'King Corn' opened my eyes to high fructose corn syrup

"King Corn" is an independent film based in Iowa. It follows two east coast college students, who figure out that they have family roots in the same small Iowa town. They spend a summer growing one acre of corn, to better understand the impact and the inner workings.

What they learn is pretty shocking, regarding the government subsidies that are provided to farmers. Most farmers make very little money, since the cost of a bushel of corn is kept so low. The subsidies allow the farmer to make just enough money to survive. You would think this would be a good thing, but it drives them to produce the wrong kind of corn, not the edible kind.

They also explore where a typical acre of corn goes (not as corn-on-the-cob, as you might think), along with the environmental impact of that corn. You would think that corn has to be good for us, and growing more would be a good thing, but this film clearly shows how bad things have gotten. The amount that goes to overfeed cows for meat is also shocking!

However, the biggest shocker for me was the amount of corn going to create high fructose corn syrup. This product has basically no nutritional value, and has replaced sugar in almost every food we eat nowadays. It drives our obesity problem, and since it is so inexpensive (government funded), it is now less expensive to buy food that is bad for you (cupcakes, soda, chips, etc) than buying healthy fruits and vegetables!

They also recently released a supplemental short film called "Big River", which explores the impact of farming (pesticides and runoff) on the water streams, which all eventually flow down into the mouth of the Mississippi River (the "dead zone").

This movie was exactly what I needed to see, in order to finally convince me to cut back even more on eating meat, and now I'm severly reducing my consumption of products with high fructose corn syrup!

Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute (VISFI) leading the way

On our recent trip to St. Croix, we discovered a very cool farm up in the rainforests. The VISFI provides "a working educational farm enterprise that integrates sustainability in education, environment, and community through quality instruction in Agroecology and related fields." We wanted to get a first-hand look at what they did, and so we made the trek up the mountain for a visit.

They offer many workshops and educational programs to study-abroad students, along with the locals. The have recently setup the VI Locally Grown program, where buyers can purchase local produce and hand-made crafts online.



The first thing you notice is the solar panels on the roof of the community center. Inside is a library of sustainable books, along with tables where the staff work wirelessly from their laptops. There is also a kitchen, where the food from the land is prepared each day.

Everyone was very friendly and helpful. We decided to take the self-guided tour. We were given a map of the area, along with descriptions about each area.



One of the coolest features was the treehouse, which had a bed and living room area. It was buried high up into the trees, and could fold up during inclimate weather. There was a lot of craftmanship that went into building it.



Another helper lived in the yurt pictured above, which was buried into the forest, and was difficult to find.



They also have a program called Farm Stays where you can stay in one of the solar-powered cabanas for about $35/night and help out around the farm during the day. A great option for those trying to save money. The farm is only a couple miles drive from the beach, or you can also opt to hike down from the mountain.

There is a lot more that they offer, so visit the VISFI website for more information, or stop by if you're ever in St. Croix.