Imagine for a moment that you're back in middle school. Yeah, I don't really want to either, but humor me. Any signs of corporate influence decking the hallowed halls? Maybe an unobtrusive Fruitopia machine and a food pyramid poster in the cafeteria. Maybe some paid advertising on the walls, doubtlessly there only after some controversy and serious budget problems. Until last week, I certainly never thought I'd look on these as the good old days, but Farmington West Middle School's 'Origins of Food Day' changed my mind.

The event consisted of a full day of speakers, with classes rotating and hearing a variety of presentations about agriculture. It sounds like such a good idea, I thought. Kids should know where their food comes from, considering that there are food issues today—such as genetic engineering, irradiation, pesticide use, antibiotic and hormone use and factory farming—that just didn't exist a few decades ago. Even before these practices were developed, industrial society had distanced people from the sources and modes of production of the food we eat, preventing people from making informed and intelligent consumer choices. Half a century ago, Aldo Leopold noted, "there are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace."

This opportunity for kids to gain insight into the world of modern agriculture was lost in Farmington, however, and was turned into a one-sided venue for corporate propaganda. The presentations were dominated by dozens of agribusiness companies and lobbyists. Breakfast arrived courtesy of the dairy council, while lunch—irradiated beef—was kindly donated by the Beef Council.

It turns out that the principal, Stephen Geis, has suspected political aspirations and consequently the incentive to not only invite industry groups into his public school, but to make sure he keeps their support. I had the unfortunate experience of giving presentations with one of only three non-industry groups: the Sierra Club's Antibiotics in Agriculture campaign. Make no mistake—we weren't invited. Some teachers were so disturbed by the overwhelming corporate bias to the schedule that they notified the Sierra Club; the campaign's organizer, Kendra Kimbirauskas, fought our way in.

On the agenda were such notorious industry groups as the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Beef Council, the Pork Council, the Dairy Council and Monsanto. Despite the fact that these agribusiness groups have an obvious profit motive in indoctrinating the young generation to become avid, unquestioning consumers of environmentally harmful, unhealthy and resource-wasteful animal products, Geis treated them as unbiased educators.

Advocacy groups Sierra Club and Clean Water Action, while already in a noticeable minority, in the company of two organic farming teachers, were considered radical groups with no credibility; our presentations were censored accordingly. Industry representatives spied on our presentations throughout the day and accused us, with no evidence, of lying. They took their complaints to Geis, who, not having heard our presentation, threatened to kick us out if we didn't "tone down" our message. He didn't want anyone to come away from the day thinking any negative thoughts. Not exactly my idea of education. To show us that he meant business he came into our next presentation fifteen minutes late wearing a Beef Council apron.

The industry representatives used every tactic they could to intimidate us with their age, power and money. The president of the Minnesota Beef Council interrupted our presentation to say that our lack of science degrees made us unqualified to discuss antibiotic resistance. A woman from the Farm Bureau interrupted another presentation to declare that how a "farmer" raises his/her animals is none of our, or the middle school class' business. Her anger about groups with dissenting views allowed to be at Origins of Food Day was palpable, as was her fear of what we had to say.

I knew before I went to Farmington that agribusinesses play dirty, that its in their best interest to keep consumers ignorant and that they only care about the bottom line. It's easy to think that the people behind these organizations are talking heads, or simply ignorant and misguided. That day I saw the human faces behind industrial agriculture, however, and they are ugly. They know the damage they're causing to the environment, to family farmers and rural communities, to animals and to human health. They know who they're deceiving and at what costs, but they don't care.

Confronted with this hatred, greed and conspiracy I had a fight-or-flight response. The faith I had in the democratic process, free speech and public education, is gone. Stephen Geis' 'Origins of Food Day' was the quintessential example of corporate power spun out of control. I've never felt so strongly that the system does not work. Our right to know where our food comes from and our right to make choices can be controlled and even sold. I know what they're after and I know the costs of consumer ignorance, apathy and corporate influence. If you'd met these people too, you'd realize that our relationships to the land, to the food that sustains us and to the people who produce it, are worth fighting for.