ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES BLOG THREE

COULD FOOD SHORTAGE BRING DOWN CIVILISATION?

Demand for food has increased in the past decades.as the demand increases so does the price of the food, which affects poverty in a negative way. The cause of the high demand of food could be because of of increase in population. Population also contributes the shortage of food by pollution and overuse of land. the earth has a carry capacity. The government has to deal with this problems because of the pressure placed on them by the people. The protesting and strikes are a sign to be heard by the government and demand of change. This is also a sign of decrease in civilisation. Consumption rates are very different. An average Indian would probably consume just about over a pound of grain in the form of wheat and an average American could most probably consume about four times as much as an India on a daily basis. Reproduction humans is not controlled in many places and the overpopulation of people decrease the standard living of an individual. This results to water shortage, land shortage and food shortage.

2) According to Lester Brown, demand for the food is growing faster than the supply. What are the effects of this trend likely to be? How can we prevent the worst effects?

The effects will result to food price going up and having shortage of food. This means the population of poverty will increase and only those who ca afford will be able to survivor. Countries might go to war fighting for food benefits. increase in death rates and decrease in birth rates will be noticeable. We can try reduce population, reduce the pollution that affects the animals and vegetation.

WOMEN'S INDIGENEOUS KNOWLEDGE AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

The nature of women and biodiversity is said to go hand in hand as women are believed to have a better touch and knowledge asa far as biodiversity conservation is concerned. In most countries women are believed to custodians of biodIversity. They have the knowledge of the land, the time spent on the fields is high. Women believe in reusing the seeds for reproduction but the cooperate world has changed that by selling seeds that are hybrid.. This seeds that the women use that reproduce are now considered as  patent infringement.

The author notice that a mixture of crop farming in a land needed  a lot of labor which women could do. This mixed  crop farming helped out the people from poverty and also the land/ soil. The author also talks about hoe genetically engineered foods can cause problems to the environment in terms if health and the land.

http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/food-crisis-2.jpg

1) What is eco-feminist? 

This is the philosophy and movement that involves feminism and ecology. 

HUMAN DOMINATION OF EARTH'S ECOSYSTEM 

http:/much b.rollins.edu/jsiry/10%20%20Ecosystems%20and%20Human%20Domination.htm

The ecosystem is modified by every organisms including humans. Humans have interfered with every ecosystem with it changes from technology. Land transformation from human activities has changed the atmosphere. It has a big reason of environment change. Satellite and remote sensing to measure the land transformation. Humans have taken over the earth with the inventions to improve the standards of living. We have interfered with both the sea land and atmosphere. We have changed the climate/weather the oceans and and ecosystems. We have  interfered with the biogeochemical in the atmosphere. Nitrogen has fixed itself in the atmosphere. The amount of carbon dioxide has increased in the atmosphere. causing changes in the climate like droughts, floods and acidic rain which ruins our vegetation we eat. That takes us back to ruining our own health on earth. We use up so much land and 70% of fresh water for agriculture.

1)Would it help to reduce the human impact on the Earth if it we could reduce the human population?

It depends who influence the impact mostly because if we reduce the population and mostly we reduce people who do not have great impact on the earth then we have not reduced any human impact on earth. If population is reduce in countries like the USA, China and India and other first nation countries then yes I will reduce the human impact on earth.

ACTIVITY

Carolyn Steel: How food shapes our cities -  https://www.ted.com/talks/carolyn_steel_how_food_shapes_our_cities

Carolyn Steel talks about how food feeds cities, from how it is produced, extracted from landscapes, processed, to how it makes its way to the city. Taking into account the growing population of human beings on a global scale. More and more numbers are expected to move towards cities by 2050. Meaning mored food to be produce straining the environment. Meat, grain and dairy in contrast with urbanism is supposably becoming an escalating problem as farmers will work under constant pressure.  She also mentions on how fossils are being used to extract produce, whilst foods are continuously being wasted, for example, a lot of Americans throw away food without noticing the effort and cost put into producing this foods. Carolyn then went on to ask how people managed to feed large cities and highlighted how it was possible through importing certain food types via rail and road and in some cases some cities being fortunate enough to be located close to coastal fishing areas. The speaker showed us how London used to look like back in the day when animals were still used as a mode of transporting foods in and out of the city to how London looked like once the trains and rail roads were introduced. The city expanded so vastly and it was shaped all around the rail road for easy access. She also went onto speak about how certain foods needed to be cooked for long periods of time and transforming to what is now modern food where one just adds water. Carolyn shed more light on how food is a powerful and necessary tool to shape the world as most day to day runnings made by people evolve around food and a standard of living. "Food is something that can easily design and shape the world differently," a quote from Carolyn Steel.

BLOG REFLECTION

What do you like and dislike about food systems?

What i like about my food system is the colour. It looks attractive. Because i am used to South African food i find food here in Canada too artificial for me. its either its ready made or substitute of a certain food. i don't find that fresh and health because of the process it has went through before being sold. Its like eating substance just to keep you full but not health. At home we cook food from scratch. every ingredient is a primary product. That's how i like my food. The fact that certain foods have to be shipped to other countries and shipped back to be sold is waste of energy nutrients and time and including money. certain procedures ca be learnt at home the home country of the food preserving all the nutrients and building the economy system noting forgetting using less energy saving the planet.

What role, if any should zoos play in conservation/education?

I think zoos should play a huge role in conservation in a way animals should not feel like their being tortured. The animals should feel the same way as they would in the wild. The aim of a zoo is to educate and preserve the animals, and this should be met at its maximum capacity with no questions.

Is it ethical to keep animals in zoo?

I think it depends on how a person sees it. some may say its not ethical because animals deserve to be free and wild and some people will say its a way of conservatory and also a way of educating people about them and their danger habitat. 

Do you enjoy visiting zoos?

Yes I do because i get to see animals that i would not have seen without zoos. I always like the facial reactions of people when they see  certain animal in the zoo. It shows how amazing this animals are and how much people admire them. This also educate me about their habitat. 

What I am doing to promote sustainability and happiness in my life?

Charity starts at home. I make sure that I buy what i need and use it all up for nothing to go on waste. Since I have a roommate I have passed this skills to her and also family and friends. Sharing ideas on how I use certain products also made me realise that I save up money which is a good end result for all the conserving. Since conserving is liked to sustainability that's how I sustain the earth. 

What I would like to do

- I plan to be aware on what I purchase. I believe that purchasing products that are none environmentally friendly means you are supporting the procedure. 
- I also plan on passing the behaviour on to the people I can reach.
- If I succeed in my career I plan to try and make a difference in the workplace on the environment issues.

I pledge:

I pledge that I will continue trying my best to sustain the world and also share them to my coming generation to continue the habit. Also I pledge to spread this habit to my community .

citations

articles :-  classical edition sources environment studies fourth edition thomas a. easton

images:- google