For me the contemplative practices have been a way to relax and think about myself in relation to the larger food system. While they have all given me something to think about, the one that had the most influence on me was the lesson 5 contemplative practice about feeling hunger. I, like many Americans have never been truly hungry. By… Read more »
In wealthy countries like the U.S., hunger is not really something often brought up because it is not generally a life and death issue here. I have been fortunate enough to grow up in a household where fridges were almost always stocked and putting food on the table was never really an issue. The Lesson 05 Contemplative Practice: Feeling Hunger… Read more »
Shortly after the turn of the century, the developing world shifted from food independent to food dependent. In his book The Real Cost of Cheap Food, Michael Carolan argues that this shift was due to both an inability to compete in the increasingly globalized agricultural market, and strategic bestowments of food aid from developed countries. From about 1960 on, developing countries began to… Read more »
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 ecological footprint we are leaving on our planet, are huge… Read more »
The growth of the human population has always been centered on a civilization’s ability to cultivate crops. Regardless of the Malthusian or the Cornucopian perspective, the trend between the agricultural revolution and the growth of the human population directly parallels technological growth. In terms of sustainable systems most of the world is still in developmental stages today, giving us high… 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 »
Having taken previous nutrition courses, and being someone who has spent the better part of my adult life as a vegetarian, I am cautious about what I consume, though admittedly, not as strict as I could be given what I know about the food I eat and its effects on the body. That being said, much of what was discussed… Read more »