Week 6: Hungry for Change?

In class, we viewed Food Inc. a documentary focused on food ethics in the United States.

Food ethics involves ethical and moral issues within the food industry.  This documentary was pretty compelling.  It made me think of the expression that you don't want to know what goes on in a sausage factory.  The camera panned an entire grocery store focusing for a moment on different departments to include dairy, produce, and meat.  Graphics popped up with interesting factoids and in depth examination of different food items.   Some of it appeared beneficial; Tomatoes are offered year round and have no seasons anymore, meat is mostly boneless, food and produce is rarely grown on individual farms anymore, but rather in massive factories.  It is quite an achievement that food can be produced on a mass scale with relatively few workers.  The economies of scale achieved is mind boggling. Slaughterhouses that used to number in the thousands has been reduced to just thirteen and production is higher.  Some fruits and vegetables are genetically modified so that they grow bigger, are resistant to pests, and shorter ripening times for quicker turnover.   

However, like most "Frankensteinian" experiments there is a dark side.  Chickens and livestock live their entire lives in small booths where they are pumped up with antibiotics and hormones to hasten their maturation period.  I was surprised to learn of quick chicks and triple breasted poultry to yield greater white meat.   

One aspect of the film that really resonated with me was the tragic death of a little boy after eating an e coli tainted hamburger.  A family vacation turned nightmare.  Kevin's passing inspired his mom and grandmother to appeal to the US Congress to regulate genetically modified beef.   

Advances is food development and preparation is an important field to meet the challenge of feeding a growing world population.   However, it is important that food ethics are adhered to and both government and industry cooperate and collaborate to develop foods that are nutritious and safe to consume for all not just the affluent that can afford to buy the best.

Week 5: Mangrove Mania

 Our class had the privilege of taking a field trip to Estero Bay where we visited a Fort Myers Beach Historic Cottage.  We walked and took a tour of the mangrove preserve boardwalk.  The mangroves' tangled branches extended towards each other forming a foreboding tunnel-like passage way to the ocean.  I took several photographs that really captured the beauty and mystery of these ubiquitous trees. The brown colored brackish water gave rise to my imagination that an alligator was going to spring up from the depths at any moment. We were invited to take a tour of a nearby cottage.  I was relieved take a respite from the heat and humidity.  We greeted by eighty-two year old, Jo Hughes, who brightened our day with cookies and home made sea grape jelly.  Ms. Hughes held our rapt attention with stories about Fort Myers over the decades. perspective, stories, and insight to what her life was like growing up and living on Fort Myers Beach.

As we strolled along the boardwalk through the Professor Wilkinson regaled us on the mangroves important roles in the environment.   Since we live in a hurricane active area is was comforting visualizing the mangroves standing guard at the waters edge to buffer this historic cottage from storm waves.  With the mangroves close proximity and twisting branches, it is easy to understand how it would serve many animals with shelter and breeding grounds. 

It was interesting to hear Ms Hughes  description of the ocean as an everlasting large swimming pool that was frequented by her and her friends during their youth.  However, it was a bit disheartening to learn that back then "the water was so clear that you could see all the way to the bottom."  Unfortunately, the water's visibility today was poor presumably because of pollution over the years.  Overall, I feel a bit inspired that our waters can be restored if we all come together and collaborate on solutions to our environmental challenges.

Going back to a simpler cleaner time sounds enticing but I couldn't imagine living without air conditioning!