What are the major elements of "sustainable" farming? How are ecological principles woven into this framework? Do you buy organic or "naturally" labeled foods? Why or why not? Do you feel connected or disconnected to the current food system? If there were space on campus, would you be interested in growing your own vegetables (or, if the thought of vegetables makes you wince, fruit instead)?

Sri Lanka Tea Fields

The major elements of “sustainable” farming are organic pesticides, they are local meaning they fall within 100 miles, uses natural fertilizers, are small, and are environmentally friendly.

Ecological principles are woven into this framework by way that sustainable farming uses small amounts of land and using natural substances.

I do not regularly buy organic labeled foods and to be honest always veered away from them because I didn’t know much about these types of products. Though I did once buy an organic ingredient for a recipe because that was the only one I could find. I grew up purchasing naturally labeled foods so that’s pretty much why I don’t buy organic foods. I like sticking to items that are familiar to me because I have tried knew things then ended up having an allergic reaction from it. I feel I am connected in some ways and disconnected in others to the current food system. I feel I know some about the food system but not enough to confidently say I feel I am completely connected to it. There are yet quite a bit of issues I do not know or understand. The more I learn the more I feel I can lean more towards feeling connected. For instance, I thought organic products were not good even though I knew nothing about them. I leaned that organic products are actually better for the environment because they reduce toxins that other products increase in the environment.

I like the of food forest on campus and I think it is a splendid way for students to contribute to helping the environment. Although I do not live on campus I still like the idea of being able to grow your own vegetables and fruits. I wish I lived closer to campus because I would love to help out with food forest more than just for the service hours required for this course.

In your estimation, what is the most pressing global environmental issue facing us today? Why? If a wealthy benefactor like the Rockefeller Foundation gave you $100 billion to address a global problem, how would you allocate the funds? Would you dedicate 100% to the most pressing issue, or partition the money among many different issues?

In my estimation the most pressing global environmental issue facing us today is the rapid increase in population. I think every aspect of the on-going problems in this world leads us back to population. All the water, food, environmental, disease, money etc. issues have a population explanation. The more the world is populated the demand for the essentials of life increase and health factors, especially for underdeveloped countries become scarce. To meet the demands of the people, factories must work harder and for longer periods of time, uses of transportation increases, next thing you know we are having double or more trouble with pollution. In some places maybe there is space for an extra 25,000 people, but in other countries such an increase will definitely put sanitation at risk.

We barely have enough resources to provide for those here now and have waste and sanitation issues; increasing population is just deepening us in a dark hole. If a wealthy benefactor like the Rockefeller Foundation gave me $100 billion to address a global problem I would allocate all funds to dealing with the population issue so to lessen bigger issues from worsening or developing. I would not know where to begin illustrating in great detail how this would work but I think that dealing with this issue would help us to better the other issues growing around us.