"Food Miles" Reflection

     In the food miles activity we tried to predict the carbon footprint of certain items. The carbon foot print of each item where: waffles- 800 units, spaghetti and meatballs- 1600 units, whole grain cereal- 1224 units, and 1 fresh fruit- 84 units. This showed that the spaghetti and meatballs had the highest carbon footprint compared to the other products because a lot of process went into it from the point where it started to our plates, whereas fresh fruit had a lower carbon footprint because it went through less process to get to consumers. I learned that growing food closer to home is better for the environment and for us. Fruits and vegetables will have more nutrients because it grow in full ripeness instead of harvested early and ripened with chemicals gasses in transport and storage. Food grown further away results in large quantities of greenhouse gas emissions; the bigger the food footprint, the bigger the carbon footprint. 
     The food that I eat mostly comes from California, Florida, Canada, Mexico, Chile, etc. because I buy them at a Supermarket. I can reduce my own food miles by going to the Farmer's market in Boston, and buy locally grown food instead of buying oranges grown in Florida. I can also plant my own vegetable garden in the backyard during spring/summer time. Food miles is important to the environment because not growing food locally is producing major greenhouse emissions. Growing food far away is using up a lot of energy and food safety is also an issue. To reduce the carbon footprint we have to grow food locally and eat healthier. The smaller the distance the better it is. 

EcoBook #25- Nonrenewable resource

Natural gas is a nonrenewable resource. It is used for heating, cooking, and generating electricity. Natural Gas is an example of a fossil fuel that is finite. 

EcoBook #24- Omnivore

Gray squirrels are omnivore because they eat both plants and animals. Some examples of the food they eat are acorns, grasses, fungi, adult insects, baby birds, toads, etc. They eat many different variety of foods. 

EcoBook #23- Air Pollution

This picture is an example of air pollution because the smoke is coming out from a building's chimney emitting harmful substances into the air that causes pollution.

"Oregon Rancher Standoff" Reflection

     The self-styled militia is protesting against the government for their regulations and owning to much land. Members of the militia group broke into the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, are armed and standing ground. They are trying to help the people of Harney County to claim back their lands and resources. Ranchers are having trouble getting and owning more land to raise cattle because of their financial problems. Instead, they are leasing federal lands to sustain their operation; the federal government controls a large amount of land in the west. The federal government's regulations on these lands are seen as "unfair"; it limits the ranchers' freedom of of full use of the lands. The militia is also protesting the arson convictions of the Oregon ranchers, the Hammonds, who are in jail for 5 years for burning BLM lands. The militia thinks there is "too much government" abusing their power and limiting the people's freedom. They believe enough is enough. Right now the best approach that is being done is waiting the group out in the hopes that the protesting will die off. 

      I think the standoff is going too far. I think they should try a different approach, like setting up a private meeting to talk about their differences instead of the protest or violence. Maybe this can help to come to an agreement or make things more civilized. I think the government can make this happen because they have higher authority to set up a private meeting. I think the Hammonds are going to be hurt by the standoff. People might get mad at the Hammonds for unintentionally starting the standoff. What I think this is doing to the Refuge is causing bigger problems on the land. For the ranchers, I think the standoff is harming their reputation because they can also be looked down upon if the militia does something bad. For the taxpayers, the standoff is costing them a lot of money. 

"Fast Food to All Food" Reflection

      Modern farms are now like factories; farming becoming so industrialized and mechanized that its production has changed greatly by corporations controlling all production processes. The poultry industry, for example, changed to factory farms. Mistreatments of chickens are now happening because chickens are only seen as "a unit of production rather than a living creature." Chickens are  raised in big metal buildings with lack of sunlight and air, confined together with thousand of birds, and engineered to grow quickly that causes the chickens to lose their ability to walk because they no longer can carry their weight. Because of society's movement to fast food, the food industry is trying to raise animals in an efficient and cost-effective way which does not improve the lives of the animals. 
      If animals do have certain rights, those rights do apply to animals we raise for food, like chicken or pigs. They are just like people: they are living creatures who have souls and feelings. The farm animals should have the right to be treated with fairness and kindness. They should have the right to not be gruesomely slaughtered, but instead be put down in a more humane way that does not make them suffer. They should also have the right to move around freely, and live in a cleaner environment or in their natural environment. The statement "In a way, we're not producing chickens, we're producing food" means they are not raising chickens, but instead raising food that will produce money for the corporations. I disagree with this statement because even though the chickens are raised as food, they are still living creatures that should be treated humanly. This perspective of the National Chicken Council does affect the way that chicken are raised because the council only sees the chickens as a source of food that does not need proper care. They see it that the chickens will eventually be killed and be used as food. 
      If we are all in an agreement that even food animals deserve to have a certain quality of life, the farm workers are responsible to oversee the treatment of chickens or other animals because the animals are under their care. The responsibility of individuals and consumers are to stop buying food products from big chain companies, but instead buy organic food that is free range that we know the animals were able to have some type of good life. The government responsibility is to look after companies to make sure that they are not allowing the mistreatment of the animals especially the farm animals. The companies responsibility is to create new methods of taking care of the animals, by providing better environments for them and not seeing them as just food. 
    The change in the way we treat animals will change the price of what we have for dinner because more money will be put into better systems to care for the animals, which will rise the price for the consumers. I think I would still be able to afford chicken because it is similar to buying organic chicken that is free range- the price is high, but you still buy a healthier product. This change might effect my life because I might have to cut down the amount of chicken that I eat because of high prices. 

"The Veil" Reflection

     Food are now being Genetically engineered. The Genetically modified organimis (GMO) are developed by transferring genes and their traits from one organisms to another. The benefits of GMO technology are that it increases yield, enhance nutrition, and increase drought resistance crops. It is also primarily used to create GMO crops that are Herbicide-tolerant; which the application of herbicide will not destroy the crops. The concerns of GMO technology are the unknown health consequences, unintended transfer of genes, loss of biodiversity, and private companies controlling the world food production. Food production is a massive industry which leads to corporations protecting their earnings by passing laws and regulations. The food libel law, patent law, and the cheeseburger law were all passed in protecting the food industry. The major law that was passed was the food labeling law, this allowed companies to print out certain information on labels. This keeps consumers in the dark with out knowing what is in their food and how it is produced; with this it  helps to keep everything running smoothly, keep prices low, and keep people from developing unnecessary fears. 
     The consequences -both positive and negative- of companies owning the genetic information in the seed is that it helps companies to take ownership of the seed and produce a lot of money for themselves; however, it puts them in the position of hiding things from the consumers that will jeopardize the company, and this leads them to creating laws and regulations. This situation  compared to downloading music from "free" sites is almost similar because downloading music for free is taking away the income that the artist or the company would have been receiving. This is the reason why regulations and laws are created. 
     If I could no longer have the tradition in my family because someone now legally claims it I would think it is unfair and try to fight for my right to continue my tradition without them owning it. Maybe health educators will be more effective then warning labels for food. They can talk to the people, especially the youth, about the food they eat and the bad things that is in it that can cause future health problems. The pros and cons of the people who have been in the industry who are now becoming regulators working for the government is they are knowledgeable about the regulations, and might be reasonable and impartial making it; however, the problem is the regulators have to remain objective towards the people they may know in the industry, and the other con is that they might make regulations in favor of a company.