Calvin Boender Blog
The Role Fiber plays in our diet
There are two distinct types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. The soluble is just that, it dissolves in water to form a gel-like substance. Insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve in water and stays intact as we pass it.
Posted 7/4/2017
Whole Grains to White
In Michael Pollan’s exploratory work “In Defense of Food” one of his major tenets is to “Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”
Posted 6/20/2017
The Accidental History of the Propeller
One of the aspects of history that always fascinates me are those little accidental discoveries that seem at the time to be minor setbacks but reveal themselves over the course of years to become paradigm shifters.
Posted 5/23/2017
Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley: Father of the FDA
I think we Americans, for the most part take a lot for granted in our everyday lives. When I wake up, I assume the hot water will come out the shower head, the car will start and aside from the usual traffic, I will arrive at my office where the lights will come on at a flip of the switch, my inbox will be full and my Clif Bar will be tasty.
Posted 4/5/2017
Iowa STRIPS Program Reduces Runoff
Since I mentioned the issue of the massive hypoxia, or “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, I’ve started to dig around into some various solutions to this problem.
Posted 1/3/2017
Stubborn Fact: Low Interest Rates Cause More Harm Than Good
I’ve been amazed that the Federal Reserve (and those who run it) have seemingly had their collective heads in the sand regarding the effects of keeping the interest rates low and their systematic employment of quantitative easing to help bring our economy out of this quasi-recession.
Posted 11/30/2016
Illinois Transportation Taxes for our Roads
If you live in Illinois you will find on the November 8th ballot a simple yes or no vote for the Illinois Transportation Taxes and Fees Lockbox Amendment.
Posted 11/7/2016
My Thoughts for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Part 2
Americans were against foreign wars prior to World War II and I think “we the people” still are. We just have this super sexy military-industrial complex, which President Eisenhower warned us against, that keeps inventing drones and other toys that are too cool to not use.
Posted 11/2/2016
My Thoughts for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump
What is the most important task that either of these candidates has to accomplish if elected on November 8, 2016? "JOBS!". Now wait a minute you say, what about unemployment only being at 5% (so says Janet Yellen).
Posted 10/19/2016
Miscanthus Reduces our Nitrogen Leaching
In a previous post, I made reference to the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico where the nutrient runoff from the upper Mississippi river system has introduced millions of tons of leached fertilizers into an area of the gulf roughly the size of Connecticut.
Posted 8/31/2016
I live in the suburbs of Chicago with my wife, son, and 2 dogs. I am currently focusing on developing solutions to future challenges of the agricultural real estate market.