So, like the good little nerd that I am I had done our taxes early.  I had gone onto Turbo Tax and filled out everything at the end of January. I was waiting until the end of February to make sure all necessary paperwork had come in before sending of the e-file. This evening I go back to Turbo Tax’s website to submit the e-file. First, I find that some unnecessary tax form is being added on to our taxes (Teacher Reimbursement form) because I had looked at it during the process. Didn’t fill out anything; just looked at it and realized that I didn’t qualify.  So, that was the first annoyance.  Second annoyance came when I started trying to file.  First, I find that they no longer have the Basic service for $14.95. You either have the free service (only filing 1040EZ) or you automatically get bumped up to the Delux service for $29.95. Well, you know Bryan and I being cheap won’t stand for this.  After a mild freak-out moment on my part, I pop on over to the H&R Block site.  Hooray! They have a free e-file service as long as you don’t want any of their extra assistance (which we don’t). So, I got through and redo the taxes.  Best part is, H&R Block found a better way for me to claim my tuition and fees for grad school that resulted in us getting a larger rebate!  Woohoo!

So, standing here on my electronic soapbox, I would like to say, “Screw you Turbo-Tax! Your reign of being my preferred tax filing service has ended due to your greed in increasing your prices. H&R Block, congrats! You get to take their place, for now!”

Bryan’s evening shifts have given me a lot of time to read and lately that means reading through Omnivor’s Dilemma however uncomfortable it may be to read at times. Despite the fact that reading about certain parts of our current agricultural system make me queezy, it is a necessary queeziness. Pollan (author) argues that if our current food chain and all the working cogs in  that chain were more transparent, we would not continue to the have the systems we do.

But queeziness was not what I set out to write about. I find that I am loving this book more and more because it talks about food (which I love to talk about) from every perspective imaginable (economical, ecological, agricultural, philosophical, anthropological, evolutionary, sociological, marketing, etc.).  Pollan touches on so many different aspects about food. And, even though I am not quite finished, I can say with confidence that this book is changing the way think about food, the enviornment, ethics, and life. I have started looking for ways to remove myself from the industrial food chain. And, as you can see from this post, l am becoming a little bit evangelical about talking about these issues.  Anyone who knows me knows I love food and I love to talk about food, cook food, eat food, feed friends and family.  I care deeply about the quality of food that passes through my kitchen.  So, now I just have more to talk about.  Now, if I can just incorportate some of these issues into my research I would be golden!

I’ve been reading Omnivor’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan and this book is changing my whole perspective on US agriculture, most especially about the organic industry.  I am a little over half-way through the book and the author so far has done a great job at convincing me that the current agricultural policy in the United States is deplorable, uneconomical and unsustainable. The unsustainable part I could have guess, but when you find out how heavily subsidised the US industrial agriculture system is and that all of that doesn’t even factor in the countless health and environmental problems caused by this system that we end up paying for in one way or another, the whole system is quite uneconomical.

I have just finished reading through the chapters where Pollan visits a small farm in Virginia that practices “management intensive grazing,” a sophisticated grazing rotation system that exploits what grass, cows, chickens, pigs, and rabbits have genetically evolved to do best. The system depends on the farmer’s intimate knowledge of soil science and ecology and ends up being more than sustainable.  The farm is on a lot of 550 acres that when bought in the 1970’s was very degraded.  Over the years of “management intensive grazing” farming practices the condition of the land has greatly improved.  I could go on and on, but there is so much to it (probably why the book is so fat).  Anyone interested in food safety, their health, the environment, etc should definitely read this book.

After I post this I am going to start poking around the internet for a local CSA (community support agriculture) farm that we can purchase our meat from.

I was talking to my 14 year old cousin this weekend and found out that she is not taking English this year. This shocked me. “Don’t you have to take 4 years of English in highschool?” I asked. “No, you only have to take 2 years,” was her response. WHAT?!?!

This freakin’ blew my mind. Seriously? Only 2 years of English. I was in such disbelief that I actually had to look this up on the Tennessee State Education website to confirm it. Sadly, it is true. After reading through various parts of the website, it would seem that the state needed to increase various numbers, like the proportion of students that actually graduate, so there solution was to lower the standards. This is abombidable! No wonder I get freshmen students in college who cannot write a complete sentence, let alone a paragraph. I argued with my cousin about the requirements. She thought it was a good thing. Her reasonign was that she already knew how to speak English, so why take English classes. I argued that in reading the classics you develop critical thinking skills and you broaden the depth of your own knowledge. This argument, of course, held no merit in her eyes.

In reading through the Tennessee Education website, I also found out that you only need 14 units (1 semester of 1 class is a unit) to graduate from high school. You need the 4 English units, 3 units in Math, 3 units in Science, 3 units in Social studies, and 1 unit of Physical Education. Now, when I was in highschool, we took 6 classes a semester: 6 units x 2 semesters a year x 4 years = 48 units. So, I wondered where the other 34 units of time were going. Then I found out that they only take 4 classes a semester: 4 units x 2 semesters a year x 4 years  = 32 units. This still leaves 18 units unaccounted for. That is more units than are needed to graduate. Are those all electives! What is happening here?

All I have to say is that if the standards don’t change by the time my children (yet to be born) go to school, they will NOT be attending public school in Tennessee. Now, we may not be living in TN so it may no be an issue, but if we are, private school here they come. My children will take 4 years of English, 4 years of Math, at least 3 years of Science, a year of US History, a year of World History,  at least 2 years of Foreign Language, and at least 1 year of some sort of Art or Music class. This idea that children get the bare minimum in K-12 and that it is mostly baby sitting and everyone needs to go to college because they do not learn much of anything in K-12 is reprehensible. My children will be held to higher standards if my no one else than my husband and myself. You should be a well educated, well-rounded individual by the time you graduate from highschool. Even if you go into a trade and never attend college, you should be able to read and write intelligibly, talk about the government and politics with some knowledge of how the system works, have a idea of the basic principles of science, and an appreciation for music and the arts. I do not know what has caused our culture to shift away from valuing these types of knowledge, but alas …

Well, there is my rant for the day.