Category Archives: Social Movements

Systems of Balance

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The ancient wisdom presented by Anupam Mishra his TED Talk showcased a number of things. Not least of those is the contrast in thinking between the time tested solutions that still work, that were designed and built on the foundation of community, and the money grubbing greed that compels Ivy league institutions and other universities to “invest” in African farmland…. Read more »

The Importance of Land and Water

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Land and water are fundamental concepts that are deeply rooted in the understanding of the political ecology of the world food system. Essentially every industry is in some way or another based on land. Politically speaking land is the most desirable asset because of the minerals and potential opportunity to generate desirable goods and services. Coupled with humanity’s need for… Read more »

Is Water Truly a Privilege or a Right?

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In the world that we live in, many science books state that 71 percent of the world is covered with water. The problem here is why is there scarcity? The reality of our water content in the world is that only a small portion of it can be readily accessed by people, and this is the problem that we must… Read more »

The Benefits of Planting

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Writing my research paper helped me to discover even further how important plants are to the environment and to each individual ecosystem. I never really gave much thought on how plants function differently when they are in their natural habitat versus when they are not. When plants are put into ecosystems that they are not from, they will either fail… Read more »

The Earth Will Survive

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The earth is a living system with incredible power to self-correct. Through our collective extraction and consumption of oil, we are accelerating the demise of our culture, at the cost to our survival. The warming of the planet caused by greenhouse gasses are enough that we are beginning to witness the effects now. The earth is responding to the altered… Read more »

Diversified gardens over monocropping

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Western institutes employ thousands of people, allocating financial and agricultural resources in attempts to contain the problem of hunger in developing nations, but these efforts aren’t enough. An obvious solution to hunger is… send hungry people food! But the cost of transportation, in dollars as well as environmental pollutants, creates more problems than it solves (Robbins). Instead of providing consistent aid… Read more »

Fertilizer and the Future

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(source: terrapass.com) The reality of fertilizer is that while it supports our food systems in the world, it can contribute even more to the pollution. The byproduct and the production itself of fertilizer contribute much to the carbon foot print of the world. The ecological condition that exists involves the climate impact of food and the overall function of the… Read more »

Adaptation for a Changing World

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In Lessons eight and nine we looked at water and food, both of which are vital aspects of living. More specifically we saw how different parts of the world have adapted to their climates so that they can accommodate their needs. Many countries have found ways to fix their deficits, such as Israel who went from being one of the… Read more »

Hungry Planet

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While reviewing Peter Menzel’s photographic essay “Hungry Planet”, I was struck by the dramatic differences in food culture between developing and affluent countries.  For my paper, I wanted to find two countries that unparalleled each other.  One of the countries I chose for my paper was Chad, a country that is extremely under developed and is facing a food crisis… Read more »

Like a Raisin in the Sun

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Just grapes and sunshine–that’s all that Sunmaid Raisins claim go into their humble boxes of dried fruit. This declaration comes at the end of their advertisement, after insinuating that eating raisins will also make you a celebrity, just like all the fit and healthy Hollywood locals. This is called lifestyle advertising, a more recent trend in marketing. Rather than make… Read more »