Back to Basics

You ever have those days when you realize you are being totally hypocritical? I have realized that I have not done a very good job lately of eating good food. So I am trying to get back to basics! As Michael Pollan says, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Simple, simple, simple, yet sometimes so hard, especially in a midwestern college cafeteria! I think I just have to accept that I am going to spend more money on food, and that will involve making concessions. But honestly, would I rather spend money on stupid stuff I don't need (those gnome pajamas I bought at Target, although I love them, were entirely unneccesary) or on good food that will be an investment in my future body and be living out my food morals?

Especially now that I am starting out of season conditioning for volleyball, I remember how much better I feel when I exercise and eat right. Like, yesterday I did and hour of jump and agility training and played for an hour in the morning, and then swam for an hour last night. 3 hours of working out, and last night I didn't go to bed exhausted like I had the last few weeks.

We talked about photosynthesis yesterday in Plant Biology- it never ceases to amaze me how smart plants are. Imagine if we could make our own food! Once again- have you thanked a plant today?!?!

No more sodie pop

Today I decided that if I'm going to complain about corn and high fructose corn syrup, I better stop eating so much of it. Since it's pretty difficult to avoid in a college cafeteria, I'm cutting soda out cause it's easy. I don't drink a ton of soda, but enough that it's better that I don't. I just finished watching the documentary King Corn (research for a paper for Plants class), and they said that your likelyhood of diabetes doubles if you drink one soda a day!

I'm excited for the State of the Union tonight- I'm watching it in my suite with a bunch of friends.

Overall, life is good. Still stuffy, but other than that I am braving the cold and the stress.

I had a scare that I lost my awesome old Sigg water bottle the other day, but turns out I just left it in the fitness center!!! Phew!

Spoils of a grand adventure!

Friday afternoon I went on a grand adventure with a few friends! We found the organic/natural market that is within walking distance of campus(!!!) and they all giggled a little as they saw how excited I got about finding all my favorite things in one store. I got some Terra chips, Annie's peace pasta, and my favorite raspberry granola, as well as splurging on a ridiculously expensive block of realllllly amazing Cabot cheddar. I'm trying to eat better, but it's so hard here- the caf is not exactly gourmet. Although the food is tasty, it is by no means local or organic. So I guess I'll just have to savor the simple pleasures of granola!

Sunday

I woke up this morning (quite late I might add..) and all the snow was gone! All that's left is little bits along the side of the sidewalks. It rained a lot last night, and I suppose it melted all the snow. So, considering the midwest is FLAT, there are of course tons of puddles.

So some of my suitemates and I donned our wellies to go to brunch. Upon our return to the dorm, we found that everyone was outside because the fire alarm had gone off. Unable to go inside, we made good use of our boots by splashing about in some puddles for a few minutes. A good morning overall.

I'm hunkering in today, doing lots of work and studying for my Government exam tomorrow (8 AM, joyous!).

And finally, the sun just came out! First time in about a week, I'd say.

Fire and Ice

There has been some SPECTACULAR ice happening here. Sadly, my camera doesn't always like to take good pictures, but here are a few to give you an idea. Gorgeous to say the least.

"Some say the world will end in fire

some say in ice

from what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire

but if I had to perish twice

I think I know enough of hate

to say that for destruction

ice is also great

and will suffice"

-Robert Frost

Wendell Berry is the man!

So as I continue to read "Bringing it to the Table: On Farming and Food" by Wendell Berry, the more I enjoy his writing. He is simple, blunt, to the point. He states the truths that any of us in sustainable agriculture understand inherently.

One of my favorite passages of late is this, from his essay "Stupidity in Concentration" (2002):

"The word 'sustainable' is well on its way to becoming a label, like the word 'organic.' And so I want to propose a definition of 'sustainable agriculture.' This phrase, I suggest, refers to a way of farming that can be continued indefinitely because it conforms to the terms imposed upon it by the nature of places and the nature of people."

I'm having one of those weeks where several things all go wrong at once. When I feel overwhelmed, I breathe and think about all the people who are there for me and I hear their voices in my head telling me to do the right thing. I'm lucky in sososososo many ways.

Miss you, Erin. I'm trying really hard to be angry at the right things, just like your mom said.

Loving the snow, missing the harvest colors

Winter is beautiful, and I love snow. But I miss the green. And all the other colors, too!

Water water water

Where does the time go? I have been very busy.
But that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about all the things I want to post about.
Here are some random tid-bits:

I read a very interesting article/interview about water here.

I've been reading more of Wendell Berry's Bringing It To The Table. He says a lot of the things that seem obvious, but are never said enough, for example: "... if agriculture is to remain productive, it must preserve the land, and the fertility and ecological health of the land; the land, that is, must be used well. A further requirement, therefore, is that if the land is to be used well, the people who use it must know it well, must be highly motivated to use it well, must know how to use it well, must have time to use it well, and must be able to afford to use it well. Nothing that has happened in the agricultural revolution of the last fifty years has disproved or invalidated these requirements, though everything that has happened has ignored or defied them."
SO TRUE. How often do we think about the land we use? These requirements are rarely met.

Also, my Plant Biology class is amazing. I love learning about the inner workings of plants. Is photosynthesis not the coolest thing ever? When I read a passage in my textbook about how carrots were originally purple, I instantly smiled. One of my favorite things to do to get people interested in agriculture is to tell them purple carrots exist. People get so used to what they see at grocery stores it tends to blow their minds. :)

SO there are my random tidbits. More to come, of course. I have to write a paper about a human desire and a plant that fulfills that desire (based off of Michael Pollan's Botany of Desire), and I think I'm going to do control and GMO corn. So much exciting going on, and I'm also trying to find a way to get to Earlham to hear Michael Pollan speak in February. It's 2 weeks before my finals, though, so I'll have to plan VERY far in advance.

THINK ABOUT DIRT.
Have you thanked your vegetables today?

Back!

Back at school! Strange to be back in a classroom, but I'm sure I'll get used to it quick. Remember those notebooks I bought way back when? Well, with some fun stickers they are now being reused for this terms classes.

Now as for my reading list, I failed horribly.

I managed to get through The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind (William Kamkwamba), The Bookseller of Kabul (Asne Seierstad), and several bits and pieces from the others, which were mostly compilations of essays. Also, I read Manifestos On The Future Of Food and Seed, which was edited by Vandana Shiva and includes several great speeches and essays by great people doing great work, including Michael Pollan. It's a great short and sweet book put out by South End Press that gets a major point across- we need to do something about our failed food system.

Here are some of my favorite lines:

"In India, we are creating food democracy through freedom farms, freedom villages, and freedom zones. Organic farms free of chemicals and toxins and zones free of corporate- that is, GMOs- And patented seeds are creating a bottom-up democracy of food to counter the top-down food dictatorship" -Vandana Shiva

"So here then is our common work- to speak for the species, who are saying, oddly enough, 'Eat me.'" -Michael Pollen

"All human beings on the planet have a fundamental human right to access and to produce sufficient food to sustain their lives and communities." -Manifesto on the Future of Food.

And here I was, thinking I was just taking American National Government for fun... turns out it will most likely be useful in the future. As I was putting up a picture of a tractor in my room here at school I wondered if it made me weird. But then I realized that that particular tractor is near and dear to my heart, it is the one on my local farm! It is as much a part of my life as the food I eat. Sometimes I question what I want to do with my life, but then I read a book like this one and remember just how crazy I get about this issue. I think that simple statement is powerful- food is a human right. Until we talk about food production in our country we can not begin to chastise other countries for human rights abuses.