The average American citizen is overworked. Many people work full time (sometimes with more than one job), have family obligations, go to school, and attempt to have hobbies. All of this activity leaves little time to wonder about the food we are eating and the system we are contributing to when we make food choices. Many people leading this busy… Read more »
If we are to change the direction of our impact and start toward a balanced ecological existence, it will require something akin to a global social movement. Policy and infrastructure at all levels will need to be radically adjusted, and corporate entities as well as individuals will need to be accountable for their actions. This is true not just for… Read more »
My breakfast this morning was made possible by globalization. Banana chocolate chip pancakes are a standard at my local diner, so it can be hard to imagine a time when they were considered exotic, with their Ecuadorian bananas and chocolate chips made from ingredients sourced in the Ivory Coast. But transcending the limits of local climes and growing seasons, global… Read more »
The Real Cost of Cheap Food has got me thinking about the hidden costs of “cheap food.” What may seem cheap in terms of the grocery bill total is truly quite the opposite. Thinking about this issue in terms of systems theory brings a sense of organization to such complex ideas. On a local scale, “cheap food” effects the healthcare… Read more »
The ecologic impact of land use regarding various parts of our lives is an important aspect of how we live on this planet. How the food we eat requires grazing land, and our usage of built up, energy, and forest land to provide ourselves housing makes a complex footprint that we create by living here. The supply chains and associated… Read more »
In The Real Cost of Cheap Food, Michael Carolan argues that “free trade is rarely fair” for smallholder farmers competing in the globalized food marketplace. The Fair Trade movement has risen in the last decade as a means of leveling the playing field for the developing world in trade relations. Seattle’s Theo Chocolate is a Fair Trade, bean-to-bar chocolate maker… Read more »
Human behavior towards the environment has allowed masses of natural habitats to change towards human needs. This current state of affairs is referred to as the Anthropocene epoch which scientists, geologists, sociologists, anthropologists and environmentalists all acknowledge that this is a stage which we have entered gradually, and which has a huge impact on our lives. The Anthropocene is a… Read more »
Having previously learned anatomy and physiology while studying nursing, this crash course in systems theory reminded me of the complicated interconnections of the inner workings of the human body. When Western medicine attempts to use drugs as proxies to replace, enhance, or repress failing systems without looking holistically at the patient, while the patient may get some relief, the… Read more »