vue - Food, Energy, & Quality of Life in Iowa

A Mini-Documentary: In September of 2009, a group of students and professors from the University of Vermont and Iowa State University met in Iowa with a goal to better understand the current trends in agriculture and to discuss the future of food production. The group met with farmers, politicians, private interest groups, researchers, water experts and energy specialists to get as many perspectives as possible. Iowa is the largest producer of corn and soybeans in the country. It is also the largest producer of hogs and layers (egg chickens). The dominant agricultural methods, known commonly as "conventional" farming, are dependent on high petroleum inputs, pesticides, GMO crops and mechanization.