new way of farming

http://www.verticalfarm.com/

check out that website, but then also do a general search for 'vertical farming.' this relatively new idea has been all over the news lately. to solve our current and future problems of, not only having enough healthy food to feed the ever growing human population (birth control, people), but also provide city dwellers with fresh, local food, we need to radically rethink the way we grow food. vertical farming would take up less land, thus putting less pressure on deforestation and habitat loss. a farming 'high rise' could be in the middle of the city, not an hour or two away...people would have no excuse for not eating healthy, fresh, local produce. having a farm in a city would also allow people to be more involved in the growing process. they could volunteer 'on the farm' a few hours a week....planting, weeding, watering, harvesting. they could realize how much work it takes to run a farm and appreciate farmers more. there are a huge number of benefits to this idea.

i am sure there are disadvantages to this idea, as well. it could be very expensive to initially create a vertical farm. it would use a lot of electricity to give all the plants all the light they need. how would plants get pollinated indoors? the website says there would be no pests, but what if a bug or fungus attacked a crop? what is to keep it from attacking all the crops? and since the crops are in such a small place, it seems it wouldn't be long before everything could be wiped out

the people who came up with this idea might have answers for all these issues...i hope they do. i think a lot of problems could be solved with this one solution.

'eating animals'

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114298495&sc=fb&cc=fp

i have given my opinions on eating meat before, so i don't completely agree with this author, Jonathan Safran Foer. but he does touch on several issues i do agree with...mainly, you should know where your food comes from and realize the consequences of your actions. he also mentions how humans eat much more meat than we used to and it has lead to an increase of many health issues. larger and more factory farms has put a huge strain on the natural environment, increasing water and air polluton, deforestation and habitat loss, etc. i haven't read his newest book, 'eating animals' yet, but it is on my list...

hamburger anyone?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/health/03beef.html?th&emc=th

check out those two articles...but not if you ever want to eat a hamburger again...

i am not a vegetarian, nor do i think everyone should be. our bodies were meant to digest meat and animals were domesticated and bred for eating purposes. i am not saying vegetarians are bad or crazy and i give them a lot of credit for doing what they do. but people can't go around saying eating meat is bad. however, people can go around saying factory farms are disgusting, animals are treated inhumanely, given unnecessary drugs (hormones, antibiotics, etc) and are slaughtered in a dirty, inhumane way.

so the compromise?? for one, eat less meat...a meal is still a meal even without meat. two, know where your meat comes from, just like you should know where all the products you buy come from. buy local meat, where the cows and chickens and pigs have led a good life outside, grazing, playing, being fed food they are suppose to eat, seen by a vet when they were sick...you get the idea. like with everything, think twice about your actions and the consequences of them. you are not the only one affected by what you do.

stuff

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

check out annie leonard's video on 'stuff.' it is a little long (about 20 minutes), but when you think about how much information and how simply she explains things, it is not that long. she explains from start to finish about the products we buy, who makes them, where they come from, what we do with them when we are done with them, etc. she explains it simply enough for kids to understand. she talks about environmental, social and moral consequences of our buying choices. she talks about how we have become best known as consumers, not by our professions. so when the news reports about how sales are down for the going back to school season, graduation time or christmas, you have to think...is that such a bad thing? do we really need all the stuff we buy and give as gifts?

supersize me

what a great movie. it is a couple years old by now (2004), but still very valid. yes, morgan spurlock went to the extreme and ate only at mcdonald's three times a day for one month, but he was trying to prove a point. and did he ever. (and we all know there are people who eat there once or twice a day, so he wasn't that far off.) after seeing other sort of off the wall movies, what i appreciated about this one was all of the facts and statistics he included. he had a complete health work-up before, during and after his experiment so he could accurately say what that 'food' physically did to his body. he interviewed doctors, nutritionists and professionals in various fields. he included many facts about mcdo and other fast food chains. i think the movie was well done.

mcdo doesn't recommend people eat there everyday, but do you really think they would ever stop someone from ordering? one thing the movie pointed out was how differently mcdo operates compared to the rest of the fast food places...they gear their image and their advertising towards kids. kids, in turn, bug their parents to take them there until the parents give in. mcdo 'restaurants' have playgrounds. they started the whole happy meal idea and giving toys away with meals. they have the monopoly game every now and then. their representative is a clown, for crying out loud!

i do believe they do not twist people's arms to eat their product, it is the person's choice. if people want to eat crap, who is mcdonald's to tell them not to? but they could change the way they do things. don't gear themselves towards children. don't have the supersize me option (which i do believe they got rid of). put the nutrition information (or lack of) right up there next to the price. they say they have nutrition information posters or brochures, but no one reads them. make them!

something i thought was very interesting was the fact that the doctors he was seeing never thought his body would have such a reaction to this experiment. doctors, of all people, should know what that kind of food does to your body, yet none of them expected such a rapid decline in his health. i said to someone once i thought smoking did as much damage to your body as eating fast food on a regular basis. they thought i was nuts. i have no real evidence to back up that opinion, i don't know of any study that has actually compared the two body stressors and seen which has a worse effect, but i still believe it. people don't realize how much food effects them - their physical and emotional health.

do a search for morgan spurlock or supersize me and you'll come up with more interesting information.

food nutrition labeling

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/business/21food.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

here is another issue that is all over the news and tv ads - labeling such foods as froot loops and mayo as healthy. this is specifically under the 'smart choices' campaign. they claim that foods with the green check mark are good for you. who knew sugary cereals were good for you?? or high fat foods? putting check marks are those items totally discredits the whole program. we should be eating minimally processed foods and be avoiding high sugar and fat content, preservatives, food dyes, etc.

have you seen the ad on tv for froot loops?? the ad tells kids, and parents, that froot loops are a good choice because there are 3 grams of fiber per serving. there are three kids in the ad. it's so wrong, they couldn't even make adults to it. no amount of fiber is going to outweigh the crap you put into your body when you eat that cereal.

let's add to that the commercial, paid for by american corn farmers, saying there is nothing wrong with high fructose corn syrup in moderation. that may be a true. however, people aren't eating it in moderation...it is in almost every processed food item in the grocery store. if you eat processed foods on a regular basis, you are eating too much high fructose corn syrup. our bodies can't properly digest it and it messes with our systems. people wonder why they are overweight and feel tired and worn down all time...

one more tv ad to talk about...the woman with a family asking the government to please not tax sugary drinks because it may only be a few pennies to them, but to a family every little bit counts. give me a freaking break. seriously?? why are you buying sugary drinks anyway for your family? how about skipping the soda and 'juice' (which probably only contains 8% real fruit juice, the rest being sugar and water) and buying your family a brita filter for your tap water, some skim milk and some 100% juice drinks?? honestly, i have not made up my mind about the tax. i do think it would work in reducing the consumption of the sugary drinks, like it worked on cigarettes and reducing smoking, but where will that extra tax money be spent? if someone told me it would be spent on health and nutrition classes in schools, i would be for it 100%, but we all know how our government works.

the fda finally noticed the misleading food nutrition labeling and is taking action by putting some regulation on it. i hope they pull those commercials, too.

welcome!

i would like to say i have always had strong opinions, but that isn't true. it wasn't until college that i knew what i loved and what i didn't. i had always loved being outdoors and certainly grew up respecting wildlife. but college opened up a lot of doors...in my head. i feel like i became who i am today because of what i learned in college. and it wasn't necessarily what i learned in the classroom, but what i was exposed to. i was exposed to reintroducing elk to western pennsylvania and the pros and cons of that endeavor. i was exposed to tree planting along a stream on farmland in lancaster county. i was exposed to the lack of fresh produce, or produce at all, to inner city residents. i was exposed to a farmer's life on a newly started CSA (community supported agriculture). i was exposed to professors who were really involved in local affairs, from reducing the city's waste to promoting the local farmer's market to discovering the history behind a local cemetery.

since college, i have floated around a bit, but i always find out about the local environmental issues, the local shops, the local restaurants, the local farmer's market...these are my true passions.

i am not sure what prompted me to start a blog...could be because i have more time on my hands right now being inbetween jobs. i would like this to be about food...to be about local and sustainable agriculture and farms...local businesses...environmental issues...the way we eat...and any other related issues. i learn a lot on my own, but i am sure there is more to discover so i welcome your input.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/world/europe/23degrees.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=sweden&st=cse

to get things started - something that was in the news recently was about how sweden is going to start putting on all food items the carbon footprint it takes to make that particular item of food. i think this is a great idea. it is not going to work for everyone, but it might get some people to think twice about what they are buying and the consequences on their buying actions. thoughts?