Reflections: Week 5 and 6!

Hey Bloggers!!

So thinking about these past 2 weeks is really putting a strain to my bad memory. We have learned and discussed so much!! Let's try to recap...

Week 5:

**Some of the classmates were assigned to do a review of Reading 15: Feeding the World. After reading this article and discussing it with the class, I have learned a lot of new things. This reading talks about the growing population and the increase of supply and demand. The sections of the chapter had 4 main topics: 

Society's 4 Transitional Stages, Evidence for Negative Population Growth, Future Food Supply/Demand Balance, Protecting the Environment, and the Challenges Ahead. One thing that got me thinking was how unpredictable population growth will be in the future, the reading discussed how we cannot base our future statistics on predictions based on past and present population rates. This reading got everyone thinking about the future and what will happen if current trends keep on growing. Will we run out of food and the resources we need? Overall, as a class in discussion we had a lot of thinking and questions about the future. Valerie started off the discussion about how the reading stated that lower income people are "less-green". It got us all thinking, does lower income mean being less environmentally friendly?? What do you think?

**Also this week, we started the documentary called "Diet for a New America", this opened the doors and opened eyes for many people including me! This documentary was hosted by John Robbins and it discussed the process of the meat industry. A few points of the movie that got my attention:

• With 12 pounds of grain, we can make many loaves of bread, cereals, pastas, etc. But to make 1 pound of beef, it would take the 12 pounds of grain that support the cow eating it!
• When a patient at the hospital got his blood tested, the doctors noticed fat in his blood sample. When asked what the patient ate earlier in the day, he said "a cheeseburger and a milkshake".
• Cows produce tons and tons of manure, and that manure produced nitrates that go into some water systems and many citizens are concerned about the nitrates because it can effect their health and pregnancies.
• The the portions of meat eaten by Americans could feed 4 to 5 people in other countries.
• Tender meat is preferred by many, for that to occur, many animals are kept confined and cannot move so the meat can become more fatty and tenderized.

After watching this documentary, our class discussed some issues about this movie. A lot of us were raised eating a lot of meat and would have a hard time cutting that out of our diets. Dr. V stated that we were watching this documentary not to be persuaded by it, but to make informed decisions. So even though I won't be giving up meat anytime soon, I am making an informed decision and it will help me understand the values of people who choose to be vegan or vegetarian. 

Image from PETA

**This documentary ties directly with our Eye Opener as well..

Our Eye Opener was about CSPI, which stands for Center for Science in the Public Interest. I did a quiz that asked how many servings of each kind of meat (beef, chicken, pork, eggs) I eat in a week. The results showed that I produce about 7,700 pounds of manure, 1.3 acres, and after watching the documentary and taking this quiz, I pledged to limit my portions and reduce the amount of meat I eat a week. I still love to eat meat! But now I know what my actions are doing to the environment.

Week 6:

**This week was also a very eye opening week. We started by individually being assigned a reading out of the book. This was cool because I got to read everyone else's blogs about their environmental issue. My reading was called Trout Are Wildlife, Too! I had a hard time with this reading because there was a lot of information about trout and fishing but I later learned that this article discussed how many people do not think trout is an important part of our ecosystem and many think that "a trout is just a trout!". I learned about new issues from reading others reading reviews. One that stuck out to me and something we can all observe as the years go by is the topic of early bird migration posted by Steve@ Steve Goes Green. 

**And finally, to wrap up these 2 weeks, we started watching a very startling documentary called "The Future of Food". This documentary had a lot on it's plate. It discussed the foods that are genetically modified and the ethics of it. Do people have the "rights" to patent and own these GMO's?? A big agricultural company, Monsanto was the antagonist in this documentary. Monsanto filed lawsuits of many farmers claiming that the farmer's have crops on their fields that are owned by Monsanto, this film gave us the viewpoint and shared the stories of these farmers who lost everything and the emotional and financial stresses this problem has caused. It was really interesting to see that many politicians or people with high positions such as CEO's are somehow linked to Monsanto, which is ironic because these people are the ones that are making decisions for companies and lawsuits. Like Dr. V said, "You wouldn't turn yourself in for a speeding ticket would you?" It was really interesting to learn that GMO's do not have to be labeled but when things are labeled "natural" or "organic", it does not mean 100% of it is natural or organic. I think we all have a right to know what we are eating in our foods!

Choh's Final Thoughts:

Whew, thank you for reading my novel. I tried to jam pack everything from these past 2 weeks into a reader-friendly manner, but there was so much we had learned and discussed!! I think I learned a lot about myself and how my behaviors effect the environment, such as the amount of animal product I eat. These past 2 weeks are really helping me make informed decisions. I feel so much more aware of what is going on in this world and how what I do really effects our planet! The 2 documentaries really got my head spinning as to what I am purchasing and eating..I used to be so carefree when it came to eating, but now I am a little more conscious of my habits and behaviors...in a good way! I think as a class, we always have a lot to talk about and I am really glad that we can have open discussions for everything. Keep up the good work guys!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi