“You who live in the heartland of America have been entrusted with some of the earth’s best land: the soil so rich in minerals, the climate so favorable for producing bountiful crops, with fresh water and unpolluted air available all around you. You are stewards of some of the most important resources God has given to the world. Therefore, conserve the land well, so that your children’s children and generations after them will inherit an even richer land than was entrusted to you.” 

— Excerpts from the homily of Pope John Paul II at Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa on October 4th, 1979