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Thu Oct 08, 2009 at 11:59:32 AM PDT
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| I'm in Iowa! While that might not thrill anyone other than perhaps a presidential candidate, as an agriculture geek and a Dar Williams fan, I am happier than a pig in shit. Well, maybe a pasture-raised pig in shit. I don't think majority of Iowa pigs are too happy. The state is home to nearly 4000 hog confinements (which are, in turn, home to over 13 million hogs). I'll be visiting one of these confinements this weekend, and I can't wait. The trip might also include a visit to a hog processing plant.
The occasion for the trip is the 2009 Community Food Security Coalition conference, Oct 11-13. It's going to be a fantastic few days, including an address by Tom Vilsack. And it will be held back to back with the 2009 World Food Prize Symposium and Borlaug Dialogue, Oct 14-16. A few of the events from the World Food Prize event will overlap with the CFSC event, including:
Monday, October 12
5:45 p.m.
What Will the World Eat? U.S. Impact on Global Food Security
A reception with lecture and discussion featuring 1995 World Food Prize Laureate Hans Herren
Polk County Convention Center, Room 2004
More information available here, or by contacting Angie Tagtow at angie.tagtow at mac.com or 515-367-5200
8:00 pm
Norman Borlaug Lecture: 2009 World Food Prize Laureate Gebisa Ejeta (more info)
Memorial Union, Iowa State University
Tuesday, October 13
All Day
Third Annual Iowa Hunger Summit (more info)
Downtown Des Moines Marriott Hotel
8:00 a.m.
Borlaug Dialogue Side Event: USAID Board for International Food and Agricultural Development
"Higher Education: A Critical Partner in Global Agricultural Development"
Des Moines Marriott - Salons A and B
I look forward to posting more about these events as they unfold in the next few days. Now, if you'd like to join me in belting out Dar Williams' "Iowa," I've posted the lyrics below. |
| Jill Richardson :: Iowa |
"Iowa" by Dar Williams
I've never had a way with women,
but the hills of Iowa make me wish that I could
And I've never found a way to say "I love you",
but if the chance came by, oh, I, I would
But way back where I come from, we never mean to bother,
we don't like to make our passions other people's concern
And we walk in the world of safe people,
and at night we walk into our houses and burn.
(chorus:)
Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa
Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa
How I long to fall just a little bit,
to dance out of the lines and stray from the light
But I fear that to fall in love with you
is to fall from a great and gruesome height
So I asked a friend about it, on a bad day,
her husband had just left her, she sat down on the chair he'd left behind
She said, "What is love? Where did it get me?
Whoever thought of love is no friend of mine."
(chorus)
Once I had everything, I gave it up
for the shoulder of your driveway and the words I've never felt
And so for you, I came this far across the tracks,
ten miles above the limit and with no seatbelt (and I'd do it again)
For tonight I went running through the screen doors of discretion,
for I woke up from a nightmare that I could not stand to see:
You were a-wandering out on the hills of Iowa
and you were not thinking of me. |
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