Ad Fundum: Canals Through the Heart

This blog post comes a day late, but just in time. Yesterday we roosted at the apex of academia, friendship, and adventure. So we definitely had no time to write in the blog.
The beautiful Wednesday began on a bicycle.
Everyone in Gent rides bikes. It is just inefficient to even own a car here as the entire town is so compact. This coupled with the fact that bike lanes that are sometimes more lavish than the roads themselves makes any other mode of transportation seem rather silly. This is an extremely sustainable behavior, but you can't blame Americans for not having the same culture. The one misconception I had about Europe is the size. Arkansas is about 4.6 times the size of Belgium and we are still only the 29th largest state by land area. But Belgium has about four times the population. LOOK AT THIS MAP, YO:

This makes it to where everything is compact enough that biking is the preferred mode of transport. So, the only fault Arkansas has is the lack of intracity bicycle infrastructure.
Anyway, yeah, Wednesday. We rode to the University and had some super lectures about Soil & Water Management, Food Safety of Fresh Produce, and Sustainable Food Packaging. The food packaging one I had assumed would be extremely boring. But it was actually exceptionally clever. Before the lecture began I noted "Packaging is inherently waste." But as the lecture went on it was shown that, through factors such as extended shelf life and manipulative packaging sizes, smart packaging can actually increase sustainability. So the notes for the lecture ended with "Consumers are inherently stupid."
After the lectures we toured the Cacao Lab and tasted chocolate in all its preliminary forms. The whole process of making chocolate, from bean to bar, is surprisingly intricate. Here is a photo of Kayvan and I wearing beard nets:

We then went to Delirium Brewery:

where we saw the production and packaging process on its massive industrial scale followed by an immersive organoleptic sensory assay, which was thusly followed by two racks of ribs, which was thusly followed by a grandiose adventure around town with some beautiful folks from Singapore.
Clearly, Wednesdays in Gent are amazing.
A paramount discovery of mine in the last few days came from a comparison of culture and economy with a little help from Dr. Curt. Everyone here talks about and is pursuing a completely "bio-based economy." That phrase is nonexistent in the U.S. where we only ever talk about our pesky little "petroleum-based economy." This is a shift I would dearly hope to bring back home. We currently have the technology and resources to make the shift. So the only thing stopping us is the self fulfilling prophecy that we can't make the shift. In Europe, when a new industry is forming, the government usually subsidizes in order to catalyze investment. In America, that necessary funding for growth will not arrive until private investors believe it is more economical in its infancy. We are brutalized by the wealthy elite that own the oil industry.
The thing about fossil fuels are: Not everyone can participate. Not everyone can bore into the earth to extract wealth.
But a bio-based economy allows participation by the entire populous. When everyone can contribute, more of the wealth is shared and the income inequality gap evaporates. So, as a socialist living in a capitalist world, I truly believe that the pursuance of a bio-based economy is the first step towards a better world.
Also, everything we know and love was made by either yeast or enzymes. Most of which are GMO! I have no idea why only thought yeast was used to make bread and beer. But that stuff is in EVERYTHING.
Okay I will not waste one more second in Belgium writing this blog. Gotta go gallivant with the fellow students. Toodles y'all. See you in America. Hope you're ready for our new bioindustrial revolution!