...WITH ROWS AND ROWS OF CORN
HAY! WE'RE DRIVING HERE!
FUNNY HOW ROCK CREEK STATE PARK IS ON A LAKE
7TH CONSECUTIVE NIGHT OF CAMPING
Over the past few days, we've been driving a heck of a lot. And with long drives, come lots of thinking. We've been pondering...
(1) The Future: What are we going to do when we get back east? We are currently active members of the food revolution in America, and want to continue being a part of a potential mass upheaval of corporate food. But how, and in what capacity?
(2) American Farming: Are we really getting the true American farming experience by zipping through the heart of the country? Why are almost all the organic farms tucked along the oceans anyway?
(3) Flexibility and Adaptability: The freedom of not having plans, or being booked anywhere, enables us to take our time and to make as many detours as we want. Lots of travelers are compulsive planners, and the idea of not having a safe sleeping point confirmed is scary to them. We find this up in the air feeling thrilling and invigorating.
(4) Genetically Modified Organisms: Millions of acres of farmland are covered with GMO corn and potatoes. The entire Iowan roadside, sparing no millimeter, is blanketed with non organic crops that independent tests have proven to be a direct link in causing serious illnesses including cancer and heart disease. Also, these mono-culture practices deplete us of our precious resources, namely topsoil, water, and oil. More people in the US are suffering from dementia, Alzheimer's, diabetes, obesity, and cancer than ever before. To think these diseases are not caused by nutrient poor, chemical laden diets is naive and ignorant. It's true, some heavy smokers with poor diets live to 100 while others who eat well, exercise regularly, and don't smoke die young; but this exception of life-style affecting life-span is not the norm. If a crop has been genetically engineered to contain an insecticide in every strand of its DNA so that if a bug eats any part of said plant, it will immediately die, shouldn't it stand to suggest the insanely high levels of those insecticides are also being absorbed by the human body eating that food? If high fructose corn syrup is derived from GMO corn, and is present in almost 90% of food in grocery stores, doesn't it stand to reason that the average American constantly has high levels of poison in their body? Plain and simple, it's foolish to think what we are eating is not affecting our body. Our western diet is an experiment that is going horribly awry.
(5) Quantity of Food: Drivers crossing the midwest might marvel at the sheer volume of food growing, thinking our nation is on the brink of solving world hunger. Or others might not even notice the food, thinking the landscape is dull and boring. But our eyes are shocked and repulsed at what we see. It's a lack of responsibility on the part of chemical companies that has forced farmers into using and abusing their products. Some farmers are addicted to chemical inputs, whether they want to or whether it's against their will, similarly to the way some Americans are addicted to illegal drugs and/or pharmaceuticals. And by the by, world hunger is not a product of lack of food, but lack of distribution. When millions of tons of food is regularly thrown away, it cannot be said there is not enough food to feed the hungry.
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