I’ve often considered my role in the process of climate change, both as an individual and in my work in the food industry over the years. I recently learned more about my ecological footprint using the Global Footprint Network’s footprint calculator (http://www.footprintcalculator.org/). The largest contributor to my footprint by far is air travel; my family lives on the East Coast… Read more »
The far reaching impacts of climate change on our food security, economic stability, and social inequality is nothing less than overwhelming. Food industries across the globe will have to grapple with the multifaceted impacts of climate change. From the decreased yields seen in commercial fishing due to ocean acidification, to the increasing widespread draughts, there is a shift towards scarcity…. Read more »
As we proceed further into the Anthropocene, we are entering the unknown as a planet. Many aspects of our world are behaving less predictably than ever as a result of human impact. Shocks to the complex global food system can come in many forms, from natural disasters to world trade disputes to pest outbreaks. How resilient is our food system,… Read more »
Meditation (guided or silent) has been part of my daily life for the past few years. I found meditation through yoga practice. The aim of my meditation practice thus far has been self-healing (physical and mental). The introduction of a contemplative practice as a pedagogic tool in this course was appealing. I had expected positive results, as I have been… Read more »
This was such an engaging course looking at the politics, policy, and environmental consequences of the world food system. It is so much more complicated and interconnected than I had imagined. I think my biggest takeaway is the connection between industrial agriculture practices and climate change. Industrial farming has removed people from being connected to the land. Monoculture production of… Read more »
In the poem On Work, Khalil Gibran’s prophet Almustafa counsels, You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth. For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life’s procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite. Over the past ten weeks… Read more »
Much of the conversation over GMOs within the US natural food industry has focused on issues of labeling and the dangers that multinational corporations like Monsanto pose to organic farmers. For many, the 2008 documentary Food Inc. was their first exposure to the dark side of these high-tech advances, detailing how intellectual property lawsuits from agrochemical firms have put some… Read more »
Hunger is in effect a systemic issue. Our media over simplifies it to a lack of food or resources when we must in-fact look at a broader system that changes how and why there is hunger in a world where we have enough food to feed everyone. There are an assortment of complex variables at play. First we see… Read more »
The common threads I found running through the concepts of hunger, food and energy, and climate change were feelings of both deep foreboding and indomitable hope. It’s really easy as a young person to focus on the main problems we are going to have to tackle with respect to these issues—how will we feed not only the starving people around… Read more »
I enjoyed reading Karen Litfin’s work in “Thinking Like a Planet.” It goes along with some of the questions I have been asking about using Earth Systems to inform human systems, making them circular rather than linear. It was nice to see ideas and examples of how it is being done, such as virtuous cycles rather than vicious cycles. I… Read more »