Please research food and population issues. Issues of food justice and safety are paramount right now in the world, especially in the U.S. Also, with drought straining grains, fruits, vegetables, and grazing animals, how will we have enough water to feed the exponentially growing world population? Find videos, stories, and artifacts to post here ...
http://migrantjustice.net/sites/default/files/FoodJustice_1.JPG
The Zika Virus is one of the biggest topics in the world today. The disease is contracted from mosquitos and affects babies developing in their mother's stomach in the first trimester. The babies are born with deformed heads(microcephaly) and are in danger of being blind, deaf, mute or unable to walk in the future, Therefore, pregnant mothers in countries like Brazil are desperate to know if their child is infected with the Zika Virus. They pay up to 900 reais (more than monthly minimum wage) to find out. Most mother's who find out that their baby is infected are asking for abortions. Therefore, the government of Brazil is re-considering if abortion should be illegal since there is no cure to the disease. It is predicted that other countries with the Zika virus will soon legalize abortion as well. Therefore, it is estimated that there will be an increase in abortions, thus a significant decrease in the world's population until a cure to the disease is found.
ReplyDeleteSource: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/01/31/world/americas/31reuters-health-zika-brazil.html
America has been recognized as a country that throws away more food than paper, plastic, metal and glass. In 2012, America has reported to throwing away 35 million tons of food. Food was ranked #1 in the distribution of American waste with plastic coming to a close second. One-third of the food brought by consumers never get eaten. This is an issue because there are countries around the world that have to eat bits and pieces to make sure there is enough food for everyone for the week. They work their butt off to make sure they don't starve. Even here in America there are people that do not have food to eat the whole week, and there is 20% of food produced ending up in the trash. All the food being thrown away can be eaten by other people. We have the luxury of being able to buy food on the daily, but we should keep in mind that there people that cannot eat everyday. We need to learn how to save and conserve food. This is also an environmental problem because all the food being thrown up end up in landfills and it takes a long time to decompose all of that land. Some foods aren't discarded of properly, so it prolongs the decomposing process.
ReplyDeleteHow much food do you throw away?
Source:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/23/americans-throw-out-more-food-than-plastic-paper-metal-or-glass/
I have two similar issues I want to discuss and they're about healthy food. The issues are how healthy healthy fast food are and the expense of healthy food.
ReplyDeleteWhen we think of healthy food, we think of vegetables and fruits, mainly of salad. Recently, McDonald's added a kale salad to their menu. But research shows that apparently their kale salad has more calories than their Big Mac, stated by CBC Canada News. The Double Big Mac contains 680 calories but the calories for the kale salad is 730, which is a lot more than the Big Mac, surprisingly. It is sad to find that this is what the fast food chain defines healthy: adding a piece of kale. A registered dietitian even suggests that to make the salad healthier, you would have to use half of the dressing and remove the feta to cut down calories, fat, and salt. How do you feel about McDonald's taking this perspective on what healthy food looks like?
Another healthy food issue is that healthy food is usually expensive. If you were an low-income person living in the city, it can be very difficult to be healthy because they are simply too expensive for them. Healthy restaurants practically forces low-income people to eat junk food and be unhealthy and obese. Food is not a choice, it's a necessity and low-income people should have the chance to eat healthy food. I believe this is also an example of environmentalism racism because low-income people are being oppressed of not having access to healthier food. What is your take on this fact? Have you notice this issue while going to places? How does it affect you?
Source 1: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/mcdonalds-kale-calorie-questions-1.3423938
DeleteSource 2: http://www.newsweek.com/healthy-food-more-expensive-unhealthy-food-study-276161
The percentage of American people living past 100 years has been increasing since the year 2000. The majority of these people are noticeably women (80%). According to the article death rates have declined for every demographic group of centenarians including white, black, Hispanic, female, male etc.Demographers were impressed by this and could credit it to advances in "vaccines and antibiotics- [as well as] improvements in hygiene, medical treatments and technology.
ReplyDeleteAlthough people are living longer, experts do not know how well this will be for the future of America with so many elders and this will increase due to baby boomers. There are still certain things that are controlling the elderly's population however, such things include; 2000-2014
Alzheimer's disease (increased 119%), hypertension (88% increase),stroke (31% increase), and heart disease which remains as the leading cause of death for centenarians from 2014 studies (24% increase).
**Influenza and pneumonia fell by 48 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/health/centenarians-proliferate-and-live-longer.html?ref=topics&_r=0
Currently Flint Michigan has a limited amount of potable water. Problems with the water have been occurring ever since Flint switched its water source from the Great Lakes to the Flint River. They originally thought they would be saving tons of money; however recently new shows that Flint, Michigan is spending a lot of money trying to clean their water. "26 homes in the city were 10 times the federal limit-- too high to be treated by filters distributed by the state." Therefore they need more heavy duty equipment to filter out the lead from the water. The lead is coming from the old pipes that transport the water from the Great Lakes into peoples homes "because the city failed to add standard anti-corrosion chemicals to the water." With a rapidly increasingly population this is a serious issue because health officials say the water might take up to two months to be decontaminated. Until then residents are struggling to keep hydrated and conserve water.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/news/flint-water-crisis-high-lead-levels-with-filters/
There is a movement known as Food Sovereignty. Food Sovereignty is allowing communities to have control and autonomy over their food production. In Detroit specifically, there have been several activists wanting to set a new system in place that would promote locally grown food and appose corporate agriculture. Keep Growing Detroit is a nonprofit organization that is working in conjunction with the movement. Their goal is for Detroit to be sustainable on their own. There is about 5,000 acres of unused land that could be used to cultivate vegetation. This could help Detroit economically, socially, and environmentally.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.modeldmedia.com/features/food-sovereign-city-020216.aspx
This article specifically focuses on the Zika virus, a virus contracted by mosquitoes that can lead to many potential birth defects. A virus that is continuously spreading through South America, and is said to at some point spread to the Americas. Women are warned to prevent from having babies for a period of 2 years in hope for a cure for this virus, but one problem with these South American countries is that many partners cannot afford contraceptives or unaware of how to use it. Their only choice really in order to prevent from having a baby is abortion, a process that is illegal in most of these South American countries. Apart from abortion being illegal another major problem due to this virus that will develop over time is an immense population decrease, some countries like Columbia, for example, are estimated to have a population decrease of 600,000 less people if women stop to reproduce for a 2 year period. Due to this being an issue many women are still getting abortions even though they are illegal and many South American as well as Caribbean countries that consider abortion illegal are reassessing their decisions and hoping to make it legal in order to help prevent the birth of defective babies.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.inverse.com/article/10590-zika-virus-pregnancy-restrictions-will-curb-population-growth
The "Food Sovereignty" movement focuses on getting justice for agricultural workers. Low income workers, mainly females, are abused for their services. Large corporations such as Monsanto, and Syngenta, have unfortunately participated in the exploitation of these laborers. In Hawaii, nations such as Switzerland, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Mexico, have come together to discuss how to combat this issue. I think it’s a powerful thing that these nations are doing by coming together to provide farm workers’ rights, after all without farmers, there would be a lack of food source, and in the end everyone would suffer from their absence. Also, as mentioned in this article, Brower brings up the point that the large manufacturing companies responsible for distributing resources do so in a way to protect environmental “rights” and make the initiative to bring less harm to the environment, while at the same time do the exact opposite. They “donate to localized "ecological protection" programs, they are concurrently working at international and national policy levels to undermine the possibilities of a climate-sane food system.” I find it interesting that corporations publicize good deeds when they’re not necessarily good deeds. Monsanto apparently has helped protect a nearby watershed to one of its sites in Asia, and honestly I take it as a publicity stunt. It’s an act to help make the public think they’re doing good when in actuality it’s damaging the economy and the environment at the same time.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrea-brower/thinking-globally-and-sys_b_8986786.html
The article I read discusses the measures that the USDA are taking to further prevent food borne illnesses. The USDA is targeting strains of Salmonella and Campylobacter, for they are the common bacteria that causes illnesses among consumers in the United States. The FSIS has improved microbial testing in order to detect possible harmful bacteria. Companies will soon be mandated to put more information on the products that they are selling. Although 1.2 million foodbourne illnesses are caused each year, about 360,000 of these cases are attributed to the FSIS, an agency that is supposed to protect us. I find it interesting how that at this day an d age, contamination of foods is still a problem. The number of foodbourne illnesses are still too high for a country that had numerous departments that focus on making sure consumable goods are safe for the people. Other efforts that are being made to reduce these risks include providing proper cooking instructions for meat that has been mechanically tenderized. A "test and hold policy" implemented in 2012 tests products for bacteria and withholds it from reaching the shelves in stores. As the years go by, it is hoped for that the number of illnesses decrease and people are made more aware of what goes into the food they are eating.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2016/02/0032.xml
"His father, Pedro, left Guatemala in 2001 to find work in the United States. Jesús and his mother, Angelica, followed 13 years later. They were among tens of thousands of people from Central America who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in the summer of 2014.
ReplyDeleteActivists called the wave of new immigrants a humanitarian crisis. U.S. officials called it a surge of illegal immigration and vowed to do everything they could to stop it -- and to send back most of the people who'd already arrived."
They are asked if they feel unsafe. Should immigrants only be allowed into the country if they are threatened? What are the conditions of choosing who gets to come into the U.S and who cannot?
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/04/us/beyond-the-border-life-in-limbo/
ReplyDeleteArticle: California Wants to Help Low-Income Residents Buy More Fresh Produce
ReplyDeleteAuthor: Leilani Clerk
Reflection: This article was about the California Nutrition Incentives Act (AB 1321), a bill that created a nutrition matching incentive program within the state’s Office of Farm to Fork. This program encourages low-income shoppers to buy local produce at farmers’ markets by matching their “food stamps,” or federal supplemental nutrition (or SNAP), benefits dollar for dollar. This speaks well on the government of California because it shows how they care about their people’s health by trying to encourage them to eat healthier food.
Source: http://civileats.com/2015/11/17/california-wants-to-help-low-income-residents-buy-more-fresh-produce-snap-farmers-market-matching/
Article: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/24/africa/central-african-republic-hunger/
ReplyDeleteReflection: Hunger has reached an all time high, especially in the Central African Republic (The Central African Republic is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the east). Nearly half of the population, 2.5 million people, are facing hunger. This is something that the UN has never experienced, thus this number is alarming. Possible outcomes are high death rates, which directly impact the population.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MeG7pbgiA7H_HsCy0fZnKzgh4gxuFNy8hq7zIPUEE1s/edit
ReplyDeleteApparently in the country of Mexico the death rates have increased rapidly from over the years and is limiting the average life expectancy. The life expectancy for Mexican men age 15 to 50 fell by 0.6 percent from 2005-2010. This was from an increase of homicides in the country. It went from 9.5 deaths per 100,000 to 22 per 100,000 in five years. So it more than doubled. However from 2000-2005 it actually rose but from 2005-2010 it declined. While for women the deaths fell by about six months. This shows how delicate the population is that a sudden change can mess up the very future of the citizens in a country.
ReplyDeletehttp://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/science/mexico-murder-rate-life-expectancy.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=12&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0&referer=http://www.nytimes.com/section/science This is the article I used.
ReplyDeleteThis article focuses on the Zika virus, contracted by mosquitoes that can lead to many potential birth defects. This virus is continuously spreading through South America, and is claimed to spread to the North Americas. Women are the primary target and are warned before pregnancy to warn them of the dangers of having babies. Women are asked to stop having babies for a 2 year period in hope for a cure for this virus. However, one problem with these South American countries is that many parents cannot afford contraceptives or are unaware of how to use it. Their only choice really in order to prevent from having a baby is abortion, a process that is illegal in most of these South American countries. Another major problem due to this virus that will develop over time is an immense population decrease, some countries like Columbia, for example, are estimated to have a population decrease of 600,000 less people if women stop to reproduce for a 2 year period. Due to this issue many women are still getting abortions even though they are illegal and many South American as well as Caribbean countries that consider abortion illegal. However, they want to make it legal in order to prevent giving birth to babies with deformities. Which is one of the effects of the Zika virus.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.inverse.com/article/10590-zika-virus-pregnancy-restrictions-will-curb-population-growth