The modern world is divided economically into the global north and global south, or simply put, developed and developing nations. Due to the economic inequalities between developed and developing countries, there are vast disparities in the daily lives of the citizens of France for example, and those who call Chad home. While families in France visit a local market… Read more »
While looking through the Hungry Planet gallery for my two chosen countries, Chad and France, the differences were striking. It’s hard to overstate how different the two countries seem just from a gallery of a few pictures. The families in Chad had a sad, dreary, pain-ridden tone that was evident for a number of different reasons. The facilities were minimal… Read more »
Arrayed on the table before the Guatemalan Mendoza family was a colorful bounty of fresh food for the week – tomatoes, squash, carrots, green beans, garlic, potatoes, and among other things, two large burlap sacks full of grain. In sharp contrast, the Caven family from California were the beneficiaries of an industrialized food system which processes many of the raw… Read more »
When we take a minute to look at these pictures side by side, several differences begin to show. The pictures show an American family and Egyptian family with the food they will consume in a week. The thing that first jumps out to me is the types of food that each family chooses to eat for a week. This… Read more »
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 as McDonalds have become popular making its way to countries like Japan, but not so much in countries… Read more »
While reading about the cause of the Irish and Indian famines this week which killed millions of people, I continually asked myself, “How could they so brazenly end these people’s lives?” How could a few powerful people so apathetically decide the fate for millions of innocent people. As I wondered about this question something struck me and I wondered, is… Read more »
In contemplating living systems, it’s difficult to imagine that so many “dead” systems form relationships with human bodies that can bring such differences in how lives unfold. Humanity brings to life systems that are otherwise inert. It is easier for me to imagine how living systems theory works in an interactive way between organisms and the environment when I imagine… Read more »
Check out Tristram Stuart’s TED talk on the global food waste scandal. I felt that it really accentuated a large bounty of the political ecology of the world food system. It also touched upon Peter Quinn’s work in his article Hunger Games: Who Gets to Eat & Who Decides. Essentially, as Stuart described the modern-day realities of the world… Read more »
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 a “shorthand for understandings for grocery store prices that don’t reflect foods total costs or discussion about… Read more »