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 »
Kloven, Leah. “Library Compost.” 2016. PNG file “Ultimately sustainability requires thinking in circles” (Litfin). LCA life cycle, systems theory and cradle to cradle analysis are all ways of looking at the full picture which is absolutely essential to addressing issues and progress. Today we operate largely through a process of linear systems, this is resource extraction, use, and waste. Our… Read more »
In today’s monetary world, economic troubles are due to a number of political, ecological and cultural factors, where one may seemingly blame one more than the other. The international food system and political hierarchies from leader to pawn are certainly both economically intertwined on a worldwide scale. Coming from a global background, I have been able to see the effects of… 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 »
Chocolate has gotten somewhat of a bad rap recently and deservedly so. But if chocolate demands and/or prices shifted and children were no longer forced to harvest cocoa, would the majority of them return to school or continue working doing something else? I think it is a fair question to ask when trying to determine just how much blame the… 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 »
Chocolate most commonly is found in dark, milk, and white varieties, each with its own unique flavor, and most people have their own preferences as to what they like best. For me it’s all about milk chocolate, especially when it accompanies peanut butter, and that could be ice cream or the coveted Reese’s peanut butter cups. Chocolate is a commodity I have apparently taken for granted over… Read more »
Kloven, Leah. “Healthy Foods.” 2017 PNG file What does real food look like to you? On a recent road trip, I stopped at the store a bought some car snacks. A lemon vitamin water and a pack of corn nuts. As someone who tries to eat healthy, this has always seemed like a decent snack. Sure it’s not organic veggie… Read more »
We live in an era dominated by the marketing of big corporations. In no industry does this have a larger effect on our bodies’ health than in the American food industry. There are many factors which contribute to public health but one of, if not the greatest factor, is the food we eat. As our food system becomes more and more… Read more »