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Editor’s Note: This post was provided by one of our paid sponsors, Earth Cinema Circle, the only DVD club dedicated to increasing social & environmental awareness through entertaining films. Written by Ariellie Ford.
Behind America’s 99-cent hamburgers and 72-ounce sodas is a key ingredient that silently fuels our fast-food nation — Corn. In KING CORN, we meet two college buddies, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, who move from the east coast to the heartland to really learn where their food comes from. They relocate to northern Iowa, home of their great-grandfathers, with a mission. They will plant an acre of corn, follow their harvest into the world, and attempt to understand what all of us are really made of — Corn. This entertaining and informative film is now available from Earth Cinema Circle. The following is from an interview with Curt Ellis, co-producer of the film.
We’re pleased to publish the first of a new weekly feature at Ecoscraps: Peter Menice and Brad Gilchrist’s “Shades of Green” comic strip. Peter’s an editorial cartoonist for the Hull Times, and Brad is the current co-creator of “Nancy,” and worked with Jim Henson on “The Muppets” comic strip. You can find more of their work together at The Green House.
By Lee Welles •
January 11, 2008
My hubby has long
had a taste for sparkling waters. Considering that the average 12 oz soda has 150 calories, 10-15 grams of sugar/high fructose corn syrup and drinking one can a day can lead to a 15-pound yearly weight gain (and diet soda isn’t much better) …I’m glad he likes the clear, slightly lemony stuff.
However, I always feel a pang of ’green guilt,’ as I dutifully return the plastic bottles for recycling. I had to consider that the plastic was made from petroleum, the bottles had to be shipped and it was all for an unneccessary food item. I found a brand of bubbly in glass containers, but the travel costs of our simple treat still nagged me.
My sister solved my dilemma with the best Christmas present ever! I am loving our new Soda Club Fountain Jet! Our starter kit came with soda flavors to add, but we’ve been happy with our bubbles and a squeeze of lemon or lime.
Image Credit: USDA/Wikimedia CommonsAmericans eat a lot of corn. Sure there's cooked corn and corn chips and corn flakes and cornbread and the myriad other varieties found in the average American market. And, with the arrival of summer, there is now corn-on-the-cob (though here in the upper midwest: the sweet corn at the local supermarket right now is trucked in from Florida, not locally grown).
But in addition
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