The Cuban Way?

A More Cuban Society

Yes, that says a more Cuban society, and no I didn’t mean a more American Society. America is the country that is supposed to allow freedom, and allow the citizens to have their own rights to do what they would like, but they don’t! I am specifically talking about the people involved in the agricultural business. For someone to make sufficient money in the agricultural business they must be involved with one of the large corporations (Walmart, Kroger, McDonalds, etc.). Although you are providing large amount of food to these corporations and making money, you are basically their little puppet when it comes to how things go. For example, a farmer who is growing potatoes for McDonalds is told when to plant them, when to harvest them, how to grow them, etc. To me that doesn’t sound like someone is actually a farmer more than they are just a person following instructions. This connects to these citizens not having their rights because if any of them tries to speak up about something they don’t like, or something that is happening behind the scenes, they are quickly quieted or cut off from the corporation. To me this isn’t right because citizens are the ones spending their time working hard for these corporations, while the big CEO’s of the companies are just sitting back and taking all of the credit.

A picture representing the many different things that
are actually making up potatoes

A Cuban food market in the city Havana 

As weird as this may sound, I believe that America should adopt the Cuban way in which they do agriculture. In the book “Stuff and Starved” by Raj Patel, he talks about the many different techniques that Cuba adopted to help better their agricultural standings. In Cuba GMOs are restricted, which gets rid of all the questions of what you are truly eating. They also don’t use pesticides on their crops unless absolutely necessary. I thought this sounded a little extreme but they explain more that by using the pesticides, you are not only killing the insects that are eating your crops but also the insects that eat the ones eating your crops. Another thing that Cuba does is that they actually educate their farmers on different farming techniques, and also support urban food-gardens, which makes it so one doesn’t have to travel as far for food in the city. Also the government doesn’t support feed lots because the large amounts of waste and unsanitary conditions. And last, the Cuban government listens to the citizens on things that need to be changed. By Cuba doing all this stuff, they have matched or exceeded the levels of health and education as countries with much higher incomes.

I feel as though America should adopt this way, and actually allow farmers to do their own thing and allow citizens to have the rights they are said to have.

The Culture of Food

Take a moment to stop and think about the food you consume…

Do you ever stop to ask what, when, where, why, and how we eat?  Really think about it!

Imagine you are part of a different culture, from a different country, an alien from outer space, or even a made-up race.  Now let’s imagine picking any food item within this new culture to consume.  What are you eating?  Is it something similar to what is found in the U.S.?  Are you eating at the same time you would typically and in the same places?  The possibilities are endless!

You may be asking me, why do I need to do this?  If you actually traveled or have read accounts of those who have, you may have experienced how difficult it can be to adapt to these different cultural foods, the way they eat them, when they eat them, and where they get these foods.  I’ll call these “unspoken rules” in each society.  For example, in the U.S. we eat a lot of processed foods and quick meals (think fast food and frozen dinners) in order to sustain our typical lifestyles.  Those who are not used to this are confused by what is typical (yet we never consciously think about the choices we make daily).  The links below are examples of foreigners’ experiences/opinions of food in the U.S.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/hok-leahcim/2014/09/26-baffled-foreigners-reveal-the-strangest-american-food-theyve-seen/
 

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2012/03/20_american_foods_that_are_as.php?page=3

You may argue you have many choices in the foods you eat and the ways you choose to consume them.  Wrong!  It is all shaped by culture, beliefs, and industry swaying our choices.  Examples include preservation processes (came from military use), the invention of the frozen TV dinners, and fast food.  Our lives are so fast-paced we consume foods that compliment this lifestyle.  Less time is spent on preparing foods and more time spent on social media, work, etc.  Industry is really important.  Do you notice the trends you participate in without realizing it?  Health food is a good example.  When we find studies that suggest types of foods are beneficial to our health we tend to jump on the bandwagon even when there is no real proof.  This is industry controlling our consumption. 

Hmmm what could possibly be wrong with this?

This lifestyle leads to bad health.  The U.S. consumes more processed, packaged foods that are high in fat and sugars.  But wait!  Many ideals are changing in which we are making our choices healthier. 

In his book Stuffed and Starved, Raj Patel states “the choices we make every day, choices which feel normal and well suited to our environments, are far stranger and more unnatural than we might have  thought”.

 

Burgers vs Burritos

From burgers to burritos, the fast food industry is getting up close and personal with consumers. Chipotle has pioneered the "fast casual" dining experience by combining quality food, and efficiency with a side of human interaction. As the popularity of "fast casual" dining increases, McDonalds is catering to the demand by allowing customers to customize burgers in the newly launched "Create Your Taste" campaign. But will costumers respond with "I'm lovin it?"

The first Chipotle opened in 1993 and was the start of a fast food revolution. Founder Steve Ells wanted to provide costumers with affordable healthy food. Chipotle describes their products as "Food with Integrity" by using organic ingredients, and naturally raised meat. "High quality" food, personalized meals and a trendy laid back atmosphere is a recipe for success. Chipotle takes fast food to the next level by creating a "fast causal" dining experience. Costumers play an integral role in the creation of their meal. They interact with employees and are able to directly control what they want. The freedom to personalize your meal allows customers to develop a personal connection with the food as well as the brand. Chipotle claims their vegetables are purchased from local markets. 

Chipotle defines "local sources" as within an 350 mile radius from the restaurant. The "locally sourced" ingredients include onion, avocados, peppers, tomatoes, jalapeños and cilantro. Chipotle also claims to use products that contain minimal GMO's. However Chipotle chicken, steak, fajita, vegetables, rice, tortilla chips, and tortilla chips contain either corn or soil bean oil which contain GMO's. Regardless of the technicalities, Chipotle thrives on promoting individual and environmental health. They have taken drastic measures in order to reinforce their values.The Scarecrow is a powerful ad campaign that paints a daunting picture of the nature of the food industry and how Chipotle refuses to conform. Chipotle has won the hearts of millennials 

and forced competitors to reevaluate their means of production.   

In 1998, the McDonalds corporation invested in Chipotle and they remained business partners until 2006. Even though McDonalds was an influential factor in the raising success of Chipotle, the companies are competing in a head-to-head match to win over millennials. McDonalds has experienced a 4.6% drop in sales revenue from last year and is struggling to transform their image from fast food to fast casual.  

McDonalds is currently experimenting with a touch screen burger customization system in southern California franchises. The "Create Your Taste" feature places power in the consumer's fingertips. By using an iPad, customers have the ability to personalize their sandwich from bun to bun and everything in between. However, new technology comes at a price.

The average cost of a McDonalds sandwich is 

between $3-$5 but with "Create Your Taste" the price increases to around $8. McDonalds plans to expand "Create Your Taste" to 2,000 of it's 14,000 US locations. 

Morgan Spurlock's documentary Super Size Me 

the McDonalds brand is synonymous 

with poor quality food, high calorie count, 

obesity and long term health problems.

Chipotle and McDonalds have had a profound influence on the American fast food industry. McDonalds has mastered assembly line production techniques and created a framework for companies to either implement or refine. Chipotle incorporates similar methods of production but integrates the customer in the process. Despite the push toward individualism, the company remains in control. They provide the choices in which we choose and the price we pay. Regardless of whether we purchase food from a restaurant or supermarket we are systematically controlled by the institution. We only know what companies advertise and base our choices on a brand rather than the product. 

"Shoppers' freedom of choice was born in a cage. What we have come to believe in as 'unfettered freedom to consume' was always intended to be guided by chickenwire." 

Test your fast food knowledge by clicking the link below!

Can you spot the healthier fast food item?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mariahsummers/chipotle-hates-mcdonalds#.hxbAppGQL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYZgWYZlAZU
http://qz.com/308551/why-mcdonalds-is-getting-more-serious-about-custom-built-burgers/

Slow Food for a Fast Nation

 
Humans - and especially Americans - are all about instant gratification. When faced with a choice between now and later, we often choose now. Instant happiness. Instant satisfaction. It does not matter how long the satisfaction lasts, the point is that we did not have to wait for it. When it comes to food, this often means picking dinner up at a fast food joint or eating an eight minute TV dinner instead of preparing a meal from scratch. Why? Because Americans are not just busy, we feel busy. We do not want to miss out on something because we were too busy with food. We can get more sleep if we eat breakfast in the car. We can absorb more pop culture if we eat dinner in front of the television. Basically, we prioritize both work and play over health.

The Slow Food movement has attempted to fight this trend by teaching citizens of the world how to grow and prepare food for themselves and by lobbying for change.

Slow Food USA's suggestions are simply stated:

"Go Slow in Your Life

1. Buy whole ingredients. Cook them. Eat them.
2. Avoid processed stuff with long ingredient lists. Eat real food.
3. Grow some of your own food. Start in your backyard, community garden or windowsill.
4. If you eat meat, choose grass-fed and if you eat poultry, choose free-range.
5. Whenever possible, know the story behind the food you buy."

Is it really that easy for Americans? Not all of them. The type of lifestyle Slow Food USA describes is hard for people with low income to achieve or even consider. Low income families just do not have enough money to buy fresh ingredients and they generally do not have any extra time in their days to spend growing and cooking food. Time is money, and they do not have the luxury of wasting either one.

Higher income individuals, however, certainly have the funds to live this lifestyle. Maybe they are on-the-go too often to grow their own food, but they still have the resources necessary to seek out and purchase non-processed food. If every person who can afford to the Slow Food movement would do so, local growers would have more money to grow more food. Local food businesses could expand and get fresh food to new places. More importantly, the demand for processed foods would start to decline.

Americans do not just vote with a pen in a booth. Americans vote with their wallets. Fast food restaurants exist and thrive because we, the people, fund them. Farmer's markets are few and far-between because Americans prefer to give their money to the sellers of precooked meals. Because we are not putting our money towards locally grown goods, local stores are only going to continue to dwindle. If the Americans who could afford to eat slow would do so, politicians would take notice. Trends would show that healthy food is what the American people want.

5 Reason's Your Food is Not Much Better Than Your Dog's Food

Americans have a particular affinity for dogs as pets.  According to the SPCA 37-47% of American’s own at least one dog per household.  As most of us know, our dogs (much like Americans actually), love to eat!  All to often you will hear the words, “never feed your dog table scraps, that is people food.”  Yet when you go to feed your dog some kibble, you find yourself cringing at smell, ingredients, and price of the packaged dog food.  However, what most people do not realize is that the meals we consume today have a lot more in common with the kibble we cringe over daily.

Let's first take a look at a quick history of how dog food got to where it is today!

5 Reason’s Your Meal is Not Much Better Than Your Dog's Food

(and how you could both benefit from a nutritional rehaul)

1) Military Impact:  At the end of World War II, both you and your dog’s food transitioned from fresh food to processed.

• Human:  The modern woman of the 1950’s had no time to spend preparing food AND taking care of her family.  Instead, she opted for the quick and easy pre packaged TV dinner instead of preparing a home cooked meal that was traditionally expecte.  This lead to the popularity of frozen, processed, and packaged quick foods.

Only American Dog's Get Kasco!

• Dog: Before World War II, dogs lived mainly off of table scraps and organ meats.  Only the privledged could afford to buy dry dog food.  However, the prosperity that followed World War II made the dry and processed dog foods available to the majority of the American market.  This quick and convenient food was perfect for the modern pet as well!

2) Not everyone has equal access to food: Historically, the access to the healthiest foods have been restricted to the advantaged in our society.

• Human:  The availability of healthy food in low income neighborhoods is often limited and when available is unaffordable.  This leads to people having virtually no option but to eat the cheap processed foods which they can afford.

Please pass the bison, my dear fellow!

• Dog: The “healthiest” dog food options typically are higher priced than the affordable market brands.  This is also reflected in the nutrition facts and the amount of corn and by products which goes into these cheaper brands.

3)  Options:  When going to the supermarket, it is easy to become baffled by the amount of options available to the average shopper.  What most people do not realize, however, is that these options are picked out specially for you and that there are many tastier and healthier options which are harder to market.

• Human:  When looking at cereal options online, Walmart offers 1,423 options which include the traditional cereal, hot cereal, granola, and bagged cereal.  The majority of these products include high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and artificial coloring.  These ingredients are linked to obesity, cancer, organ damage, and diabetes.

Too...many...options....zzzzzzzz....

• Dog:  Walmart offers 777 options for various dry and canned dog foods.  Most of these are marketed as being the cheapest, healthiest, and most delicious option for your dog.  However, most contain corn syrup, by-product,  BHT/BHA (a preservative linked to cancer), Ethoxyquin (a preservative originally developed as an herbicide), and Propylene Glycol (also known as anti freeze).

4) A huge market for revenue gain:  These unhealthy foods are putting a lot of money in the pockets of the producers rather than the local economy.

• Human:  Americans spent about $117 billion in 2012 on fast food.  This food comes from large corporations which mass produce the food for profit, not taste.

Let me help with those hefty dog food prices!

• Dog:  The expected market size for dog food estimated in 2014 was 22.62 billion.  The annual trends have been increasing yearly, likely along side the increase in availability to wet, dry, and packaged dog foods.

5) You would both benefit from a slow cooked meal: When it comes down to it, both you and your dog would benefit from a healthy home cooked meal. 

• Human:  you get a change to truly know and enjoy your food.  You can know where it comes from, how it is prepared, and what goes into it.  Buying whole foods local not only lets you eat healthier, but lets you gain a relationship within your community as well.

                              

A healthy dog is a happy dog!

• Dog:  It costs about 2 to 4 times more to feed your dog processed kibble than it does to simply prepare a healthy meal for your dog at home.  Just remember not to feed your pup grapes, yeast, chocolate, alcohol, Macadamia Nuts, Onion, Garlic, or Moldy Foods.  Even better, spending more time preparing food at home means spending more time with your favorite pup!

In conclusion, next time you think about what to make for dinner, consider passing on the frozen Hungry Man Dinner and spend some time with your dog friend preparing a healthy home cooked meal!

Quick Shoutout To Bees

Where'd All The Bees Go?

Even if you don't know it, bees are an essential part of life. They pollinate flowers and make everything look pretty, yes, but they are also important for pollinating agricultural crops. "Indeed," says honeybeesandhelium.com, "estimates suggest up to two thirds of all the food we eat is dependent on bees for pollination, including apples, almonds, cotton and stock feed.” That’s a significant amount of food. A few years ago there was a panic involving honeybees; they just simply disappeared. Many people speculated but no one was sure on where all of the honey bees went.

Honeybee pollinating a flower

Different theories such as bee-killing mites and fungal infections have been popular to point the finger at bee deaths. However, the most obvious answer to this question is that humans are killing off millions of bees and causing billions of dollars in damage. “Scientists at the University of Maryland and the US Department of Agriculture have identified a witch’s brew of pesticides and fungicides contaminating pollen that bees collect to feed their hives” says qz.com. This is yet another grim reminder of the unintended impact that humans have on the surrounding environment.

               

          Of course, humans didn’t mean to kill off a lot of bees. But due to the competitive market in agriculture, farmers are finding themselves having to use more pesticides and fertilizer to grow plants and to keep bugs off of them. This mix of chemicals affects not only the annoying bugs, but the helpful ones as well. Not only were the pesticides poisonous to the bees, but it also attracted a certain type of parasite that killed off bees.

                

       “'There’s growing evidence that fungicides may be affecting the bees on their own and I think what it highlights is a need to reassess how we label these agricultural chemicals,’ Dennis vanEngelsdorp, the study’s lead author, told Quartz.” Although one specific product has not been banned, it would be unlikely to help as there are several different pesticides used that farmers now depend on that all seem to be affecting bees’ health. “’The pesticide issue in itself is much more complex than we have led to be believe,’ he says. ‘It’s a lot more complicated than just one product, which means of course the solution does not lie in just banning one class of product.’”

On the left is a picture of the variety of foods that bees play an important role in. On the left is a picture of the food we would have if we did not have bees to pollinate our food.

What Can We Do About It?

Apparently, not much. Farmers are stuck in an ultra-competitive market and need these harmful pesticides to keep up with demand. This technology has become extremely destructive to the environment and the only way it seems to fix the problem is to stop using the technology. One idea, presented by Raj Patel, is to follow the example set by Cuba. 

1. Food prodction is shaped by public rather than private demands

2. Chemicals such as pesticides have become an absolute last resort (rather than first resort)

3. Farmers are educated about the effects of chemicals

4."Genetic engineering has been severely restricted, allowed only if it can be safe and, radically, that there is no other way of achieving the same goals through other means."

5. Farmers even learn to live with insects and have develped intercropping, which is when a farmer plants one crop to attract a certain insect that won't eat the valuable crop and drives away harmful insects

6. "The Cuban government makes choices in the national interst about what suits the country, and the needs of the people"

And so on. Cuba bases their business on the precautionary principle: the idea that if we have a new technology and are not sure of its negative effects, then we should not use that technology until we are sure of its effects. America should take note, but probably won't. For one thing, these ideas are a call to action to the government as well as the farmers. The U.S. government promotes the idea of individualism and the growth of technology. To acknowledge that maybe some big companies don't have the best interest of the people at heart, and are just looking to make a quick dollar, might mean the collapse of the economic system. Indeed, it would be a slow process to change anything at all at first. However, for humans to decrease the heavy impact they have on the environment, maybe it's time to start thinking outside of the indivdual. 

R.I.P. Bees    

Sources:

http://honeybeesandhelium.com/where-did-all-the-bees-go/

http://qz.com/107970/scientists-discover-whats-killing-the-bees-and-its-worse-than-you-thought/

"Stuffed and Starved" by Raj Patel (158-161)

'Murica

Are we really fat?

Obesity in America has increased in the US by 71% from 1991 to 2001. After reading that sentence most people instantly revert to pointing the finger at someone else, putting the blame off to save themselves. Well this time we can't, obesity is everywhere and we have to live with it. But it is not because people in America are lazy, obesity has a direct link to poverty, meaning that the only food people can afford are cheap and packed with calories. And this generation cycle of being poor has caused a wide spread mindset of what foods are good, and what foods are bad. This is not only an economic problem, it's a social problem.

Take for example King Curtis , he is a seven year old from North Carolina, and was recently filmed on a reality T.V. show called Wife Swap. His family has the mindset of unhealthy eating choices. His father stated on the show, "If we could find a way to fry a salad we may try it."  Throughout the show Curtis rebels against the 'new mom' and her rules for healthy eating. Curtis even states, "Chicken nuggets are like my family." Children are not born with this mindset, it is taught to them and reinforced with families and their values. Today's America is less concerned with what we put on our body it's what we wear on our body that counts. The after affects of obesity are devastating, going from diabetes, to strokes, heart attacks, high cholesterol, blood clots, and even death.

When will we, as a nation, stop wanting more? When will we say that we are satisfied and need to realize that just because it is 'American' doesn't mean it is awesome. Obesity is a problem that is growing by the day. And will not stop until we get our priorities straight as a nation. Looking at the graph on the left the U.S. is the lowest ranking on 'family budget spent on food' Egypt spends 44% of their family budget on their food while the U.S. spends only 7% of our budget. Why do we not care about what goes into our bodies? Is it that we do not have the time to care? Do we not have the money to care? All of the above? When we try and tackle the problem of obesity we make it an individual problem when it is not, its a social problem. If you make one person lose weight that doesn't stop obesity, a healthy mindset of the public will help reduce obesity, getting people to see what they are really eating and how to change that will help obesity, not one person doing Tae Bo in their living room.  We need to realize that this is not only an economic and political problem, but also a social problem, NOT an individual problem anymore.

The struggle between, health, environment, and saving the world

How on earth do we balance the task of curing world hunger and saving our environment at the same time? Many think, "Produce, produce, produce!" However, are we considering what all of that producing is doing to our environment and possibly our own bodies? In one sense, we need unnatural growing conditions for crops so that we don't have one bad season and no food to feed ourselves, but on the other hand, all of this modifying and pushing the crops along is killing our environment and putting our health at risk.

During the Green Revolution, Patel states in Stuffed and Starved, "The seeds required irrigation, leading to competition for water, which has resulted in groundwater levels dropping at over a foot a year in some areas. Irrigation led to increased salt deposits in the soil, rendering increasing areas of the land unusable." We are having these same issues today here in the United States. Around 67% of our ground water is used for irrigation. Groundwater extraction is not monitored by our friends in the western states. This means that they can drill in to the ground and use up as much water as they wish. Which, yes, will increase their crop production. However, our ground water supply is decreasing at alarming rates and there is already competition for water out west. It would take thousands of years for the groundwater to naturally replenish itself. This is not just an issue in the west, it is becoming an issue all over the earth. What do you think life would be like with a severe lack of fresh groundwater?

http://www.cbs.com/shows/60_minutes/video/PR_v0fXTS1R3wlKACM_XcSCPJJW5SiCx/depleting-the-water/

The other issue we are having in the mass production of crops is poison. Farmers are spraying their crops with mass amounts of fertilizers and pesticides. I always remember coming home from the grocery store as a child and wanting to bite right in to those grapes, strawberries, tomatoes etc. but my mom would never let me. We always had to wash them first because "there is spray on them," my mom would say. Now I understand. This summer I was at a 4-H fair while the farmers were crop dusting. The wind happened to be blowing all of the chemicals right back in to my face. The taste and smell was toxic, and it burnt to breathe. Are you telling me that it is
okay to just eat that stuff after running it under some water?! Pesticides are not only increasing our risk of cancer and other health related issues, but are also decreasing the minerals in our once healthy foods. They are also contaminating our groundwater which is ever so quickly decreasing. The chemicals run off of the crops and go directly in to our water supply.

While these issues are affecting us, they are also killing off our bees, which we have quickly forgotten, pollenate our crops! Without the bees, we would not have many of the crops we do, and without our health we cannot do anything about these issues. We must find a way to save our environment while also eliminating world hunger and keeping ourselves safe.

There Are Children in Africa...

If you type "children in Africa" into a Google search you get images of hungry, starving, and diseased looking children, with their ribs protruding from their sun-stained skin, littering the results. You do the same thing again for America and you get children holding signs, but where are the ribs and thin arms?

We get images of  hungry African children on our screens because it makes us feel bad about ourselves and for the Global North we cannot think anything different other than the perceived view of what Africa is; hungry children. I complain about my phone not working and I'll hear the classic "there are children in Africa that are starving..." response and before you can reply with any truth they remove themselves from your presence.

You must ask yourself, do you really know why there are children anywhere who are starving? Are African children hungry because they are not growing enough food or are there other reasons? Raj Patel in Stuffed and Starved says "...recent starvation, mass-scale hunger and hunger-related deaths have not been triggered by an absence of appropriate crops... hunger is the result of a cluster of factors..." Our push to introduce genetically modified crops to Africa is not attacking the real issues that are happening in many of it's areas. War and conflict of resources, for instance, can be to blame for the starving children in Africa. We see the children and think it's simply that they do not have food, but instead we do not think about the possible lack of distribution of the food they do have. The impact of poverty is hardly ever accounted for, because it's a multi-prong problem most of us Global North are not ready to face. The food is there, a lot of people just cannot afford it. Adding genetically modified crops is not going to fix the problems of poverty, though I am not saying it's a bad idea to introduce them, but it will just give more food for poverty-stricken families to look at from a distance.

Where does your food come from?

For Friday's class, use the following websites to do some research about where your food comes from, food alternatives, and access to food. Pick at least one of the following options.

- What are your resources for buying local food? Use the Real Time Farms website to generate a list of farms, food artisans and local eateries in your area, what kind of farming practices they use, and what you might buy from them. Feel free to explore other areas, too.

- Find out about the companies that make the food and products you use. Download the Buycott app for your smartphone (it's free) and be ready to share some reports on products or food you buy.

- Check our the USDA's Food Access Research Atlas or the Food Environment Atlas to locate food deserts locally or in the places where you're from or find out about access to food. Be able to tell us something about food access and the food environment locally or in your home town.

Education Controls Lunches

     When you think of the phrase "school lunch" images of a lunch lady slopping down an unhealthy meal onto a plastic tray usually comes to mind to most people. Why does not an image of fresh vegetables and fruit from an organic garden pop into our mind immediately?  Many schools around the country are using education of gardening to make the idea of going through the lunch line and grabbing a tossed salad a reality. 
       In Berkeley, California a middle school Martin Luther King Jr  has based their curriculum around teaching their students to eat healthy by creating a program called The Edible Schoolyard Project. The kids at this middle school have classes to learn how to grow their own food and then classes to learn how to prepare the food for their lunches.  The founder of the program is a chef and food activist Alice Waters. Waters realized the importance of a healthy lunch for a child and education would be the first step in solving the problem. "We're in the middle of a health epidemic," says Waters. "If we could somehow bring in a curriculum around school lunch, we could begin to change the way kids think about eating." The program has one acre of garden and a fully equipped kitchen for the students to gain a seed to table experience.

       In the book "Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv, Louv states that children have grown separate from nature to a degree that their emotional development is being significantly hindered. Louv's work links this "nature deficit disorder" with alarming trends, such as a rise in obesity, attention deficit disorder and depression among children. More and more schools around the country are realizing that they must educate their students about where their food is coming from to stop these trends. Another example of a school teaching their students about the importance of fresh produce is Rothenberg Preparatory Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio. At Rothenberg each classroom is given a garden bed which is located on top of the roof of the school. Through gardening the students will learn science, math, patience, sustainability and healthier food options. In a neighborhood where many children had never seen a garden before are now able to go to school everyday and get their hands dirty and learn about the Earth.

         If we want to stop seeing children bringing huge bags of chips and bottles of pop to lunch or have to go through a lunch line of only unhealthy options we must educate the world that there is a problem.

http://www.edutopia.org/garden-of-eating-middle-schoolers-grow-lunch

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2014/06/25/rooftop-garden-shines-otr-
pride/11385713/

http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/0111rothenberggreenroof.aspx

Food Frenzy

Throughout the history of the world, food has been a main issue for everyone. The start of what we consider to be the "modern world food system" began in Britain. During the 18th century tea was a hot commodity for many of the wealthy in Britain, but the tea along with the sugar and milk were not being produced in Europe, so they began to look for ways in which to get these imported to their country. Which lead to the innovation of the plantation, and the triangular trade came into effect. Sugar would be imported to Europe, slaves would be taken to the United States, and rum and other goods would be taken to Africa.

 This caused many problems across the world, but led many countries to the top of the food trading industry such as the United States. This was the beginning of a never ending battle of international trade.
Two centuries later, we see that many farm families were in desperate need of food because they were producing food for others, but they were not being paid enough to provide food for their own families. This lead to the idea of Rhodes' Conundrum. Rhodes' Conundrum is the idea that (1) the poor are many, and growing in number, (2) there is not enough food to feed them all, (3) if there is not enough food to feed them, they will go hungry, (4) if they go hungry, there will be civil war, and (5) other countries have enough food to feed them.  Rhodes' believed in order to prevent civil war, they would need to rely on other countries to import their food. This lead to food being an important political power at the end of World War II.
At the end of World War II, the United States had an abundance of food, while many other countries in the world were struggling to put food on the table for their people. This gave birth to the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan was set forth by by President Truman soon after the end of the war. The Marshall Plan was a US trade program in which the United States would aid those countries in Europe by transferring food to these countries.  This lead to the food trade being an important to the US foreign policy. Later we see that food is being traded from the US for oil. This was the beginning to many of the problems we have today with hunger in America.
We have traded so many different crops across different countries over the centuries to help with their hunger problem that we have began to increase the number of hungry people we have here in the Untied States because the government cannot help these people as much as we should be able to because the food trading is central to our foreign trade agreement. Is there any way that these countries we have helped in the past with their food shortages to now help the United States in our time of need?

Sources:
"Marshall Plan." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2015

 Patel, Raj. Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World Food System. London: Portobello, 2007. Print.

The Price to Eat Healthy

Everyone is worried about being overweight or obese, the notion usually is that someone is overweight because they are lazy and not caring what their figure looks like. In many cases this is not true. The type of food that most of American families can afford are unhealthy and the food that is healthy is just an expense that they can't afford.

 

 

 

In order to eat healthy an individual would have to spend and extra $1.50 on food each day. This is about $550 extra per year. Many people would think that is not very much, but to people that are poor this is a huge expense that many are not able to swing. For a family of four this would be $2200 extra they would have to spend just to be healthier. That expense doesn't make sense to families when their are far more important things that they could be spending their money on than fruits and vegetables. It is more logical for the poor to buy the cheap unhealthy processed foods.

 

 

 

The price is lower for processed foods because they have a longer shelf life which allows the stores to keep them in stock for longer, thus being cheaper for stores and consumers alike to buy them cheap. Fresh foods on the other hand are perishable and can only be left in the store for a short amount of time. This in turn increases the price for stores to keep them in stock and bumps the price up for the consumer. It is better to have unhealthy food than having no food at all. This is the thought of many families and I think it is a failure on our government to make it easier to buy fresh foods.

Sources

 

http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyournutritionist/f/processedfoods.htm

 

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/healthy-vs-unhealthy-diet-costs-1-50-more/