Farming Life
“Corn harvest with an IHC International combine harvester, Jones County, Iowa, USA.” Photo by Bill Whittaker. Wikimedia Commons.
Food is life. Nonetheless, 25% of global food production is traded internationally like any other commodity. This huge movement of food comes with consequences. Trade...Read More »
Research Reflections: A Globalized Western Diet, and the Subtle Brilliance of Japan’s School Lunch Program
In conducting research for my Food Solutions Essay, A Globalized Western Diet, and the Subtle Brilliance of Japan’s School Lunch Program, I found myself amazed by the uniqueness of the Japanese school lunch program and deeply inspired by its success in affecting diet-related health outcomes. I want to share a...Read More »
In the Era of Global Warming…We Can No Longer Afford to Think and Act Only Locally
With all the factors that influence climate change and the perception that individual choices have marginal effect in the grand scheme of things, it’s understandable why the issue of climate change seems to be constantly swept under the rug. In northern regions where contributions to global warming have been significant,...Read More »
Waste Not, Want Not
As a global issue with complex causality, hunger is a challenge that shapes our collective experience. From hunger we see a ripple of social, political, economic, and environmental implications for the world and our place in it. Systemic global hunger is indicative of broken systems, human and ecological – inequality,...Read More »
Processed Food for a Hungry Planet
In Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, Peter Menzel captures the effects of our changing world in ways that words cannot. Significant cultural and economic patterns emerge throughout the collection of photographs. Industrialization, globalization, and international trade continue to influence culture, food practices, health, and consumption behavior at the local...Read More »
Comparing Nations
Taking a look at Peter Menzel’s online Hungry Planet gallery , a photographic essay on the dietary habits of families all around the world…
Making a side-by-side comparison of the food cultures of the two contrasting countries, Germany (an affluent one) & Chad (a developing...Read More »
Hungry Planet Paper: Japan and Ecuador
https://www.tes.com/lessons/hetCPtgBCuMx8g/japan-cultures
Peter Menzel’s Hungry Planet depicts the various dietary and health lifestyles choices from various families around the globe. The Western diet, generally consisting of red meats, refined grains, processed foods, high fat and sugar content, as well as large food chains such...Read More »
Anthropocene- Time to Clean Up
Many people care about keeping their house clean. We always think of ways to improve our quality of our home. People care about what is happening in their house. Most of us would be offended if someone came into our homes and made a mess. In the film, Anthropocene, watching...Read More »
The Anthropocene Period
The interconnectedness of the topics discussed in the course thus far offer a thought provoking global view on the future of the human species on Earth. The issues of populations growth, the recognition of the impact that we have on our ecosystem, the global food system, and the water and...Read More »
Pondering Broken Systems
The unsustainable course of human evolution over the past century and a half has been driven on by an overarching, undeniable domination of market mentality that pervades all areas of life, including the stuff of our very sustenance: food. The expectation, or even faith, that a market...Read More »
Playing With Your Food and Food Politics
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Jenny-Craig-Weight-Loss-Starter-Kit-7-28-lbs/46929003
With fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats set at premium prices and junk foods disproportionally priced relative to them, it is no surprise that consumers do not eat healthier. In his book The Real Cost of Cheap Food, Michael Carolan’s views cheap food as...Read More »
Globalization - Blog Post 2
During week two and three of the course we have reviewed many other topics from my others classes, such as view the world as a system (globalization) and the Anthropocene. However I believe this speaks to the importance that all social science, and indeed all of the humankind is connect...Read More »