Cornival

Carnival comes from a Latin phrase meaning "farewell to flesh," due to the fact that it was a celebration that ended with meat abstinence. Well this year I'm trying to go 40 days without eating corn products. That isn't easy for a Nebraska boy, so why shun that which is shucked? About a month ago I watched a very interesting documentary called "King Corn." It focused on how our government subsidizes very unhealthy food, especially high fructose corn syrup, and corn fed animals, in order to reduce the cost of groceries.

So I'm doing my best not to eat any high fructose corn syrup, or animals that were fed corn. I'm also going to make an effort to try to buy more locally produced food to try to reduce the amount of corn ethanol used in transporting my future meals. But in the spirit of full disclosure I actually benefit quite a bit from government subsidies to corn farmers, as my two siblings and I jointly own a farm in Cedar Rapids Nebraska, where our tenant farmer grows, you guessed it, corn. What the heck else would you grow in the Cornhusker state?