Reflection: Weeks 5 & 6

Reading 15: Feeding the World
I thought this was a good article, and our class had a nice discussion about it. Personally, I was surprised to learn that we are currently ahead in food production v. demand. I had assumed the situation was the other way around, what with the millions of people in the world who are starving, so this was a new concept for me to ponder. Also, the population projections were interesting, and I’m curious to see how birth rates of populations will rise or fall in the future.

Diet for a New America
We spent two days of class watching this documentary, and although it was slightly dated, I thought it was very impressive. The visuals of how much fat many Americans have in their diet – such as the disturbing string of fat a surgeon pulled out of someone’s blood vessel – were quite effective. Also, another fact that stuck with me was how much manure is produced by farm animals! The piles and piles of manure made me realize how much these animals contribute to air and water pollution. I also realized how our food choices affect our water supply. All in all, I was previously oblivious to how many resources are sucked up to provide meat for the average American diet!

Eye Opener: CSPI
I took an online tour of our food supply created by Center for Science in the Public Interest. This was absolutely shocking! I couldn’t believe all the unpleasant facts that were given, especially about some factory farm animals being fed things such as garbage and newspapers. I’m pretty sure I don’t want these things being consumed by my food because they can pass into my body as well!

Reading 21: The Weather Turns Wild
This was the reading I was assigned to for our other eye opener activity. It was pretty gloomy, listing many of the expected consequences of global warming. The part that struck me the most was the section about environmental refugees. When people are forced to leave their homes because of flooding or drought, where will they go? Who will be responsible for helping them get back on their feet? Will any sort of aid be available?

The Future of Food
Another two days of class were spent watching this documentary, and the conclusion I came to was that the agriculture industry of the United States is NOT headed in the right direction, at least for the most part. I feel that people are starting to opt more for organic foods and lobby against GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and support local agriculture now, but we still have a long way to go. I think it is sad, and a little scary, how the science of farming has changed. More and more pesticides and insecticides are used nowadays to kill resistant weeds, biodiversity among crops has been lost, and genetically modified crops have opened a whole new can of worms. A patent on life? Whose idea was this? And to what lengths will it be taken? Personally, I don’t really want to wait around to find out.

The concept of cross-contamination between fields – the ability for GMOs to sneak undetected into other fields - is very disturbing. I thought the stories of the farmers who had lawsuits filed against them by Monsanto were heart-wrenching. Yes, I realize they were biased, but in the community I grew up in, a lot of my friends and even a few family members owned farms so naturally I want to side with the small farmers. Also, as a future health educator, I think it’s ridiculous that food containing GMOs does not have to be labeled! This means there is no traceability to health effects such as allergic reactions, or even more severe problems that could result. Other countries, such as Japan, that have banned GMOs are even watching our population for signs of adverse health effects of this technology.

Oh, and another thing: I am horrified by the thought of terminator crops that do not allow for reseeding! Maybe I’m not considering the other side of the story, but why would anyone do this?!


These past two weeks have really caught my attention because I am quite interested in how my diet effects the environment. I love to cook, and just love food in general so this is a topic that is important to me. I knew that livestock take up a lot of space, eat a lot of crops, and produce a lot of waste, but I had never really put two and two together and considered the large toll that eating meat and dairy products takes on our environment. I have recently been more conscious about my consumption of animal products, which for me is mainly in various dairy foods. All my life, the importance of eating dairy foods was ingrained into my brain. I thought, is it even healthy to reduce the amount of these foods in my diet? After doing some research on vegetarian/vegan diets, I found alternative food sources of the important vitamins and minerals that are in milk, eggs, cheese, and yogurt. I plan on making some small changes, but nothing too drastic right now. This week I bought soy milk instead of cow milk, and my next step will be to buy eggs from free-range chickens instead of just grabbing whichever carton is on sale.

This class continues to get more and more interesting everyday, and although I now often feel guilty about my lifestyle, and worry about where our world is headed, I am trying to be optimistic about the future and contribute to positive change.

(Picture taken by me on May 1st, 2008, near Stratford-upon-Avon, England.)