Food and the Public Life

The Growing Corn

Upon a thousand hills the corn
Stands tall and rank and glossy green;
Its broad leaves stir at early morn,
And dewy diamonds drop between.

A myriad banners wave o'erhead,
And countless silken pennons fly;
The tasseled plumes bend low, 't is said,
And only silken ears know why.

Those bending plumes- those upturned ears
Methinks it is the old, old story!
Dame Nature still, with rapture hears
The song she heard in Eden's glory.

And so is wrought this miracle
Of life and growth unto perfection,
A mystery that none may tell,
Save that God gives to it direction.

Frederick J. Atwood .

Rising food prices are scary. Really scary. There are already 850 million people who are under nourished in the world. With the price of staples like rice and wheat increasing up to 181% in some areas, there is no doubt this is a big problem. In America we might not think about it as much. Although we spend 8-10 % of our total budget on food and beverages, most of us will continue to shell out a few more bucks for a loaf of bread. The problem in America will probably never be food shortages, but rather food price increases. As the previously mentioned statistics show however, people around the world are literally starving; this is not just because they can't afford the food available to them, but also because there is just not any food around for them to buy.

I have recently listened to two speeches on the energy crisis in the world at the moment, and both of them mentioned, briefly, the effect that biofuels were having on the world food shortage crisis. I've decided to take a closer look and find out whether our trying to save the environment is really killing humans. If this is the case, should we continue to see biofuels as a viable option, or should we look completely to other sources of renewable energy. Which is more important- the Earth or the people living on it?

As with most things, this is a contested topic and so many articles have been written on it. Along with that comes the writers twisting language to make their point work for them. Both of these articles cited the Congressional Budget Office report on Rising Fuel Costs; one lists that ethanol accounted for only .5-.8 % of the increase, while the other reported that 10-15% of the rising cost was from ethanol.

Aside from this discrepancy, I am leaning more to the side that ethanol is doing more harm than good. The against argument cited that 1/3 of the nations corn is now used to make ethanol. 3 million bushels of corn which were once feeding livestock to in turn feed our nation is now being used to transport us around. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad if ethanol had an actual effect, but ethanol use is not widespread enough for it to make that big of a difference. The "for" article suggests that ethanol saved Americans 34 cents a gallon on gasoline, but it is figured that less than 10% of Americans actually put ethanol in the car. The "for" side will argue then that using ethanol has already decreased the harm done by fossil fuels to the ozone layer by %1. Yet, in order to make that number grow, more ethanol will be needed. To produce this, forests and land will need to be cleared for fields. The "against" side believes that the energy required to produce the corn will cancel out any benefits of using it.

I think in writing this I've decided which side I'm on. Using ethanol is NOT a viable source for our energy crisis, and further more, funneling 3 billion bushels of corn into something not very useful is not only stupid, but it's wreking havok on the food prices of America, AND the world.

Really America- isn't everyone mad enough at us already?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/10/report-ethanol-partly-res_n_185531.html
http://www.biofuelwar.com/2009/04/ethanol-corn-not-culprit-in-rising-food-prices/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24316114/

Posted by hick0247 at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tell me.
Tell you what?
Tell me why you're sitting in this chair.
Wouldn't it be better if you told me that?
Why do you say that?
Well it's not like I'm voluntarily sitting here.
Sure you are, I didn't see anyone pull you into the room.
That's because your back was turned. I was literally pushed in here by your receptionist.
And how did you get in to see my receptionist?
My mother drove me.
Hmm, it does seem like you don't want to be here. Why don't you tell me why your mother brought you here.
Is that really any of your business?
The longer you sit here, the more I charge. The more I charge, the less money your mother has to spend on you.
Fine. I'm here because she wants me to end up a fat ass like her.
I've seen your mother, she isn't a "fat ass."
You haven't seen her in a bathing suit.
Why are you here Ella?
I already TOLD you. My mother wants me to become a fat ass like her.
And why would she be worried about that?
Because I have a good body.
You don't think your mother does?
No, I already told you that too. Her thighs rub together when she walks, her arms jiggle. It's disgusting.
You do realize your mother has had three children, and is at a perfectly healthy weight?
Fuck perfectly healthy. Just because the "healthy" weight has been raised doesn't mean I need to weigh it.
Why do you say the "healthy" weigh has been raised?
50 years ago, the average housewife weighed 120 lbs, now she weighs 163 lbs. Fucking McDonald's.
But you don't even weigh 120 lbs.
I'm not an average housewife, either.
Yet.
Fuck you.
Ella, you weigh 98 lbs and you're 20 years old. Don't you think this is a little strange?
Strange today yes, because everyone else in the world seems to need cheesecake to survive.
Have you gotten your period yet?
Why does it matter to you? Are you some child molester?
The average girl has her first period between the ages of ten and sixteen.
I'm only four years late.
Do you realize what you just said?
Maybe it's because I'm not fat like the entire rest of the world.
What do you eat to keep yourself "not fat?"
I eat healthy foods. Salads, fish, and water.
You eat healthful foods, not healthy. That dead fish is not healthy.
And you're supposed to be helping me how?
So you've admitted you have a problem.
No, I do not have a problem. I eat health-fricken-ful foods and I exercise. What's wrong with that?
How many healthful foods do you eat in a day.
Enough.
Are you hungry right now?
Yes.
Are you always hungry?
Yes.
Why don't you eat?
I'm not going to become a fat ass.
Do you exercise everyday?
Yes.
How much?
Four to five hours.
Don't you think that's a bit excessive?
Don't you think a McDonald's Value Meal with 1340 Calories is a bit excessive?
The normal person doesn't eat McDonald's every day. It should only be 1-2 times per month.
And does anyone actually listen to that?
Sure.
Just not you?
What?
I counted four McDonald's bags in the dumpster on the way in.
What were you doing in my dumpster?!
Aerobics.
What?
Pulling myself up into it and back out of it.
You're climbing into dumpster. And you think you're healthy?
I'm not eating the grease left over by your McDonald's, so yes.
Are you on a diet now?
Of course.
I thought you said you were happy with your weight?
No, I'm still to fat.
What is your goal weight?
Dunno.
How can you diet without a goal.
Easy. You just keep going. It becomes natural after a while.
And your knees and elbows stretching your skin, that's natural?
It's better than not being able to find them through all the fat. You think I'm weight obsessed, don't you?
You know exactly how many Calories are in a McDonald's Value Meal.
So I can better avoid them.
Have you seen very old pictures of women?
And I would care because?
Because it may give you a reference point about what is considered beautiful.
I know what is beautiful. It's every airbrushed magazine cover.
But you can't be airbrushed in real life.
I know, so I need to be thin enough to where I don't need to be.
Google "The Birth of Venus"
And how is the 2nd planet relevant to this conversation?
It's not the 2nd planet. It's an old painting of a beautiful woman.
Why would I care about a painting?
Think of it as a Cosmo cover in 1492. It's real beauty.
Fine. Can I go now?
Yes, I suppose. Our time is up. I trust I'll see you on Thursday?
I'll be here with your Venus picture.

Posted by hick0247 at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There are many reasons people become vegetarians; to become healthier through the extra consumption of fruits and vegetables, to lower their cholesterol through the avoidance of red meat, to avoid adverse reactions they may have to meat, to encourage animal rights, or to help save the environment. You may have noticed that I have left a very prominent reason reason out: not killing animals.

The vegetarians who cite this as their reason for me, unless they have thoughts on the side of being for animal rights, are automatically put in the category of "kinda-weird-sorta-hypocritical- non researched-quick to pass judgment" type (and yes I realize that this entry, and the fact that I catalog people in that way puts me into my own box).

I have two main problems with the "non killing" vegetarians:
1) They are quick to point out that humans are not superior to animals, but then automatically assume animals are superior to plants and bacteria.
2) The not killing thing? It's not possible in this world, not even avoiding the killing of animals, let alone plants and bacteria.

1. You can't have it both way people: you can't have animals and humans on the same level while throwing everything else under the bus. Just because a piece of lettuce doesn't have a mouth to scream while it's being tore out of the ground doesn't mean it isn't dying. It's not just a coincidence of the English language that plants grow, live, thrive, and die, just as humans or animals. For me, either you've got to accept that humans are the highest point of the food chain, or believe that everything that grows, moves, wiggles, or reproduces is on an equal playing level, and say a little prayer for the one-celled organisms your body kills to protect itself everyday.

2. You are still killing animals, no matter what you do. You may have avoided that hamburger at supper, but did you eat with the lights on? Did you use the restroom after your meal? If so, you killed an animal. Even if you are a vegan, and eat nothing that could have even possibly came from an animal, did you sleep under a feather quilt? Did you put on chap stick today? Did you check the label on your hand lotion, your body wash? And I better not have caught you using a film camera! See? It's ridiculous to think that in today's world, or any time in history one could survive by using nothing from an animal. The earth itself does not have enough resources to support everything on it's planet; the planet thrives because things eat other things.

While I have been a little harsh on the vegetarians because of the animals thing, I do believe that being a vegetarian as an activist for animal rights is a good thing. It is true that there are thousands of dollars spent on the waste and production of animals raised for consumption. It is true that most animals today are kept in unworthy housing situations and are killed in inhumane ways. This is why I believe the protests should be changed from "Stop the Killing" to "Stop the Abuse" which are two totally different things. So you see, the question is not, what should we kill and what should we save, but rather, how can we make better for the animals we need for human survival.

*steps off of soap-box*

Posted by hick0247 at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)