Seeds are both natural and engineered, just as we are. In fact, in the act of creating modified seeds, “a great deal of effort is required to separate undesirable from desirable traits.” (Wieczorek 2012) Seeds follow the same paths that we do, so I think it is inaccurate and perhaps unwise to elevate and revere processes that are considered “natural”… Read more »
Our relationship with our food has changed, as has the perception of our impact. These two elements of our introspective analysis have come together in our search for a better way address hunger, be less wasteful, be more healthy, and become more sustainable. In my own exploration of food and the relationships it has to politics, economics, health, social justice,… Read more »
Whenever I would think about things I could do for environmental change it seemed overwhelming. Reading articles about individualization and realizing that one person changing their eating habits isn’t really making that big of a difference helped me think about the bigger picture. With collective action if someone is changing their eating, recycling, or farming practices then yes that can… 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 »
There are two contrasting approaches to understanding human being’s responsibility and capacity to change difficult social or environmental problems. One perspective places accountability on the shoulders of the individual; this is the idea that a single person has the power to make changes in their personal conduct that could alter the course of complex issues. In his essay on… Read more »
The assignment of moral consumerism onto the individual citizen, labeled “the individualization of responsibility” by Maniates (p.33) is the popular idea that consumers can buy their way out of ecological problems through informed purchases, and shifts blame away from the product manufacturers. Maniates goes on to discredit the idea of “consumption-as-social-action” and reveals that during the 1980’s in the United… Read more »
The trends of food system industrialization and nutritionism outlined by Michael Pollan in In Defense of Food have not diminished in the decade since its publication. Neither have the global social, political and economic forces driving those trends. Pollan outlines the bodily and environmental dangers that our new food landscape presents, making a compelling argument that our food needs defending…. Read more »
Since I have the good fortune to have found a strong WiFi connection, I’ll take this opportunity to occupy my Professor’s Corner. Reading through your first week’s takeaways, I see that many of you are asking a central question: once we start waking up to problems with the food system, what do we do? The tempting answer is to change… Read more »