A Trio of Experiences

This semester is finally winding down!

It's always so busy this time of year, and so I have picked a few things going on in my life to share.

Multimedia: Many Memories

Most of my finals have involved projects or papers rather than tests. For our final project  in Multimedia, two other girls and I created this website.

Oh the memories! We had an interesting time going to different Cultural Bricolage events to get footage and audio clips. Putting it all together was another adventure. I broke my personal record for the length of time sitting in the Student Center. We started editing and putting the final touches on the site at 6:30 p.m. and didn't get done until 11 p.m, which is better than one of my friends's group- they didn't get done until 1:30 a.m.! Those are the nights you remember from college, right?

Poetry: A Poetic Ag Conversation

In an hour or so I'll be headed to my final Poetry class. We are reflecting on the semester and our "current poetics." Not really sure what that means, but I will say this has been a good random class to take.

Last week each of us met individually with our poetry instructor. Of course, during my meeting we got into a conversation about agriculture and creative writing. When I mentioned my passion is agriculture, my instructor immediately was interested and said she had just watched Food Inc.

Ah, Food Inc. Why does it so often come back to this? She said it made her concerned, so I asked which part stuck out to her as most alarming. Surprisingly it wasn't the livestock side, which is what I generally think of when people say they have concerns, but the section about corn, Monsanto and GMOs.

Before I answered, I tried to remember what I learned at this year's AFA Conference. Meet in the middle and focus on shared values.

The problem I have with Food Inc., I told her, is that it examines issues in a very one-sided fashion. And, the other side of the story, or at least a more balanced story, is exactly what I am passionate about writing!

Yes, Monsanto is a huge company, I told her. The plant scientists who work for Monsanto are very successful in finding seed traits they can use to develop seeds. These seeds, which are indeed genetically modified, have different advantages from resistance to weeds and pests to requiring less water. The idea is less inputs and increased genetics results in greater efficiency- higher yields using less resources.

There are definite advantages of genetic modification, and Monsanto is definitely a leader in this area. The problem, highlighted in Food Inc., is that since these seeds are patented anyone saving seeds, purposefully or accidentally, can be sued. I consider any lawsuit unfortunate, and these occurrences have the potential to be extremely emotional financial tragedies.

However, I also believe it's important to take a few steps back and look at the flip side of the coin. For my poetry instructor, I compared it to her own intellectual property- her poems. It would be like if someone took her poem, or even purchased a copy, and used it for their own profit. Is that right?

There are so many gray lines here. Absolutely there are happy stories and sad stories in the ag industry, just like anywhere else. There are advantages and disadvantages, pros and cons, and they all have to be balanced. Bottom line is we have to consider the bigger issue of producing safe food with less resources in an affordable manner. I don't think we can completely discredit the benefits Monsanto brings to the table on this front.

It's Supper Time!

On a slightly lighter note, next week is Finals and I only have one! Yay! Oh, the joys of being a journalism student during finals week.

Since I'll just be working on little things and studying here and there, I decided I would do all the cooking and cleaning for my house and offer the people around me prepared meals. So far the finals schedule is throwing a wrench in things, but I hope they will take advantage. I will deliver pre-portioned meals if I have to!