My friend Jilda just returned from riding her bike halfway accross the country. Based on the photos she emailed along the way she subsisted entirely on diner food, beer and Wisconsin custard. She did find a bit of time between meals to shoot this video while observing the following:
"From western New York State through western Minnesota, I would estimate that 75% of the crops grown are corn, 20% soybean, and 5% other. Millions of acres as far as the eye can see are producing inedible foodstuffs. The energy of the sun and the nutrition of the soil are being squandered into a commodity that sends profits to the few as it poisons nations and the earth. There are millions of square miles of land to be cultivated in this country. This system is not sustainable, it's not just the subject of documentaries, it's real. This is the lesson and the legacy of America - the people are kind, and the land is being wasted."
Agriculture in this country is a nasty business. Along with the livestock industry and factory farming, corn and soybean farming are among the leading causes of global warming. It takes many pounds of grain to yield one pound of beef, and many more gallons of water. Of course not all corn is grown for cow consumption. Much of it is converted into obesity causing corn syrup, which is found in most processed food. One of the most informative and riveting movies about this subject is Food Inc. It is a real eye opener to see how the uninformed are victims of lobbies and advertising.
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