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.

Eye Opener: CSPI

For this blog I chose to do "Sc. Your Diet." I thought that this would be a good exercise to do because I was kind of curious as to how good my diet was not only for me but for the environment. My overall score for this activity was a lot lower than I expected it to be. I scored a 3 which put me in the "uh-oh" category.

I found out that I did the best in the dairy category and in that category I scored a 4. I believe it's because I have always loved drinking milk and yogurt is the perfect snack for me that I have on almost a daily basis. Not only do I have those on a regular basis but when I buy my dairy product I most often buy the low fat version of of the item. Next to my dairy I tied for fruits and vegetables with a 3. This is because as a health education major I know the importance of getting in my daily amount fruits and vegetables as often as possible. Although I know that I don't get my full amount everyday I try to make a conscious effort to consume more fruits and vegetables.

I scored the worst in the cheese category and in that category I scored a -4. I add cheese to a lot of my dished that I make and when I do I try to make sure it is low fat cheese so that it is a bit more healthier but since it's cheese it is mostly still bad for me. To fix this I am gonna start cutting it out of the meals that don't need it and when they do require it I will try using less cheese than what the recipe calls for.

The category that I did the worst in was both environment and animal welfare and in both categories I scored a -4. There are quite a few things that I can do to fix this. I can start buy making sure that the food that I am buying is locally grown and also grown naturally. To help with animal welfare I can try getting my meat from a local butcher that has free-range poultry and doesn't come from a place that feed their animals any GMO or inject them with any chemicals.


After reviewing my overall score in all the categories separately and combined I realized that although I have made some changes to improve my eating habits they still need some more work. Also I need to make more of an effort to eat environmentally healthy as well as pay attention to animal welfare. This exercise has been a real eye opener for me.

Below I posted the link to my diet score page:
http://www.cspinet.org/EatingGreen/score.html

Label: Eye Opener

Read 'n' Seed 2: Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet.

I read the first 3 chapters, which ended up being the first 92 pages of the book. The first few pages of the book started out by discussing the author's first book and it's affect not only on her family but those who read it and those she talked to about it. She then introduces this book and explains why she decided to write another book about this topic. This book is a continuation of the first book she wrote, "Diet for a Small Planet." Each chapter covers the places that she visits on her trip to discover the truth about our food sources and food shortage. She goes on to explain why there are people starving in a world that is producing plenty of food to feed everyone. She also explains five myths about food that we as the consumer are led to believe by the large corporations that control our food production.

 There was quite of information that I read in this book that I was not aware of. I had heard of the food shortage and knew about all those people who were starving all around the world because there was not enough food to go around. I had no idea that food shortage was a myth and that we were producing plenty of food to feed everyone but we were just choosing to waste it instead of share it. I was shocked to read that almost half our grain produced in the U.S. was used to feed cattle instead of those who are going hungry. I don't understand how that makes sense to feed half our grains to cattle who only give a small fraction of nutrients in return instead of to people who need it. Where is the logic in that? If there is any scarcity out there it is because we humans are creating it ourselves. Instead of fixing this simple problem we instead to mass produce GMO (genetically modified organisms) plants. These types of plants don't offer us the same amount of nutrients as naturally grown plants plus they are grown with chemicals. That's our big solution? To ward off starvation you are gonna feed us unnaturally grown food just because it's faster and cheaper for the producers?

 We are just looking for a quick solution to fix everything and that wont work to get done what we really want to get done. People need real food with real substance and nutrients. Society needs to get involved to help stop this problem. Buying locally can really help to make sure that you are getting fresh naturally grown fruits and vegetables. To quote the author, "what's good for you is also good for the earth." Naturally grown foods are better for you and for the environment. There aren't chemicals involved in the growing process and the food isn't processed food either. When we choose to eat these foods they effect our health, there is more fat in these foods and less nutrients as well. This increases our weight which increases our risk for disease. What we can do to help the environment and improve our health is to eat naturally and locally grown foods.

Ecological Footprint

I took the quiz and was shocked by my results. I wasn't aware before this quiz on how much I consume and use on a regular basis on my own. My impact showed that it would take 4.3 worlds to hold people like me. Once I read that I was really taken back. I felt bad about just how much me alone was affecting the environment. Now that I am aware I know that I will be actively trying to cut back on my ecological footprint.

Some things that I know that I can easily do improve my footprint is to buy locally grow food and bring my own reusable bags. On nice days instead of taking the bus I could walk to and from campus. Just these small little changes can help me to start cutting back on my footprint.

http://www.iuhpeconference.net/pages/sustainable_conference/ecological_footprint.php

Read 'n' Seed 1: Hopes Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet

1. Hopes Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet
2. This book is a sequel to Diet for a Small Planet. It's about people's impact on the planet and how that effects our food. It talks about famine and how we are using the earth's resources to feed ourselves
3. I chose this book because I am interested in Nutrition which has to do about food and this book seemed like it would be an interesting read for me.
4. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NAH/is_3_32/ai_84212106/  http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/books.php
5. id=3740http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/Frances_Moore_Lappe.php
6. This book has 11 chapters and 314 pages plus some recipes in the back of the book. I think the best way for me to read this book is to read about 75-80 pages a week. I believe that it's the best way to divide up the book.