Aaron Carter
ENG 151
Mudd
March 17th, 2011
Foooooooooooood.
It’s a big part of our culture, it’s essential to our lives, it’s continuously pitched to us every day in different ways trying to pull us in, and it’s tasty. It’s food. Food for me has never really been an “issue”. I have always been under the impression that it was something simple that people didn’t mess with: a “straightforward” business. People get hungry, so people buy and eat food from the grocery store and that’s all there is too it. Today food is way simpler than it ever has been before. There are stores to buy anything you need at, fast food drive through everywhere, and if you really don’t want to go to the store, or even get in your car to go to fast food, then there is delivery. Overtime my relationship with food has changed, my understanding of why I need different foods, and why I don’t need others has greatly changed as well as my understanding of the big picture of what’s going on with food.
When I was a kid food was what I was all about. That and playing around outside and just being a crazy and energetic kid. Anytime I ever got money, it was straight to the gas station to buy some junk food. As a kid that’s all food was about, was finding whatever tasted the best (often the sweetest as well). There was no concern about what I was actually consuming, or even the awareness that what I ate mattered. I would over-indulge on junk food and anything sweet I could get my hands on. This kind of handling of food continued until I was probably about fourteen or fifteen. Then I started to calm down on my never ending desire to eat tasty sweets. I started to understand that what I ate was actually important to how I felt in the morning (and the rest of the day), my moods, my skin, and just my health in general. This came from the health classes I had to take in seventh and eighth grade. But as a high school student food was always about ease. I was lazy; I didn’t want to cook anything. I was always eating fast food with the money from my job, and when I was at home if my parents didn’t cook a meal then I was probably eating something out of the microwave. It tasted better and was way easier. Then I came to college.
When I got to college I was still that lazy eater. I would eat microwave food over cooking a meal and be happy about it. When the quarter started it was great. I had the ability to eat some cooked food at dining halls and if that didn’t appeal to me than I could just microwave whatever I wanted that I had bought at the market. It was sweet; I was eating pizza all the time, mac n cheese, nuggets and all that good stuff. But then about half way through the quarter it just really started to get old, and I really started missing having the ability to cook my own food on a stove or oven rather than eat whatever “quick food” the market sold. This really brought me an appreciation for quality food, and this quarter I stopped eating as terribly as I did with my first quarter of grocery freedom. Then came the food week of our class this quarter. That brought me to where I stand with food today.
Today food is now something I am really disappointed with. The fact that quantity of money really rules over the quality of the food that we are feeding ourselves. After food week I have started making smarter choices with what I buy, and after I move from having to buy all my stuff from a university ran market I think I will be eating organic and buying from farmers markets. Food now to me is still what fuels me, it’s still tasty but now there is a bitter resent in the back of my mind for all of these big food companies (especially meat) that are sacrificing quality and health to make that extra dollar. In the big picture of everything I think that we are all being duped into buying not very good quality goods, and when we do buy quality goods we are overpriced. I personally am going to start paying attention to what companies I buy my food from, and what kinds of foods I’m eating. I’ve never made healthy choices before buy I have started to and I will continue to. From now and on, I am going to but my mouth and money where my mouth is, and that is quality food’s from smaller more needy places. Sorry Wal-Mart/Kroger/Meijer, but in my mind big business is an old trick that I’ve picked up on. I don’t like it, and I’m not going to pay for it.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Aaron Carter
ENG 151
Mudd
March 17, 2011
Sustainablili-me
Meaning. That’s what this is all about for me, the pursuit of a meaningful existence. I think it goes without saying that our generation has the ability to be the most influential generation yet. The existence of the future is really up to us more than it has been for any previous generations. That for me is the meaningful existence I believe I am a part of. This pursuit of future comfort isn’t specific to just the US but really to any major country (technology wise). With all of the current and sure to come innovations in technology our generation has much more ability to influence the future of our world than anyone before us. That’s where sustainability comes in to all of this. It is my belief that it is up to us to implement sustainable practices or leave our future to suffer the consequences.
Our generation is really the luckiest and most privileged generation yet. We’ve come up with the modern rise of technology which as I see it, is the both the problem and the solution. We now have the ability to end our own existence with weapons, communicate with anyone anywhere, travel with ease, consume with ease and pretty much do anything we need to with much less effort that ever before. This is what’s causing our demise. We have become lost in the WHAT we are doing because it’s so easy and we’ve forgotten WHY we are doing it. We have forgotten that we need to think about how it’s impacting both our current state and our future. We go to the supermarket and buy all of our groceries because it’s easy, we remember what we’re there to get but we don’t think about why we’re at that particular store. Are they promoting what you like? Such as healthy foods, good wages for workers, good use of the revenue they generate. We know WHAT we want from our jobs but do most of us think about “why” we are doing them? That’s how it is with almost everything now a days, there are too many “what” I want, what I need, what I can use, what I can do, what the TV. says but there is a seriously lack of why and if you replace a “what” with a “why” you get a whole different picture. Sustainability is about “why” for me, and that is starting to spread to others with sustainable movements. Recently a “go green” movement has come to light, and I believe it’s our generations call to action. That’s not to say that we all have to “go green” but it is to say that this is the “kicker” that needs to be and will hopefully be that opens our eyes to the fact that if we don’t start using what we have in a sustainable manner, than everything we have achieved will hold no meaning, it will cease to exist. That’s what it’s all about for me and that’s what it needs to be about for you, your family, your school, your country. Whoever you are. We need to stop pushing twice as hard because we have twice the muscle, and start thinking about why and where we are pushing and how much to push. It is my opinion that we need to learn “how hard to push” (how much to use) if we are really trying to make a future for ourselves and our children and their children etc. That’s what sustainability has become to me, learning how to use what you have. Not learning how to exploit what we have.
When I first came to this class my idea of sustainability was entirely different. I thought of it as a much simpler thing. Like turning the sink off when I brush my teeth, or driving a more fuel efficient car, or grabbing less food at the dining hall. It was all about ways to just “use less”. Now I have what I believe to be a better understanding of the issue of sustainability. Now I see sustainability as more than “using less”. Now I see it as a more complicated process, you don’t start with “use less” it starts with why am I using this? Do I need to? What else could I use? And so on. This class has brought me from awareness of the fact that we need to do this, to the state of feeling that I HAVE to do this.
Today in our culture sustainability must become a top priority so that our culture can continue to exist. Sustainability is a “why” issue not a “what” issue to me now. I knew what it was, but now I know why it is, and why it needs to be continuously built upon and implemented into our everyday living. I now feel that I should live sustainably not do sustainable things every once in a while, and that is where we all need to be. That is what this is all about to me now; it’s the “meaning” I talked about. To make everyone else know WHY sustain, not just WHAT sustaining means. I believe if we do this people won’t need to be forced or lobbied or convinced that they need to be more sustainable, they will want to do it on their own. Self-sustaining sustainability.
ENG 151
Mudd
March 17, 2011
Sustainablili-me
Meaning. That’s what this is all about for me, the pursuit of a meaningful existence. I think it goes without saying that our generation has the ability to be the most influential generation yet. The existence of the future is really up to us more than it has been for any previous generations. That for me is the meaningful existence I believe I am a part of. This pursuit of future comfort isn’t specific to just the US but really to any major country (technology wise). With all of the current and sure to come innovations in technology our generation has much more ability to influence the future of our world than anyone before us. That’s where sustainability comes in to all of this. It is my belief that it is up to us to implement sustainable practices or leave our future to suffer the consequences.
Our generation is really the luckiest and most privileged generation yet. We’ve come up with the modern rise of technology which as I see it, is the both the problem and the solution. We now have the ability to end our own existence with weapons, communicate with anyone anywhere, travel with ease, consume with ease and pretty much do anything we need to with much less effort that ever before. This is what’s causing our demise. We have become lost in the WHAT we are doing because it’s so easy and we’ve forgotten WHY we are doing it. We have forgotten that we need to think about how it’s impacting both our current state and our future. We go to the supermarket and buy all of our groceries because it’s easy, we remember what we’re there to get but we don’t think about why we’re at that particular store. Are they promoting what you like? Such as healthy foods, good wages for workers, good use of the revenue they generate. We know WHAT we want from our jobs but do most of us think about “why” we are doing them? That’s how it is with almost everything now a days, there are too many “what” I want, what I need, what I can use, what I can do, what the TV. says but there is a seriously lack of why and if you replace a “what” with a “why” you get a whole different picture. Sustainability is about “why” for me, and that is starting to spread to others with sustainable movements. Recently a “go green” movement has come to light, and I believe it’s our generations call to action. That’s not to say that we all have to “go green” but it is to say that this is the “kicker” that needs to be and will hopefully be that opens our eyes to the fact that if we don’t start using what we have in a sustainable manner, than everything we have achieved will hold no meaning, it will cease to exist. That’s what it’s all about for me and that’s what it needs to be about for you, your family, your school, your country. Whoever you are. We need to stop pushing twice as hard because we have twice the muscle, and start thinking about why and where we are pushing and how much to push. It is my opinion that we need to learn “how hard to push” (how much to use) if we are really trying to make a future for ourselves and our children and their children etc. That’s what sustainability has become to me, learning how to use what you have. Not learning how to exploit what we have.
When I first came to this class my idea of sustainability was entirely different. I thought of it as a much simpler thing. Like turning the sink off when I brush my teeth, or driving a more fuel efficient car, or grabbing less food at the dining hall. It was all about ways to just “use less”. Now I have what I believe to be a better understanding of the issue of sustainability. Now I see sustainability as more than “using less”. Now I see it as a more complicated process, you don’t start with “use less” it starts with why am I using this? Do I need to? What else could I use? And so on. This class has brought me from awareness of the fact that we need to do this, to the state of feeling that I HAVE to do this.
Today in our culture sustainability must become a top priority so that our culture can continue to exist. Sustainability is a “why” issue not a “what” issue to me now. I knew what it was, but now I know why it is, and why it needs to be continuously built upon and implemented into our everyday living. I now feel that I should live sustainably not do sustainable things every once in a while, and that is where we all need to be. That is what this is all about to me now; it’s the “meaning” I talked about. To make everyone else know WHY sustain, not just WHAT sustaining means. I believe if we do this people won’t need to be forced or lobbied or convinced that they need to be more sustainable, they will want to do it on their own. Self-sustaining sustainability.
Eco Event #7 ooo wind
I found this article on a site called:
This site is pretty sweet when it comes to "eco" events, news, developments, and ideas. So you might want to check it out.
The article or "press release" is titled "GE UNIT, UNIONBANCAL UNIT, BUY CALIFORNIA WIND FARM FIRST PHASE OF ONE OF LARGEST US WIND ENERGY PROJECTS STARTING OPERATIONS" which pretty much sum's up what the whole thing is about.
Basically GE decided to buy the first wind farm that it needs to begin a wind energy project. This project is planned to be a 3,000-megawatt project. When complete it will provide electricity for 1.4 California homes. This article was very interesting to me because it not only demonstrates our steps towards furthering our dependance on alternative energy but it also demonstrated a company's good faith in allowing for the sale of the company to allow the company (Terra-Gen) to continue to operate itself and aid in the generation of $6 billion for renewable energy invesments. I hope that GE continues on this path of its "commitment to ecoimagination".
This site is pretty sweet when it comes to "eco" events, news, developments, and ideas. So you might want to check it out.
The article or "press release" is titled "GE UNIT, UNIONBANCAL UNIT, BUY CALIFORNIA WIND FARM FIRST PHASE OF ONE OF LARGEST US WIND ENERGY PROJECTS STARTING OPERATIONS" which pretty much sum's up what the whole thing is about.
Basically GE decided to buy the first wind farm that it needs to begin a wind energy project. This project is planned to be a 3,000-megawatt project. When complete it will provide electricity for 1.4 California homes. This article was very interesting to me because it not only demonstrates our steps towards furthering our dependance on alternative energy but it also demonstrated a company's good faith in allowing for the sale of the company to allow the company (Terra-Gen) to continue to operate itself and aid in the generation of $6 billion for renewable energy invesments. I hope that GE continues on this path of its "commitment to ecoimagination".
Eco event #6 Little Japan, Big Trouble pt. 2
For the first part of my Japan posts I focused mainly on the actual Tsunami and the damage to the city. For the 2nd part I am going to focus soley on the nuclear problems coming from this happening.
Fukushima Dai-Ichi is an nuclear plant that has been severely affected by the tsunami that struck on March 11th. The tsunami has caused severe damage to 4 of the 6 nuclear reactors that Fukushima houses and today (march 17th) workers are trying everything they can to cool one of the dangerously overheated reactors. The tsunami has damaged the reactors so that the rod's in the reactors aren't staying cool causing the reactors to overheat and if they continue to do so it could result in a "complete meltdown" which would release dangerous amounts of radiation into sourounding areas. The article says that right now the dangeous levels are only on-site at the plant.
But.... What will be the long term affects of this radiation? What about short term? On the top of this article where i read about all of this "Physicist Michio Kaku tells msnbc's Richard Liu that cooling attempts like using helicopter drops to cool down the 700 tons of spent fuel at Japan's Fukushima reactor site won't be enough, that they would be better served with a 'Chernobyl' approach"
What's going to happen? I think the radiation might just cause zombies to come. What about you?
Fukushima Dai-Ichi is an nuclear plant that has been severely affected by the tsunami that struck on March 11th. The tsunami has caused severe damage to 4 of the 6 nuclear reactors that Fukushima houses and today (march 17th) workers are trying everything they can to cool one of the dangerously overheated reactors. The tsunami has damaged the reactors so that the rod's in the reactors aren't staying cool causing the reactors to overheat and if they continue to do so it could result in a "complete meltdown" which would release dangerous amounts of radiation into sourounding areas. The article says that right now the dangeous levels are only on-site at the plant.
But.... What will be the long term affects of this radiation? What about short term? On the top of this article where i read about all of this "Physicist Michio Kaku tells msnbc's Richard Liu that cooling attempts like using helicopter drops to cool down the 700 tons of spent fuel at Japan's Fukushima reactor site won't be enough, that they would be better served with a 'Chernobyl' approach"
What's going to happen? I think the radiation might just cause zombies to come. What about you?
Eco Event #5 Big Trouble, Little Japan pt. 1
So i felt it necessary to split up whats going on in japan into two seperate posts because there are two very diffrent (but related) things that are happening/happened in Japan recently.
First off the Tsunami/Earthquake. Im sure we've all heard what happened, but just incase you live under a rock ~here~ is an article describing what took place on March 11th.
The Tsunami that struck Japan was caused by an 8.9/10 magnatude earthquake
(thats real bad) this is the 5th largest earthquake since 1900 and the largest in Japan for over 140 years. The city of Sendai was hit by two main tsunami waves, the first about 20ft high and the 2nd about 33ft high. The quake and tsunami have completely ravaged the cities it hit with flooding and physical damage. The death toll now is over 5,000 and there really isnt much hope for the affected places due to a new developing problem with the damage caused to the nuclear industries in the affected area.
The fact that this extremely modern and developed place has been hit by this tsunami is a big deal, alot of people will be out of work and the long term affects of this event are still unfolding. Will Tokyo return to its orginial splendor? How long will it take? What do you think?
First off the Tsunami/Earthquake. Im sure we've all heard what happened, but just incase you live under a rock ~here~ is an article describing what took place on March 11th.
The Tsunami that struck Japan was caused by an 8.9/10 magnatude earthquake
(thats real bad) this is the 5th largest earthquake since 1900 and the largest in Japan for over 140 years. The city of Sendai was hit by two main tsunami waves, the first about 20ft high and the 2nd about 33ft high. The quake and tsunami have completely ravaged the cities it hit with flooding and physical damage. The death toll now is over 5,000 and there really isnt much hope for the affected places due to a new developing problem with the damage caused to the nuclear industries in the affected area.
The fact that this extremely modern and developed place has been hit by this tsunami is a big deal, alot of people will be out of work and the long term affects of this event are still unfolding. Will Tokyo return to its orginial splendor? How long will it take? What do you think?
Eco Event #4 Efficiency = More consumption?
I just read this article and it's somthing that I think is a great point that I have considered before and that i think should be more widley talked about. The article is basically proposing that becoming more efficient may just make us consume more. In the article the writer of the article bases this on the coal and computer industries.What I have thought all along and what this writer is saying is that in order for efficiency to work, we cant drive twice as much because now our car uses half the fuel, if we want efficiency to work we need to learn to control ourselves and do what we need to do, not everything we want to. This doesnt mean stay home! Dont go out! SAVEEEEEE. But it does mean that we need to stop being wasteful and start being EFFICIENT.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
eco event #3 More dead animals?!?
MSN.com is my homepage, and today when i opened up the browser i saw a headline that said "Millions of dead Fish" and i was shocked, because this is now the 2nd time in like 2 or 3 months that a large group of animals has turned up dead and both events took place in the US.
HERE is a link to the article.
The article says that the scientists "tentatively" said that they all died of oxygen depravation. They said they must have all just swam into a pocket where there was no air and died. Is that even possible? couldnt they just swim back to where they could catch a breath? Can there even be just a patch of water off the coast of LA lacking oxygen? I think its very peculiar that twice now in a very short period of time TWO "rare but possible" large deaths of animals have occured with little to no explanation. Im not really sure what to make of it, and i really hope it doesnt continue. This is definetely not "natural selection" as the article suggests.
HERE is a link to the article.
The article says that the scientists "tentatively" said that they all died of oxygen depravation. They said they must have all just swam into a pocket where there was no air and died. Is that even possible? couldnt they just swim back to where they could catch a breath? Can there even be just a patch of water off the coast of LA lacking oxygen? I think its very peculiar that twice now in a very short period of time TWO "rare but possible" large deaths of animals have occured with little to no explanation. Im not really sure what to make of it, and i really hope it doesnt continue. This is definetely not "natural selection" as the article suggests.
Monday, March 7, 2011
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