After reflecting on my connection and my relation to fossil fuels, I find that I feel like a tiny cog in the massive system that is highly stuck in its ways. Many scientists, engineers, and forward-thinkers have been working on alternative resources in order to slow the use of nonrenewable resources like petroleum. As I look around though it does… Read more »
Industrial farming has had an enormous impact on our environment and the world food system. In Leo Horrigan’s chapter in the May 2002 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives he stated, “Industrial agriculture depends on expensive inputs from off the farm (e.g., pesticides and fertilizer), many of which generate wastes that harm the environment” which reveals the high cost, both financially… Read more »
Seeds, water supply, and agriculture are all crucial parts of the global food system. As we learned in the last couple weeks, seeds go through a very detailed and intricate process to grow from a seed in the earth to a full plant, vegetable, fruit, etc. Abundant amounts of water are required to keep plants healthy and adequately nourished while… Read more »
Throughout lessons 5-7, we discussed varying topics from wide ranging areas of our world food system. Something that I could not shake off is the thought that many of the mistakes we have made as a society were encouraged by our leaders who were fully aware of what would result from their actions. For example, the Irish famine that was… Read more »
After comparing families from Chad and Australia I found that the people in the developing country of Chad are “starving because the policy structures that defended rural livelihoods, and access to resources and markets, and hence entitlements and incomes, are being systematically dismantled by structural adjustment programmes, driven by the World Bank, and by WTO rules imposing trade liberalization” (Shiva)…. Read more »
International trade allows us access to fruits, vegetables, spices, and much more from other countries around the world. There are so many foods in our markets, grocery stores, and restaurants that we take for granted. The number of resources, work, travel, etc. that goes into producing goods elsewhere and bringing them to the United States is not noticed by many of… Read more »
Local and large-scale farmers in America are suffering to keep up with big industry prices as a result of large corporations keeping market produce prices extremely low. To aid farmers who do not have the ability to sell at these low prices, there needs to be a change in the way we look at the food we purchase. We as… Read more »
The past couple weeks of our lessons have inspired me to think about how much of our current diet is necessary. I have wondered if we need all the food we are eating and if we do, are we even get enough nutrition from the food in an average American diet. My partner and I currently switched 30% of our… Read more »