The Oil We Eat - Miscellaneous Post

I woke up during the night thinking about all the grain fields in Iowa and started reflecting on an article by Richard Manning in Harper’s a couple of years ago. It was titled, “The Oil We Eat.”

Here is the link.

http://www.harpers.org/TheOilWeEat.html

Among many things, he talked about how our modern agriculture methods (he really does a fascinating job on talking about how the cultivation of “packets of energy”, which is what seed kernels are, transformed human societies and cultures) have resulted in our becoming dependent upon the sources of oil necessary to continue to production of food.

I have, of course, greatly oversimplified his article, but you can get the idea.

Pictures are from the Dubuque, Iowa area. A view overlooking the Mississippi, a typical home, and a home for sale $177,500.

My agent told me that we got our "first rejection letter" on the book she is trying to sell for me. I wish she had said, "We got our first response and it was a rejection." ha! I replied, "Fuck them." If I can't believe the story is good no one else is. I remember we had a terrible time selling Soldier Dead and then it has done very well (for the type of book it is). Writing and publishing is a terribly brutal business right now. But, my motto is, "Onwards!"