an interesting article i read today
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/19872-capitalism-and-the-destruction-of-life-on-earth-six-theses-on-saving-the-humans
enjoy
Monday, November 11, 2013
Friday, November 8, 2013
food systems
When it comes to food, the two major issue that come up for me is the taste or freshness. Often if i can find organic for a low price I will buy it instead but it is hard to find real organics in the supermarket. When it comes to meat , I enjoy buying free range and ethically butchered meat, which i get from my local butcher. Right now as a student cost is the number one reason why i might be eating good food, but I now have knowledge and the ability to make those better decisions later on.
-saraj
-saraj
zoo
The other day in class we talked abut zoo's and their role in our society. I raised the point in class and want to talk about it here too. For me zoos are an ethical place to keep native species in their environments for everyone to see. I don't believe exotic and non native species should be locked in a cage modified to their environment. Even if one points out the fact that zoos are conserving or rehabilitating the exotic and non native animals , that is just an illusion. When an animal goes to a zoo hurt or abandoned they will stay at that zoo for the rest of their lives. That troubles me. If a human were to get sick or orphaned he is kept till he is 18(ready for the wild) or until he is no longer sick. We don't go to hospital and stay forever, why do animals in zoos.
-saraj
-saraj
suistainablity and happiness
With all the films we are watching in class to help us get a sense of what sustainability is really making me think on the things I do in everyday life. I think for me to promote sustainability and happiness in life i'd have to give up the amount I travel, increase my use of composting and remembering to be scarce with electricity. I'd like to cut the amount of fossil fuels I use when driving from home and to school. I could start carpooling more and taking the bus as means of transportation. That will cut the amount of CO2 I use individually. If i increase my composting, which is hard because i live in an apartment, I will be able to re-fertilize and use the end product on growing my own sustainable garden. My residence and the long winters make it hard for me though. The last on my list can be easily fixed by constantly reminding myself to turn the light off. They're many times when I forget to do so and come home to a light home. I realize as small as a problem it is it still is a big one. I can't just be wasting electricity for no reason. So these are my sustainability problems and I plan to fix them !
-saraj
-saraj
canadas dirty economics
I had done some more reading on the tar sand recently and it saddens me too see our governments fighting one and another. On one side the conservatives want to expand and build more and more pipe lines ( which remind me of the republicans in america) for corporations to feed them money. On the other hand the liberals and ndp are fighting to stop and minimize the harm we are doing our land from the pipe lines and tarsands.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
reading reflections 3
1) Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization? **(S 25)
The article uses many examples such as the rise in grain prices due to poor harvests in the 20th century. We see different trends starting which increase or decrease prices of things we stole from the land. This shows us that if we run into harvest problems they maybe will lead to failed states in countries that cannot sustain their population. This happens because of rapidly increasing population whom are tapping into the countries food supply. While we need to make meets to the demand of food our own interests come first. We are now growing grains for fuel not consumption when there are people to feed. They also talk about rising trends that come with the building price. Falling water tables, eroding soil and rising temperatures all play an effect on foods prices. If we keep neglecting, not restoring and not helping our land maintain sustainability, states will fall because of food shortages and not having the ability to farm their own product. We must tackle the issues such as poverty, CO2 emissions and population control which would come with restructuring the world energy economy. If this is all done it will be one step of restoring our lands to maintain civilization.
2)The biggest threat to global political stability is the decreasing security of food. Countries will slowly stop exporting their food which in turn will be fewer imports such as medicine, industry and education.
Women’s Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation (S 37)
The article talks about the women and their connection to the environment. The author starts out by talking about the difference between man and women when it comes down to farming and cooking. Women treat things differently which help them by doing many things not just specific things to create a change. It then goes into the talk about women farmers and their work with hybrid and seed planting for centuries and how they do not get accredited for it. With the rise in GMO or corporation seeds women are losing their touch of preserving biodiversity to wide scale agriculture. Women have been the part of agriculture for thousands of years. It means what they were doing was keeping our biodiversity alive not like it is now.
1) An ecofeminist is a woman with strong passion to the connection of domination of women and the domination of nature. They use their past of being oppressed by mean to try to understand the environment and find was to fix and liberate it.
Human Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems (S 9)
The article starts by talking about man’s domination over earth and how we have changed with the industrial revolution, to change landscapes and ecosystems. The first point the authors talked about is the increases in land transformation. We learn about the widespread epidemic of land transformation to have their goods and services. In the end it is just driving us further to the loss of biodiversity worldwide and changing our environments on a huge scale. As we have altered the oceans by over fishing and exploitation on its resources more and more harmful organism grow and all because the exploitation of the oceans fisheries. The article then goes into the biogeochemical cycles that we have altered as humans, such as carbon cycle with our increases in fossil fuel use. Change to our water cycle with our manipulation of water ways and systems to our own beneficial use. Increase of nitrogen for added fixation and other cycles such as sulfur, phosphorus and synthetic organic chemicals. The article talks about the effects on humans and the land from those cycles we altered then goes into the life we altered on the planet. By this they talk about extinction of species and rate it is increasing. Then they talk about invasive species and the unhealthy mix and takeover of non-native species. The article concludes with the message that humans will continue to rule the earth until we destroy it.
2) No I think if the human population was reduced we would have all these problems still. We would still be exploiting our lands and oceans for our own economic gain. It isn't like we only take what we need when it comes to earths resources so why would the problem change with a diminished population. The amount of people is not the problem, man’s chase of wealth is.
The article uses many examples such as the rise in grain prices due to poor harvests in the 20th century. We see different trends starting which increase or decrease prices of things we stole from the land. This shows us that if we run into harvest problems they maybe will lead to failed states in countries that cannot sustain their population. This happens because of rapidly increasing population whom are tapping into the countries food supply. While we need to make meets to the demand of food our own interests come first. We are now growing grains for fuel not consumption when there are people to feed. They also talk about rising trends that come with the building price. Falling water tables, eroding soil and rising temperatures all play an effect on foods prices. If we keep neglecting, not restoring and not helping our land maintain sustainability, states will fall because of food shortages and not having the ability to farm their own product. We must tackle the issues such as poverty, CO2 emissions and population control which would come with restructuring the world energy economy. If this is all done it will be one step of restoring our lands to maintain civilization.
2)The biggest threat to global political stability is the decreasing security of food. Countries will slowly stop exporting their food which in turn will be fewer imports such as medicine, industry and education.
Women’s Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation (S 37)
The article talks about the women and their connection to the environment. The author starts out by talking about the difference between man and women when it comes down to farming and cooking. Women treat things differently which help them by doing many things not just specific things to create a change. It then goes into the talk about women farmers and their work with hybrid and seed planting for centuries and how they do not get accredited for it. With the rise in GMO or corporation seeds women are losing their touch of preserving biodiversity to wide scale agriculture. Women have been the part of agriculture for thousands of years. It means what they were doing was keeping our biodiversity alive not like it is now.
1) An ecofeminist is a woman with strong passion to the connection of domination of women and the domination of nature. They use their past of being oppressed by mean to try to understand the environment and find was to fix and liberate it.
Human Domination of Earth’s Ecosystems (S 9)
The article starts by talking about man’s domination over earth and how we have changed with the industrial revolution, to change landscapes and ecosystems. The first point the authors talked about is the increases in land transformation. We learn about the widespread epidemic of land transformation to have their goods and services. In the end it is just driving us further to the loss of biodiversity worldwide and changing our environments on a huge scale. As we have altered the oceans by over fishing and exploitation on its resources more and more harmful organism grow and all because the exploitation of the oceans fisheries. The article then goes into the biogeochemical cycles that we have altered as humans, such as carbon cycle with our increases in fossil fuel use. Change to our water cycle with our manipulation of water ways and systems to our own beneficial use. Increase of nitrogen for added fixation and other cycles such as sulfur, phosphorus and synthetic organic chemicals. The article talks about the effects on humans and the land from those cycles we altered then goes into the life we altered on the planet. By this they talk about extinction of species and rate it is increasing. Then they talk about invasive species and the unhealthy mix and takeover of non-native species. The article concludes with the message that humans will continue to rule the earth until we destroy it.
2) No I think if the human population was reduced we would have all these problems still. We would still be exploiting our lands and oceans for our own economic gain. It isn't like we only take what we need when it comes to earths resources so why would the problem change with a diminished population. The amount of people is not the problem, man’s chase of wealth is.
Cary Fowler: One seed at a time, protecting the future of food
Cary Fowler talks
about an issue that very unheard of. His talk started with the issues of extinction
but in relation to apples. As he got into the article he talked more and more
about the different breeds and the diversity of seeds. All the information was
new to me, like the 7000 different types of rice. Cary then talks about
conserving and preserving the different seeds to keep the seed biodiversity. He
argues that with climate change coming we might need different adaptable types
of seeds uncase of new diseases, climate and pests. With that argument Cary has
built a seed bank in the mountains of Norway for preserving different seeds
from around the world of the same species. Many include rice, wheat and other
crops that have been around for ages. At the end of the talk he tells us that
he has seeds from every county in the world. I think what he is doing is a
great thing. You don’t see too much conservation and preservation of crops as
much as we do flora or in animals. To be honest I didn’t know there were such
different breeds of common seeds all around the world. His motive is smart as well;
if we don’t protect these natural seeds the invasive and corporate seeds will
take over and destroy the diversity.
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