Thursday, November 12, 2015

My Experience With Community Gardening and Its Effects On Me Psychologically

For my Lang 120 Service Learning class, we are required to do service hours in an area related to food (which I've talked about previously). I've chosen to do the majority of my hours at one of the on campus community gardens, the ROOTS Garden. From the moment I started volunteering there, I fell in love. The entire place is full of magic and beauty, from the hidden mushroom den (pictured below) to the rows upon rows of various plants all around. Everything you see was put there for a reason and serves necessary purposes that I didn't even recognize when I first got there, such as the cardboard scattered around composting and the barrels collecting rainwater.


Recently, the Student Environmental Center has come up with a new project for the ROOTS Garden in which they would plant Black Locust trees and Chestnut trees on the property (because this area of North Carolina used to be covered in forests of them and they were as big as red wood trees) to preserve their history. This is what I have been working on for the past few weeks. So, my job has been to dig enormous holes, sift out compost (pictured below), carry it over to the planting site, plant the trees, and then dig rain catching trenches around them. Unfortunately, after we had completed the project and planted all of the trees, the Vice Chancellor (who lives on the property and needed the area) requested that we relocate them. I completely understand his need to have the land back, but it wasn't easy to dig up our lovely trees and replant them in the pouring rain.


Being in the garden has brought me an unexpected and overwhelming feeling of serenity, happiness, and purpose that I hadn't found yet in college. When I go to the garden, I know there will always be work for me to do and that my presence is helpful and appreciated, and that has meant the world to me. Just thinking about it while sitting here in my cramped, enclosed dorm room brings me a sense of peace. While I know all of this may sound incredibly cheesy, I mean everything I've said. I have never found a place quite so amazing as this. Through this entire experience, I have been able to learn so much about gardening and sustainable practices; also, since I am an environmental studies major this information will be very helpful for me and I'm glad I got to learn it hands on. I hope to continue this work throughout my college career and beyond, maybe even having my own garden just like it. Not only have I become much closer to nature through this work, I've also met a lot of people, from other volunteers to present and former garden managers for ROOTS, and all of them have been extremely nice and accepting. While I could probably go on forever about what I've done here and how it has affected me, I should probably leave it at this: I love the ROOTS Gardens and everyone I have met through it, and I deeply wish everyone could have an experience like this.



Monday, November 2, 2015

Pollan vs. Hurst

After watching the "debate" between Pollan and Hurst over farming techniques and organics, I have to admit that the passion they both show is admirable; both of these men are fully convinced that their side of the argument is correct. Their entire lives are based on convincing others that their side is right so that they can continue the same way of life. While I often agree more with the pro-organic and green side of things, Pollan and Hurst both make logical arguments. Pollan demonizes the industrial farming movement and its use of GMOs and chemicals and its over use of corn. I completely agree with him on the downsides of using GMOs and chemicals in food production, but I do not see the versatility of corn as a bad thing. GMOs have the possibilities to bring about stronger, more resilient pests and diseases and chemicals can be dangerous for both humans and the environment, but I can't see the danger in a food product such as corn being used in most products. I do see the issue of corn dominating the market, but since it can be grown by so many people and used in so many things, I don't know how it would amount to a problem. So, on this issue I must side with Hurst. I must side with him once again on the point of how irrational it would be to believe it is necessary and beneficial to forget all of the new farming technologies that have recently come about and go back to ancient farming ways to become "organic".

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

"An Open Letter From a Farmer to Angry Vegetarians"

To me, it has always been common sense that vegetarians and vegans chose their diet because of their compassion for animals and because diets like those save animal's lives. At least that's what I thought until reading Jenna Woginrich's article "An Open Letter From a Farmer to Angry Vegetarians." Woginrich brings up the point that. no matter what you eat, you are still taking lives, even if you are not eating animal products. Just because the taking of lives is much easier to see in a meat eating diet, that does not mean plant based diets are any different. She states that diets depending solely on plants take food and habitats away from the animals who need them, machines that harvest the crops kill animals living beneath them, and the many chemicals used on the crops poison and kill animals as well. As I said, I had never thought about a plant based diet being harmful to animals in anyway, but now that I have heard that side of the argument, I see the fact in it. Unfortunately, this also seems to mean there is little hope for humans to live in a way that we do not endanger our environment. I don't think I would have agreed with her point if she had not written her article in a way that applauds vegetarians and their choice of diet instead of attacking them for it the way many have done to her. If this had just been an angry response to people who insulted her, I would not have given her argument very much thought, so I'm glad she decided to write maturely.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

My Service Learning Experience

Recently, as part of the service hours required for my Lang 120 class, I participated in my school's Greenfest. Greenfest is a week of activities around campus focused on educating our community about the environment, promoting sustainability, and doing what we can for our earth. Among the activities I participated in were a couple of shifts for Service Day. In one of my shifts, I spent an hour mulching the flower beds around campus; during the other, I helped with some planting around the observatory (pictured above). So, there we were, a group of kids rounded up from around campus who were not particularly familiar with the concept of manual labor, sent out to help the garden and landscaping crews with their work. I could tell the crew wasn't exactly thrilled to have our help, but at least they were amused. What we lacked in individual skill, we made up in number. We might not have been the most efficient bunch of people around, but we were dedicated to helping and by God, we did. The men would slowly and simply explain to us what needed to be done, how and where to do it, then we would set off and mess it up a few times, forcing them to show us again how it was supposed to be done. After a few rounds of this, we finally got the hang of the task at hand and really got it done. I can also say that I honestly learned a lot that day, though I am a little ashamed that I had no gardening skills to begin with. Without having the requirement of service learning hours, I don't think I would have gone out and done this on my own, so I'm glad that the fear of a bad grade pushed me into it. It felt amazing to take the day off and work with my hands to help the environment, and to give the men of the work crew a break.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Combating Obesity

It isn't a secret that American society is plagued with saturated fat, obesity, and the other health problems associated with it. But, who is to blame for it? If you have read Dhruv Khullar's "Why Shaming Obesity Won't Stop Obesity" you know that many people believe the blame lies with the consumers themselves and their parents. While it makes sense to point the finger at someone for their own obesity and health issues, it definitely is not always their fault. Many areas have very little or no access to healthy and fresh food options, which is in no way the consumers' fault. In these areas where healthy options are few and far between, fast food corporations take over and become the main providers for those citizens. The same goes for placing the blame on parents for their children being obese. While it makes sense to say that it is all their fault since they provide for them, they have no control over what food is available in their area and at what price. Also, they can't always control what their children eat while they are away from home, or how their bodies react to the food they eat. At the end of the day, no matter who is to blame for a person's obesity, shaming them and making them feel terrible will never solve the problem, which is Khullar's main purpose in writing his article.

Even more important than the question of who is to blame for this obesity epidemic is the question of how we stop it. After reading "Downsizing Supersize" by James Surowiecki, which is about Michael Bloomberg's policy of banning large soda's, it became clear to me that Americans truly love their sodas based on the uproar following the policy. This article really made me think about how many of my decisions are controlled by the factors involved and the people trying to persuade me one way or the other, rather than myself. This could be a good and bad thing. Good, because it means that there is a way for us to control and maybe fight the growing obesity rates with methods such as Bloomberg's. Bad, because this means that advertising and corporations as a whole control our lives a lot more than we ever thought. Over all, I believe our attempts at combating obesity should begin with educating people about what they are eating and making healthy food available to everyone, then later we can enforce policies.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Are We Seeing Food the Way We Should?

In Wendell Berry's "The Pleasures of Eating," he outlines a list of ways to eat more responsibility. Essentially, that list includes producing your own food, cooking your own food, learning where your food comes from and shopping locally, buying directly from farmers, learning about industrial food production, learning the best ways to farm, and learning about the life histories of food. I agree completely with all of these points except the last one; I don't really see the importance of knowing an organism's life history. I think it is definitely necessary for more people to be aware of their food, where it comes from, and what is actually in it, so that we can create a more sustainable society. Too many people are completely clueless to where their food comes from or if they are even paying too much for it. I feel bad saying it, but I am one of those people too. When I shop at the grocery store, I buy my food and leave as fast as I can, giving no thought to what I'm getting or why. I also never attempt to grow my own food, but it is something that I have really wanted to implement in my life.

In Food Justice by Gottlieb and Joshi, the injustices of food availability is described. When you compare this with Berry's work, you see that he has definitely made the assumption that people do not face food injustice. He makes it sound as if it is the consumer's fault that there aren't fresh fruits and vegetables available to them and that it is because of their unwillingness to shop locally that our earth is being so mistreated. But, both of these writings make the argument that fresh and local food should always be available and the first choice for consumers.

Friday, September 25, 2015

What Does Food Mean to Asheville, North Carolina?

When I think of Asheville, North Carolina, I think of acceptance and community. When I think of the food I find here, I have the same feelings. Everywhere you turn, there is a cuisine from a different culture that you probably would not experience in any other town in this area. The individuals here are focused on the health and quality of not only their own lives, but for the earth's as well. Every restaurant has vegan or meat reducing options along with sustainable packaging. The entire area has an atmosphere of encouraging conscientiousness in regard to human's footprint on the earth. To better represent what food means in Asheville, I have attached a photo I took at the farm to table dinner I recently attended on UNCA's campus. All of the food served to us was grown and cooked locally, by people who cared about the people eating it and the preservation of their environment. The tables were set up on the quad, the area decorated with plants and stacks of hay, live music played on a stage in front of us, and everyone in attendance seated together getting to know each other. We were a group of people from all over Asheville, brought together by our love for our town and our earth, focused on helping the planet and each other, which is exactly how I would describe the beautiful town of Asheville, North Carolina. Although I have not lived here long, I can honestly say I feel like I'm home now.