Reflections Week 8-14

Wow, this semester just went by so fast for me. Although there was so much going on for me this semester I can so that I honestly learned quite a bit in this class. Reflecting now on what I have learned in this class has really got me thinking about everything that we talked about over this past semester. Doing all those activities for our advocacy projects I believe had the most impact on me.

JUNK

In the second half of the semester we talked quite a bit about junking, upcycling and various forms of recycling. We discussed via blogs and in class discussions on how to re-purpose items that you may consider as useless and garbage into something else that can be useful. My junk project was taking an old piece of ribbon, some beads off a necklace that broke and a random dragonfly charm that I found and making them into a reusable bookmark. Spending that time in class discussing recycling and junking along with our junk projects really got me thinking on ways I could recycle. It also helped just seeing what everyone else in class was re-purposing to give me ideas.

Advocacy Project

I really enjoyed the whole step by step process that we used in the advocacy project. Although I wasn't aware at the start that the topic we picked for the first blog post was going to be the one we had to use for the whole advocacy project otherwise I probably would have picked something else. This experience did teach me a lot though. Just thinking about it now, all the steps involved in advocating for something, not to mention just being aware of all the people involved. 

Share and Voice

The Share and Voice postings were fun in my opinion. This gave me the opportunity to talk about what I was interested in. Not only did this give me more freedom to do what I wanted but while searching for subjects to post on I ended up learning a lot which was really neat.  I would have to say that my favorite post in Share and Voice is my most recent one on the coral sea marine plan in Australia.

Photo Essay

The photo essay was a fun project to work on. Digging around at my parent's home I was able to find numerous items that had been re-purposed. I thought that this was a great way to get us thinking about recycling, junking and re-purposing items. I enjoy these types of assignments better than just writing about them. It got me actually thinking about it more and putting more of an effort into it

Conclusion

The semester as a whole went by fast, especially for this class. I can honestly say that I have taken a lot out of this class. All of the topics that we talked about in class were all practical and got me thinking about my impact on the environment. Overall, I really enjoyed this class.

Share and Voice: Australia to create world's largest marine reserve

For my last Share and Voice I decided to look up an article. I found an article on CNN.com that was called "Australia to create world's largest marine reserve."

The Australian government has made plans to establish the world's largest protected marine in the Coral Sea. I think that this is huge. You hear everyday how we are polluting our waters and how coral reefs around the world are gradually getting smaller and smaller. Something has to be done to preserve these reefs because they are home to such a vast array of different species and creatures. The diversity that you can find in an area like the Coral Sea and other coral reefs is like nothing you can find anywhere else. That's why I am 100% behind this plan to preserve it. We need to start protecting our environment otherwise we are going to end up with nothing.

This article was a bit short but I feel like it really got the point across that it wanted to. I was excited to see this because this shows that in some areas of the world there are people actually making an effort to protect and preserve the environment.

Advocacy Project: Letter to Elected Official

December 10, 2011
Bog Gibbs
House of Representatives
329 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515

VOTE NO ON H.R. 872: REDUCING REGULATORY BURDENS ACT OF 2011

The proposed bill on the regulated release of pesticides will have a significant impact on our water systems. As a current health education student I am quickly learning the impact pesticides have on our environment and people’s health.  From what I am learning I strongly believe that not requiring a permit for the discharge of authorized pesticides into navigable waters.  I believe that instead we need to regulate the use of pesticides so that they do not go into any water source at all. This should just be the start, what we really need to do is to start a movement that slowly cuts back on the use of pesticides until we have stopped using them completely. This will both benefit the environment and people’s health.

It’s no secret that the use of pesticides has a negative effect on a person’s health, especially if you are the farmer that is applying them.  The U.S. agriculture industry uses around 800 million pounds of pesticides annually. About 110,000 pesticide poisonings are reported by poison control centers every year. We can reduce the rate of pesticide poisonings in our country by controlling the discharge of pesticides and also cutting back on the amount that we are using. To cut back on the amount of pesticides that people ingest will decrease the amount of poisonings that occur.

Allies of this bill would argue that they are controlling the safe use of pesticides by making sure only regulated pesticides are only discharged into navigable water. They would argue that only “safe” pesticides are being used. Unless the pesticide is naturally occurring there is nothing safe about it. Cost would be another issue that comes up, using natural pesticides would indeed cost more but when you compare it to the health costs of pesticide poisoning and the cost of someone’s life there is no comparison.

We appreciate your efforts to control the use of pesticides by requiring only regulated pesticides but that has to be just the start. We need to push forward towards working on stopping the use of pesticides. So to push forward please vote “no” to bill H.R. 872.  If you would like to contact me to discuss this issue further please call me at 586-445-9265 or email me at smaje@envirohealth.com.

Samantha

Share & Voice:

For this Share and Voice I decided to do a youtube video on pesticides since that is what my advocacy project is on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McfARs9PnbM

Advocacy Project: Fact Sheet

Pesticide Poisoning:

Here are some facts on pesticides

• The U.S. agriculture industry uses about 800 million pounds of pesticides annually.
• Homeowners use about 70 million pounds of pesticides annually on their lawns.
• Approximately 90 percent of all households in the U.S. use pesticides.

One use of pesticides is to control the mosquito population. This is important in preventing the spread of some diseases such as West Nile virus. For example, in Fort Collins, Colo., 211 people contracted West Nile virus prior to spraying pesticides to control the mosquito population. After the area was sprayed, the instances of West Nile decreased to only 17.

• Pesticides are monitored by the U.S. EPA and must go through rigorous testing before they can be distributed. The U.S. EPA requires about 100 different scientific studies and tests from all applicants seeking to register pesticides.
• There are several different type of pesticides, but the most notable are chemical pesticides (man-made) and organic or biopesticides (naturally occurring).
• Pesticides are extremely lethal in large doses. The majority do not cause long term or long lasting damage if a low dose is injected, inhaled or absorbed; however, exposure is not recommended. On every label for pesticides are instructions for proper disposal.
• In the U.S., about 110,000 pesticide poisonings are reported by poison control centers each year. About 23,000 visit the emergency room for the same reason. 

This information was found at: Earth 911

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

I went home for Thanksgiving and looked at all the ways my parents recycle in their home. These are just some simple and easy ways to recycle and reuse things in a way you may not have thought of before. I was really inspired to do this for my essay after we did that activity in class where we were supposed to come up with new ways to use things in class.

This is a bakery container that at one time had donuts in it. Now my mother is using it to store some of her sewing supplies in it.

The following pictures are of containers that at one time contained bakery items but now hold plastic silverware.

I would have never thought to reuse the plastic containers from the bakery but my mother has found many purposes for them that make useful in other ways.

Below is a picture of how I found a way to use an old, cracked cooler to store blankets.

 The following photos are how I am using a reusable storage container to hold all my earrings. It's not the most organized way to store them but I don't lose earrings this way.

There are many ways to recycle and reuse things, we found this out in class. It's easy to just throw something away but finding a new and fun way to use that item instead of trashing it is a way better idea. I hope after this class that everyone will be more motivated to recycle instead of just trashing items.

Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

Introduction:      

  The issue that I am going to address is about pesticide poisoning. The current legislation proposed to address this issue is bill H.R. 872 called the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act

Who is affected by the issue?

·         Everyone is affected by this issue. Pesticides can affect the way plants grow and can poison animals that are eating the plants as well. If pesticides are used too much it can eliminate food sources that animals eat off of. By harming the animals this can harm us as well. When pesticides are not used properly they can get into the water systems and end up contaminating our water. Those who are effect most by the use of pesticides are the farmers that use them on their crops because they come in direct contact with the chemicals.

·        

T   The people that lose most if the bill is passed are those being affected by the chemicals that they are either inhaling through “pesticide drift” or consuming in their water.

·       

          The people who gain most if the bill is passed are the companies and the farmers that are using these pesticides on their crop. The pesticides help them to yield a higher crop which is why they would want this bill to pass so that they can continue the use of them.

What are the consequences?

·         The farmers that use the pesticides on their crops are most likely to get sick from them. The issues that could arise range from mild skin irritation, birth defects, tumors, genetic changes, blood and nerve disorders, endocrine disruption and is severe cases coma or death. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_pesticides#Effect_on_plants

·        

T    Their families have just as high a risk of getting this same issues

·         

      As for the rest of society, they can get some of these problems when exposed. With increased exposure comes increased in severity of disease/disorder.

What is the economic impact of the issue?

·        

     The economic impacts are the cost of the pesticides used on the crops, the cost to spray the pesticides and also the cost of cleaning up the drainage from the pesticides as well. To easily reduce these costs all we would need to do is reduce the amount of pesticides that are used. Those who bear the cost are the farmers and companies that are using the pesticides. We as tax payers bear some of this cost because we pay the government to clean the water.

·      

         The economic benefit of the continued use of pesticides is that they help to yield more crops. This benefits everyone because it means that there is more food for the farmers/companies to sell and there is also more food for us to buy and consume.

What is the social impact of the issue?

·         The social cost of this issue is if it is passed then pesticide use will continue with only slightly more regulated standards. People’s health will still be affected by the use of pesticides even when they are regulated.

·        

      The social benefit of the continued but regulated use of pesticides is the protection from pests and other organisms some which could be carrying disease. The use of pesticides will keep problems like this at bay.

What are the barriers?

·      

             The barriers to this issue are that there is a demand for the use of pesticides on crops. It’s hard to enforce strict regulation on something that is in high use and demand. The demand for these chemicals to be used is what is keeping them around. There are safer alternatives but usually the alternative costs more money or take more time and people are all about saving money.

·      

           To overcome these issues we need to find safer alternatives that won’t cost people time or money. Another thing that needs to be done is to make everyone more aware of the damage they could do to their body by exposing themselves too much to pesticides.

What are the resources?

·        

      To address this issue, they will need to have water records from areas that pesticides have been discharged. They will also need records for the amount of pesticides used and which type of pesticide is being used.

·         The companies should be keeping tracking of how much and what pesticides they are using on their crops. They should be required to have it recorded. As for water records, you should be able to get that information from any public water building in your local area.

What is the history of this issue?

·       

           Pesticides have come around from scientist experimenting with chemicals on crops to see what works best for eliminating bugs. The 1950’s was deemed the “pesticide era” due to the invention of DDT and the dramatic increase in crop yield. It wasn’t until around 1959 that serious concerns about the use of DDT and human safety was brought up which then led to 86 countries banning the use of it. This was one of the first major issues found with pesticides.

·    

            Past efforts made have been to require that pesticides be regulated by the FDA and EPA. They test for “tolerances” and maximum residue levels. What they don’t test is exposure to high doses of pesticides.

·   

              These companies are now being criticized for their inadequate monitoring of pesticide levels. They are now coming up with more alternatives to using pesticides that try to avoid using chemicals unless absolutely necessary.

Allies and Opponents?

·         

      Those who would support this issue would be all the large companies that are using pesticides. Some of these companies include large companies like Monsanto. Anyone who uses large quantities of pesticides because this bill won’t require them to have a permit when using registered pesticides.

·        

      Those who would oppose this bill would be anyone living near a navigable water source because pesticides can still get into their water. Also people who are trying to grow their crops naturally and get some effects of pesticide being sprayed near them. Anyone who is for growing naturally and organic would be opposed to this bill because it is still allowing pesticides to be used.

·        

      This bill has gone through the senate and the house to be looked over. To get both parties to settle on an agreement somewhere in the middle would be slightly difficult though. They would need to be more strict with their use of pesticides so that it is not affecting those around them. In order for both parties to win those who are for the use of pesticides need to cut back on their use and find better ways of disposal. Those who are opposed will need to give a little and compromise with the use and better disposal of pesticides.

Your Recommendation

·         

           I vote No for this bill. This is bill is basically allowing the discharge of pesticides as long as they are approved of by federal standards. I believe that instead of being more lax about how we use pesticides we need to do the opposite and be more restrictive about it. Instead of pushing to use more we should be pushing to use less.

Sources:

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/pesticides/

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/3045/

http://eap.mcgill.ca/MagRack/JPR/JPR_01.htm

Share and Voice: Organic Agriculture Conference

It took a bit of looking but I found this really neat event that would be cool to see. It's not in the Duluth area but it is still pretty close.  Here is the information about the event:

Organic Agriculture Conference
When: Dec 5 – 6, 2011
Where Sioux Falls, SD
Description: You all are invited to a conference for organic agriculture to be held on Dec. 5 & 6 at the Ramkota Hotel in Sioux Falls. Attached is an agenda for the conference. The conference has a bit of a theme towards adding value to farm products. Some of the presenters include: Bob Quinn - producer and marketer of specialty wheat in Montana Chris Blanchard – runs a diverse vegetable and herb farm in Iowa Kim Odden - on-farm processing of oilseeds for feed and fuel Glen Cauffman - evaluation of veg. oil for fuel at Penn State University Stevan Knezevic - flame weeding in field crops at University of Nebraska

I found the information about this event on Sustainable Farming Association website.

Pumpkin Spice Muffin Recipe

Here is the recipe for the muffins that I brought to class today:

Whisk together thoroughly:
2 1/3 - 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 

Stir in: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Whisk together in a large mixing bowl:
3 large fresh eggs
1 14 ounce canned pumpkin or fresh
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease muffin pan or line muffin pan with paper baking cups.

Add the flour mixture into the wet mixture and fold until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Do not overmix! The batter will not be smooth but should be lumpy. 

Carefully spoon the batter into the muffin pan filling each muffin 2/3 full. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of several muffins comes out clean. Your baking time will vary depending upon your oven. Let cool 2-3 minutes before removing from pan. Serve at once.

Advocacy Project: Healthy People/ THOMAS

HEALTHY PEOPLE 2020:

Objective:   EH-22 Increase the number of States, Territories, Tribes, and the District of Columbia that monitor             diseases or conditions that can be caused by exposure to environmental hazards
Sub-Objective:
     EH-22.2 Pesticide poisoning
Baseline:   28 States monitored pesticide poisoning in 2009
Target:     56 States, Territories, and the District of Columbia

Target-Setting Method:  Total Coverage

Data Source:   Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) State Reportable Conditions Data Inventory

THOMAS:

H.R.3323.IH
Title: Freeing Agriculture to Reap More Act (Introduced by the House)
Sponsor:  Representative Bob, Gibbs
CoSponsor: 137
Latest Major Action: 6/21/2011 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 78.
 Recommendations: Vote for No Freeing Agriculture to Reap More Act
My Political Representatives:
    Representative John Kline
    Representative Collin Peterson
    Representative Timothy Walz

Share & Voice: Environmental Justice

I was looking at this Environmental Justice website and I think that it's really neat. It contains a lot of information on what is being done to help the environment. I really like how they talk about the need for everyone to get involved. There are a whole bunch of links that you can visit on the website that talk about all the various things that they are doing and have done to help the environment. This website just has a ton of information on it that you can look at. You can even look at what is being done in our area. Like in how Minnesota is communicating with Environmental Justice issues on a regular basis. This website has numerous links on it which all contain lots of information on them

One of the links that I looked at on this website was "Plan EJ 2014" which is all about how environmental justice is going to be integrated in the EPA's programs, policies, and activities. This will hopefully advance environmental justice in the EPA and also the federal government as well. I think this is a really good idea to get some of the major companies and people involved in helping out.

I think that this would be a good website for the class to check out because not only does it contain information on what we are doing on a national level to help in the environment but there are also links so that you can see what is going on in your state and your area.

Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

I don't pay much attention to politics so this activity was a good one for me to do. While looking for the information needed for this post I read a little extra just for fun.

Political Leaders:







President: Barrack Obama
Political Affiliation: Democrat
Website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama










Governor:
    Name- Mark Dayton
    Political Affiliation- Democrat Farm Labor
    Contact Info-
         Address:    Office of the Governor 
                          130 State Capitol 
                          75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 
                          St. Paul, MN 55155

       
         Phone:       651-201-3400


         Fax:          651-797-1850 








Senators:


        Name- Al Franken
        Political Affiliation- Democrat farm labor
        Contact Info-
              Address:   60 East Plato Blvd
                               Suite 220
                               St. Paul, MN
                               55107

             Phone:     651- 221-1016

Name- Amy Klobuchar
Political Affiliation- Democrat farm labor
Contact Info-
     Address: 1200 Washington Avenue South
                    Room 250
                    Minneapolis, MN
                    55415

     Phone:     612-727-5220

     Fax:         612-727-5223














House of Representatives:




Name- Thomas Huntley
Political Affiliation-Democrat farm labor
Contact Info-
      Address:
             351 State Office Building
             100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
             Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
      Phone:
             651-296-2228


      Email:
            rep.thomas.huntley@house.mn





Name- Roger Reinert
Political Affiliation- Democrat Farm Labor
Contact Info-
       Address:

100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.               State Office Building, Room 149               St. Paul, MN 55155-1206

       Phone:
           651.296.4188
       Email:
           sen.roger.reinert@senate.mn





Name- Chip Cravaak
Political Affiliation- Republican
Contact Info-
      Address:
           Cravaack for Congress Campaign Committee
           P.O. Box 951
           North Branch, MN 55056-0951
     Phone:
           651.317.9245

Reflections: week 1-7

I wasn't very excited about this class coming into to it but I have to say that I have changed my mind about how I feel about this class. I'm finding that I am learning a lot of new things and I am really enjoying myself in this class. One of my favorite parts about this class is the discussions we have. We  really get into it when we have discussions and that's what I love most about them. No one is holding back or afraid to share their opinion.

The first two weeks were kinda slow just getting into what the class was about and starting to learn what the topic of Environmental Health was all about.

Weeks 3-7 was when I started to read my book called Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet.
I really enjoyed this book and it showed me a lot about what was going on in our world.

The Movies that we have been watching in class have also been really informative for me. It's kind of sad to learn about all the issues going on in our environment. Not only that but all the big corporations with all the problems are choosing to do nothing about it.

This class is one that I am starting to look forward to now. I love our class discussions and the work we have to do outside is not very difficult which I love considering all the other work I am doing

Eye Opener: Junk on the Brain

Antiques: Any work of art, piece of furniture, decorative object, or anything similar, created or produced in a former period, or around 100 years before date of purchase.

Junk/Junking: Any old discarded material.

Flea Market: A market that is usually outdoors, consisting of a number of individual stalls selling old or used items such as antiques and other merchandise.

Thrift Shop: A retail store that sells secondhand goods at reduced rates.

Upcycling: Component of sustainability in which the use of waste materials to provide  new products. Taking something disposable and making it into something of greater use and value.

1. All these terms relate to environmental health. They all have to do with reusing teh materials and goods that we already have and putting them to good use as something else instead of just trashing them.
2. Antiques- Father Time Antiques, 395 S Lake Ave #1, Duluth, MN, 55802-2311. (218) 625-2379. I was not able to find a website for this store.                                                                                     Junk- Jadco Special Haulers Inc, 4011 Rehbein Road, Duluth, MN, 55803-9274. (218)724-5538. I was unable to find a website for this place as well.                                                                             Flea Market- Wabasha Flea Market, Highway 61 and Industrial Court Box 230, Wabasha Minnesota. 55981, 651-565-4767. I could not find a website for this place.                                                                                                                                    Thrift Store- Goodwill, 700 Garfield Avenue, Duluth, MN, 55802                                      Upcycling- Ingvald's Custom Builds, 25 West Redwing Street, Duluth, MN 55803. 701-361-8827.
3. Towel Bar- I like this idea of a towel bar. I live with 5 other people and some of them are always just using the hand towel, bunching it up and tossing it aside so that it never drys. I think a smaller version of this would be perfect for our bathroom!                                                                                  Sign- I have always thought that plaques and posters with cute sayings on them were always nice to look at. I love that idea of writing what you want on a sign for everyone to see and read. It tells a little about the kind of person you are.                                                                                               Table Art- I thought this was a really cool idea. Using a card table as wall art, I never would have thought of it and when I looked at the picture it looks completely natural. It doesn't even look like a table at all even. I really like it because it looks really nice and simple and I like simple things the best. 

Read 'n' Seed 5: Fourth Quarter and Final Review of Hope's Edge, The Next Diet for a Small Planet

In this section I read Chapters 10 and 11.

In chapter ten the author and her daughter traveled to their last destination, Wisconsin. During their stay in Wisconsin they stopped at many farmer's markets and found out that Wisconsin is home to one of the country's largest farmers market. I found this to be a good surprise when I read about it. I wouldn't assume that anywhere in this area would have a farmers market so large mostly due to the fact that the growing season isn't that long in this area. Although I was glad to read this, I was also disturbed by the fact that on average Wisconsin loses three family farms a day. This is mostly due to the fact that they are not efficient enough to compete against the corporate farms in the area. They are closing down these farms everywhere and replacing them with fast food chains like McDonalds. There are now over 26,000 McDonalds in over 119 countries. Local farmers in the Wisconsin area are working together and selling their crops to those in the community. These farmers offer better and more diverse crops to those in the community.By selling them straight to the community they are eliminating the middleman which is allowing the farmers to actually make money. This is starting what is being known as the slow food movement, to try to move away from fast foods. Not only are they getting people away from fast foods but they are also encouraging them to grow organically which is better for the consumer and the environment. The organic market is growing by 20% each year and is continuing to grow with the slow food movement. I think this movement is something that we need in America because we are way to dependent on fast food and using chemicals to grow our food. We can all help get this movement going by making an attempt to by more organic food. Remember what was said in class, we vote with our dollar.

In Chapter 11 the author goes home and begins to work on the book. One important thing that the author learned on her trip was that we need to learn to take action. We can just sit around waiting for someone to start changing problems for us. We need to actively participate in making change ourselves. She also came up with 5 liberating ideas:

1. Scrap scarcity scare, realize abundance. We need to start seeing that we have an abundance of food and that there is no scarcity of food. Instead in some areas of the world there is so much extra produce that they are just throwing it away. We need to start wasting and use our resources the right way.
2. Laugh at caricature. We see ourselves as selfish and materialistic people. Studies have shown that we human beings need connections in our lives We can't just survive on our own because there is a need to connect with other people. We need to let go of the notion that we are selfish and embrace the need for connection with others
3. Put tools in their place. We have come up with all this new technology so why don't we use it in a way that would benefit us. We have the market and technology and we need to turn them into tools that we can use.
4. Discard dissection, solve for pattern. We have the tools to best get what we need now we just need to use them.
5. Bust free from "isms". We need to reestablish value into our markets

It's not easy to change and most people fear change but change can be an important thing. Each dollar we spend is a vote for the world that we want. 

This entire book was about the author and her traveling to look into the food crisis around the world. She learned a lot about what people were doing to help the environment and themselves to better survive.

I learned a lot of interesting things while I was reading through this book. I learned that we need to change even when we don't want to. If we all work together to each do one small thing to change for the better of the environment and ourselves we can make a real big impact. The second thing that I learned was about the amount of chemicals we were using to grow our crops. I knew that chemicals were being used to help with the growing process but I was not aware that we were using that much to help grow our crops. It's almost sickening to know that we are using that much. The third thing I learned was about the Green Belt Movement. Learning that one woman struggled to put it together and wouldn't stop no matter how bad it got for her was really motivating for me. Because of what she did, Kenya is now a better place to live.

I really do recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about the food shortage. Not only that but to hear about other people's stories and their efforts to improve their lives and their own environment should be reason enough to read this. I really enjoyed reading this book and I got a lot of information from it as well. 

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

The item that I chose to look into was my facial lotion by Olay. I use this lotion on my face when it gets all dried out. The database gave this product a 5. This put it in the medium range category. According to the database my product scored high in the allergy category. Apparently this product has a high chance of causing skin irritation and some allergies with that. I was glad to see that it scored low for risk with cancer and reproductive issues. In fact, the only category it actually scored high in was the allergy one. Overall, they rated this product has having moderate health concerns and considering I don't wear it very often I'm not too concerned. Actually now that I think about it I hardly every wear any sort of make-up or cosmetic products very often at all. I was upset to see that this company tests their products on animals. I understand that testing products before putting them on the market is important but I don't like the idea of testing products on animals. After viewing this product and looking at my other cosmetics products I think I will cut back on my use of them. Not only will it save me money but it will be better for me in the long run as well. Plus it shouldn't be that hard considering I really don't use too many cosmetics very often anyways.

Read 'n' Seed 4: Third Quarter of Hope's Edge,The Next Diet for a Small Planet

This past week I read chapters 7-9, pages 167-243. During these chapters the author traveled to Kenya, and two places in Europe.

In the chapter 7 she arrived in Kenya. A very friendly country where they greeted the author with hugs. laughter and dance. During her stay there she found out that sadly 2/3 of Kenyans live in poverty, most of those on only $2 a day. The land was so bad because of deforestation that it made it very difficult to plant there because of the lack of water. A movement was started in Kenya by a woman named Wangari called the "Green Belt Movement." The purpose of this movement was to get more trees planted and reverse deforestation. Before this movement women would have to walk 15 kilometers one way just to get firewood. What I thought was upsetting was the fact the their were people trying to stop her from doing this. There were quite a few occasions were she was threatened and even beaten for what she was trying to accomplish. Why would someone want to stop someone when they are just trying to improve the living conditions in their country? For years Kenyans have been mistreated and misled by those who were suppose to be helping them. Thanks to the movement, Kenyans have become more empowered. They celebrate life instead of focusing on suffering. They teach women their rights so that they can no longer be bullied. I think that what Wangari did is a great example for what we should all be doing. Focus on helping to improve our lives while improving the environment at the same time.

In chapter 8 they traveled over to Europe and make a stop in Holland. Here they learn about the coffee trade what is going on with that. The author discovers that the coffee trade has trapped many farmers in poverty. This is odd considering that it is the second most valuable commodity traded today. This injustice to the farmers brought on fair-trade. This allowed the farmers to get their fair share of the profits and ensure that they were no longer getting ripped off anymore. This movement became so big that it spread to the United States and it's now has spread throughout the world. I think we need to create more opportunities for fairness in our market. Large corporations need to stop cheating the farmers out of their earnings. This effect all of us, because as consumers we are paying for these products.

In chapter 9 which is the last chapter that I read, they went to Paris. Here the author saw that the country was exporting their goods and food products while there were people in the country who were starving. In some areas of the country the water is so bad that they are unable to drink it. This is due to the high levels of nitrate in the water system which comes from the nitrogen fertilizing. This isn't just happening here either, its happening everywhere around the world! In Europe, Greenpeace has worked to stop the use of GMOs in that country. They have educated consumers about buying non-GMO products and now 80% of France is GMO free. This country has done a great thing by showing that they disapprove of corporate globalization. I think that what France did should be shown as an example as to what the rest of should be doing. Stand up and show the large corporations that they can't control us or our food intake by not buying their products. They are working are stopping the use of GMO in America but we can help them with this by just choosing not to buy GMO foods. I know that as college students we can quite afford to do this but if we start by just buying a few non-GMO products here and there when we can I believe that we can make a difference, especially if we can start networking this idea to our friends and family as well.

Read 'n' Sead 3: Second Quarter of Hopes Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet

For the second quarter of my book I read chapters 4-6. This put me at a little under halfway through the book. Although I am only halfway through the book it is really interesting so far and I can't wait to finish off the rest of the book.

The chapters that I covered in this reading talked about the countries that the author and her daughter traveled to in order to find out more about what is going on with the food crisis around the world.

First, they started out in Brazil. One of the sad things that I learned from reading about Brazil was that although it is one of the world's leading agricultural exporters and yet still has thousands of people in their country who are starving on a daily basis. Another issue they have is an extreme inequality when it comes to wealth and income. This is due to the fact that in a land of many only a few people there that own most of the land. They are trying to give the land back to the people but the government has privatized everything. Not only that but the landowners are using lawsuits to prevent giving back the land. Once again as we have discussed in class this is just another money and power issue. This is just a continuing problem that we are seeing everywhere. I believe that we need to work harder to take the power away from these companies and give it back to the people.

After Brazil they traveled to Bangladesh next. This country is poor and overcrowded. A man decided to help the people out with microcredit.He developed a bank, named it Grameen and employed the poor people to run it. The idea behind it is to bring life back to the country by giving out small loans to get the people on their feet again. Once they can take care of themselves they pay the money they borrowed back. It's based on a trust system and has worked remarkably well in this country. The motto for this bank is "little loans for little people" and I think it fits perfectly for what they are doing. I really liked what I read about the bank because it was found to be really helpful. He trusted the people with his own money and it really paid off. This just shows that we can still trust people and need to get back to that more I think.

The last chapter and last place that they visited was India. This country is an example of why more food by itself can't stop hunger. People need more than food handouts, they need resources as well. India was sucked into the GMO trend and it has made their diet much into an experiment. I was happy to read that the country is working to get back to organically growing and not using as many chemicals.