My sister Lindsey calls Whole Foods "Whole Paycheck". I think my family has accepted that good, organic food costs more. But apparently, at Whole Foods, you're paying for a whole lot of nothing.

This video is crazy! Whole Foods imports much of their produce from China.

Really all I want is to ingest things that I either grew myself or were grown by someone I directly know. Why is that so hard!!? It seems we live in a toxic food environment!

This seals the deal, I am going to attempt to grow veggies in my dorm. Stay tuned.

(Special thanks to my sister in law Dawnita for sending me this video!)

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?

Learning something new every day!

Learning something new every day is very important. What did I learn today, might you ask?

I learned that tomatoes are carnivorous!!! Read all about it here.

I planted a whole slew of tomatoes during my internship at the Hickories farm last spring. They are pretty cool plants. Here's a picture I took of some tomatoes growing in the greenhouse last spring. Sadly a lot of the tomatoes I planted fell prey to the tomato blight- goes to show that farming is not an easy profession.

On a different note, I suggest listening to Sufjan Stevens' music. He is spectacular. Here are the lyrics to his song "All The Trees Of The Field Will Clap Their Hands". Even beyond his lyrics, the music itself is amazing.

If I am alive this time next year,

will I have arrived in time to share?

And mine is about as good this far.

And I'm still applied to what you are.

And I am joining all my thoughts to you.

And I'm preparing every part for you.

And I heard from the trees a great parade.

And I heard from the hills a band was made.

And will I be invited to the sound?

And will I be a part of what you've made?

And I am joining all my thought to you.

And I'm preparing every part for you.