About Us

We (Don and Anne Kerstetter) have had a sailboat on the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay since the 1960s and we sailed many weekends on the Bay. We did not notice but during this period the Bay tributaries were losing their underwater grasses, which provided the food and habitat for many species, which were all in decline. It was not until we moved to our property at the headwaters of LaTrappe Creek after retirement in 1996 that we became sensitive to the deteriorated condition of our creek which we continue to see every day.

Our creek is a small stream which flows into the Choptank River, a major tributary that flows into Chesapeake Bay from Maryland’s Eastern Shore. We started our Foundation “Trappe Landing Farm & Native Sanctuary” with a mission to restore the creek by setting an example on our small farm and trying to influence our neighbors to do whatever it takes for restoration. At that time we thought the major problem was sediment runoff from farm fields. We planted 7,000 trees, 7 acres of warm season grass buffers, and installed 12 sediment ponds on our small farm and prevailed on our contract farmer to use the no-till method and cover crops on our corn/soybean rotation. After detailed study we came to the conclusion that we could not overcome the pollution of a two crop rotation featuring corn and we stopped farming. We tried to influence our neighbors to change but most of them rent their land and there are no farmers in our area that will do old-fashioned crop diversity. You might ask, “How does this experience cause you to start a Food Website?”

We also studied the problem on a Total Bay and a National basis in some depth over the last 10 years as evidenced by the website’s reference list that includes brief summaries of each reference. The references are organized by categories; Health, Water Quality, Soil, Greenhouse Gas and Solutions. In LaTrappe Creek 83% of pollution comes from nitrogen mostly from corn production. This compares closely to studies by Horn Point Laboratory for the entire Choptank. For the Delmarva Peninsula 59% of nitrogen comes mostly from corn production and 35% from chicken manure. This also compares to a study by a Blue Ribbon Panel of the National Academic Community commissioned by President Clinton in 2000 which found that in the Mississippi Watershed, which drains 41% of the U.S. surface area, nitrogen from Corn Belt States is more than 90% the cause of Hypoxia and species loss in the Gulf of Mexico. On the Delmarva Peninsula all the corn goes to feed chickens. In the great Midwest about 50% goes to animal feed, 40% goes to produce 14 products made from corn and used primarily for fat and sweetener in processed food and 10% goes to produce ethanol. Corn based food products, both meat and processed food, are problematic to health in varying degrees. Ethanol is causing deterioration of engine carborators, particularly in small gasoline engines

The purpose of this website is to start a broad debate based on the Paper “America’s Failed Food Production System” (pdf download) with a comment on the last page by Dr. Russell Brinsfield, director of the Wye Agro-Ecology Center. Is it necessary to destroy our two most important natural resources, our national health, produce trillions of dangerous pathogens many in our food, and help create the largest source of greenhouse gas in the world in order to feed the American People? There are many even in the academic community who support the current food system. There are a growing number in the academic community who are trying to initiate change through the sustainable agricultural and organic movements. I believe a reasonable compromise is possible. We encourage all to join this debate.