot or any medicine when she needed stitches from a dog bite. I found that to be a gamble too risky. Tetanus has no cure and terrible side effects. An infection could have very easily developed from a dog bite, especially if it was a stray dog, and I think it was a very poor decision on their part. All in all, I think it would be accurate to say that I saw the Corys as backwards and very ill-informed.

After that, we went to the ethanol plant, which I did enjoy. I was prepared for it to smell as bad as the biodiesel plant, but it really wasn’t bad at all, and I was able to concentrate. The process was much more similar to making whiskey than I had anticipated. I had expected that it would turn the corn into some unrecognizable liquid that would burn your insides if ingested. Instead, it reminded me heavily of moonshine, smell and everything. I felt like I learned a lot and our tour guide did a very good job of explaining things and showing us different perspectives without forcing one opinion on us. I definitely enjoyed the second half of the day much better than the first.

On a final note, I tried kombucha today, which is a fermented drink. I got a strawberry flavor. I liked it more than I expected, and it really tasted just like strawberry wine to me. I couldn’t get past the brown floating particles in it, though, and so I only drank a little bit. I will definitely try it again, though.

Her name was Blackie…

These past three days have been so busy that we haven’t even had time to write our blogs! On Tuesday night, we went to see the movie Farmland. It was really good, and I think it deserved better ratings than it got. My favorite “character” was the girl who started her own organic farm and CSA. I liked it because she is the first and most likely only person who we’ve heard about to be able to successfully farm without inheriting a family farm. It was one of my favorite movies we’ve watched, but at this point I feel like I didn’t learn anything from it. I liked hearing all the opinions and seeing all of the stories, but I felt like I have already heard everything that was covered.

Yesterday evening, we rushed over to an organic farm in southern Iowa called Blue Gate. The owners were very nice. It was a huge operation! They had employees and lots of land. They described the way they do their crops, which is a rotation so that they never plant the same family of plants two years in a row. It was very clear that they cared a lot about the environment and really built up their soil quality in the time that they had been there. I’m still confused how organic farms deal with pests, though. It seems like there are lots of different ways, and I haven’t understood any of them. Hearing about the herbicide spraying incident they experienced was hard. It was so devastating for their operation, but I liked hearing that all but one of their CSA members stuck with them through the overspraying incident. Its very clear to me that these organic farms have a much better relationship with their clients than any of the conventional farms. That was very apparent in the Farmland movie as well.

This morning, we went to the ISU extension office. I had no idea there was something like that in every state! Its nice to know that if I have any question that is even remotely related to agriculture, I can call the Clemson extension at home and get an answer. It was also interesting to hear a different opinion about the voluntary versus regulations debate. Almost everyone we’ve heard from, like Denny Friest, has argued that voluntary actions and subsidies are more than enough. Gary Hilmer at the Hardin County NRCS Office, however, made the very good point that subsidies can’t last forever and the voluntary actions just aren’t doing enough.

After that, we talked to Phil Kramer, a representative from Niman farms, which focuses on the animal welfare pork. I really liked the idea, and I will definitely try to buy their products more often. He obviously knew a lot about pigs and their natural behavior. It was nice to find out that there are farms out there whose main priority is the comfort and happiness of the animal. I of course enjoyed all the pictures of the pigs, so that was probably my favorite part of the day. When we got back to the farm, HN’s brother Denny taught us a little more about tiling. When I first heard about it, I actually thought that people were putting things like bathroom tiles under the soil and I was really confused. Instead, it’s more like pipes to control the water flow into rivers and streams. I learned that if your neighbor didn’t want to tile his land and was in your way, you are legally allowed to dump all of your water into his land and basically ruin his crops. The whole talk was very lighthearted and funny.

Even though today was Memorial Day, we certainly did not get a day off. We started the day by going to the Memorial Day Service at the cemetery in Radcliffe. It was really interesting since I haven’t been to hardly any. It was much more churchy than I expected, but it was short and sweet. There were so many fallen soldiers in that tiny town! I heard the name Friest once and the name Espe twice. It was really cool to hear names that I’d heard before. It really was a beautiful ceremony.

Going back to the obesity issue, we read a chapter in Paarlberg’s book yesterday and today about the politics of obesity. I agree with him much more than I did with the Fed Up movie. He recognized that there was an issue, but he also recognized the implications that come with regulating it. He specifically mentioned how important it is for people to have choices, which is something I mentioned in my previous post as being really important to me. I liked how he examined different ways of addressing the issue along with their pros and cons. The only thing I didn’t like was his use of the term “weak policies” in regards to policies with less regulation. Weak has a negative connotation and I think that it would have been better to instead refer to them as less regulatory policies to avoid the judgmental tone, which I believe was his goal..

The rest of our day, besides a short trip to Ames and wonderful food by Dolana, was spent watching two movies. The first was called “Symphony of the Soil” and was about different types of soil, our impact on the soil, the consequences of our actions, and how we can help. It was really eye opening to me to see what a huge difference there is between organic and no-till practices and conventional factory farming. It really put yesterday’s encounter with Glen into perspective. The second was called “Ocean’s Frontier” and was about the impact that the entire country has on the health of our oceans. We’ve talked about the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico before but I really didn’t know that the oceans on all sides of us were being affected. It was also really cool to see Denny Friest, a familiar face, in the movie, talking about what farmers in Iowa are doing to reduce their negative impact on the water. I appreciated his opinion and everything he is doing to help the environment, but I personally don’t think its enough. He seems to be almost completely focused on the water while ignoring the soil aspect. He specifically mentioned that if farmers were more open minded they would see that there are better ways, but directly went against this in his adamant denial of no-till farming. I thought it was hypocritical of him and kind of put him in the group of farmers that he was complaining about. I did enjoy both movies, though, and I’m very excited to meet the famous Annette tomorrow.

Today was a hectic but informative day. Sleeping in was much needed, but unfortunately I think my sugar has been low all day. The first thing we did today was go to a bee keeping farm. Once I got past the initial shock of thousands of bees flying around me (and once I got a mask on), I really enjoyed myself. I had never been around non-wild bees so this was a wholly new experience for me. I learned that it actually takes a lot for bees to sting you since Mark, the beekeeper, was picking them up and moving their hives and even wound up dropping and breaking a comb without ever getting stung. I learned that drones, the male bees, are not very useful so drone larva is not very valuable. They are also, apparently, edible, since everyone in the group ate one but me. I’ve tried a lot of new things on this trip, but I draw the line at eating bugs. This man is incredibly talented, making honey and beeswax art, and I think it is very sad that he can’t support himself doing just that and has to work at a factory as well.

I really enjoyed hearing Mark and his wife’s opinion on GMOs. The described how much the chemicals in pesticides that are genetically modified into these plants affect the bees. It ultimately kills them and doesn’t leave the soil when the plant dies. If it can kill bees in small amounts, what is it doing to the cattle that eats the corn? And, continuing the same train of thought, what is it doing to the people who eat the meat of this cattle? I know that this opinion, and how well they articulated and supported it, has started to change Hedley’s pro-GMO opinion. On the contrary, it has strengthened my budding anti-GMO stance.

After that, we met a farmer named Glen who practices no-till farming. Basically, no-till is an agricultural practice where all of the left over crop from the previous harvests is left on the field, and the seeds are planted into the residue.  Glen utilizes strip till practices where the nitrogen-phosphorous-potash are applied in a strip and the seed is planted into this strip.  This uses less nutrients than broadcasting them across the field.  These practices help prevent soil erosion and hold water in the soil. Glen really sold the practice to us and made it seem like it was almost all positive. After hearing him, I can’t really imagine why more farmers don’t do it. Is it really just because conventional farmers are too stubborn, or is there more that he didn’t tell us? I really want to ask Brent Friest his opinion next time the next time I go visit the horses.

The primary till machine in a no-till or strip till farm!

We began today working on a CSA farm called Table Top Farms, owned by Luke and Sally Gran. They were such pleasant people. I really enjoyed working with them, although I wish we spent more time working and less time standing around and talking. I feel like by now a lot of the basics of farming is repeated, and I would rather get into the nitty gritty details. Plus, it was early and kind of chilly. I did learn a lot from them, however. For example, it was the first time I had heard about alfalfa and oats, the so-called third rotation crops. I personally think that more farmers should alternate between corn, soybeans, and the alfalfa/oats combination since they would all bring in a profit while maintaining the soil. It’s not like farmers are ever going to not need alfalfa and oats for their livestock. This would also lead to a smaller (even if only minimally) supply of corn, leading to higher prices.

Next, we went to a protest against GMOs, advertised as “March Against Monsanto.” It was more of a public gathering about the benefits of organic food and the negative consequences of things like GMOs and chemicals, though. It was fun. It was nice to be able to listen to someone without them asking my thoughts since my thoughts on the topic are still developing. The animals, of course, were my favorite part. The urban garden that we went to was really cool, too, though. I didn’t even know there was an option for people to farm unless they had room on their own land. It was clear that people really cared for their plots. At $25 for a plot for a season, it seems like a great price, since water is included. My mom would love something like that.

After that, we went to see the movie Fed Up, which was about the “epidemic” of obesity in America. It had some good points, but I really do not agree with the documentary makers’ suggestions for combating obesity. I realize that America has an obesity problem, but I do not believe it is something in which the government needs to be heavily involved. For example, when the interviewer was interviewing the woman about what Coca-Cola is doing to help, she kept insinuating that they should take existing Coke products off of the shelf. I do not think that that is reasonable. If people want to drink coke, there is no reason why they shouldn’t have that option. The greatest aspect of our capitalist society is the multitude of choices we have. The government is overstepping its limits when it begins to regulate what can and cannot be sold to the public, especially something like a drink. If the government begins to regulate what we can and can’t eat, what we can and can’t drink, where does it stop?

Further, they made it seem like the food industry is wholly responsible for the obesity problem and that exercise and personal responsibility doesn’t play in at all. This I completely disagree with. Yes, the unhealthy options are out there and, yes, there are very influential advertisements, but there are healthy options as well. No one is forcing anyone into eating the foods that lead to obesity or hinder weight loss. Especially if there is a young child who is severely overweight, I believe that the responsibility falls on the parent. It is their job to keep their kids safe and healthy, so if they see that they are starting to get too heavy they should reduce their unhealthy food intake and encourage more exercise. I have eaten fast food and drank soda my entire life while managing to stay a healthy weight, even under weight at times. I attribute this to my highly active lifestyle, but one could argue that it is because I’m hypoglycemic. To that I would tell them to look at my brother. He is healthy, eats nothing but junk, and weighs barely 140 pounds at six foot tall. People need to start taking responsibility for their own health and quit blaming everyone else.

One of the movie’s main arguments was the comparison between unhealthy food and cigarettes. While I do see the connection, I think it is exaggerated. Cigarettes are not only a hazard for those who smoke them but to everyone around the smoker due to secondhand smoke. Unhealthy food only affects the person eating it, so there is no reason to regulate it like cigarettes. Putting health warnings on unhealthy food, however, is a good suggestion. For example, coke bottles could have a warning saying “could lead to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.” Further, at least in South Carolina, all schools have a salad option every day, and it is not the school’s fault if the children do not choose it. Having only healthy options is great in theory but not practical. Chain restaurants like Papa Johns offers discounts to schools, making it a cheaper option. Changing the food would make it more expensive to students and many students that I know, who do not currently qualify for free lunch, would not be able to afford it. Again, its good to have options.

The movie also claimed that eating unhealthy is an addiction. I can understand that. However, just because there are alcoholics, we do not ban the production, sale, and advertisement of it. We send the alcoholics to rehab so they can get help. Perhaps we should develop obesity rehabs where those who suffer from obesity, children to adults, can go where unhealthy options are not available to them without restricting everyone else. While unhealthy eating may be an addiction similar to alcoholism, it doesn’t mean that everyone cannot control themselves.

What really bothers me is that obesity gets a lot of attention while eating disorders do not and are still even stigmatized. For every obese person I know, I know at least one person who has suffered or currently suffers from some kind of eating disorder. The constant media attention on the importance of being thin only strengthens these disorders that are just as deadly, if not more, than obesity. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), up to 24 million people in the US suffer from some sort of eating disorder. Even more disturbing is the fact that 81% of ten year olds are afraid of being fat. Has it not occurred to anyone that the emphasis on not being fat is directly related to the prevalence of eating disorders? All in all, I thought the movie cherry picked a lot of data and information to focus on one specific problem while ignoring the big picture.