Down to Earth Farm

Last week, I had the opportunity to work at a local farm in Jacksonville. It is very small, and the owners only grow organic fruits and vegetables, although they also grow flowers and raise chickens. While I am not really the farmer type, I admit that I have learned to appreciate the hard work that goes into growing the food that we eat. My job was to carry large trash bags from one side of the farm to the other, and empty the contents in a pile. The bags were filled with leaves that the owners picked up off the sides of the road. Luckily, I didn't have to do it all myself. Several of the bags were pretty heavy, so my partner helped me out. I lost track at how many bags we carried. I was at the farm for 3 hours, and for the majority of that time, there was only 2 of us working, (not counting the professor, the owner, and another volunteer). Once another girl from our class came, we were given a very brief tour, then it was back to work. We managed to get almost all of the bags emptied (it was a very large pile) before I left at 3 o'clock. I had a great time, but I was happy to go home and take a shower!

Food Inc

After watching the first part of Food Inc, I am both shocked and appalled at what goes into our food and where it comes from. I knew that some animals were kept in factories, but I had no idea that the problem was this bad. I didn’t know that most of them are being fed corn which makes the meat contain high fructose corn syrup. I am horrified by the way these animals are being treated before they are sent to the slaughterhouses. Where I live, my landlord owns three cows, and I have never seen him do anything to harm them. They mostly eat grass, and occasionally, he gives them some hay. Sometimes, we give them bread that has gone stale. After awhile, my landlord rakes all of the manure across the cow the cow pasture with his tractor so the grass always stays green and nutritious.