POS 388 - Module 1 Discussion

Prompt: 

Religion is something that shapes foreign policy. Religion is also a topic for foreign policy experts. Which of these two connections is more interesting to you, and why? If possible, please point to concrete examples or real-world issues in your response.

Reply: 

The Jewish Abortion

I personally am more interested in how religion shapes foreign policy than I am interested in how it is a topic for foreign policy experts, because to me, foreign policy is more prevalent to my daily life. Policy experts may discuss the issues at play, but the actual policy is what shapes my everyday life. One of the main issues that currently affects my everyday life is the United States’ war on women. The United Nations developed a list of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and Goal 5 was Gender Equality but all over the world we see that Women’s Rights are not being met. Indeed, in our own country, we are facing a religious attack on women’s bodies with the new “Fetal Heartbeat” bill in Texas. As a Jew, this affects me personally, because my religion allows for abortion up to 18 weeks without any needed reason, and even further if the mother’s health is in danger, because Judaism believes that the baby is not a life until it takes its first breath outside of the womb. Safe access to abortion is, as such, a religious freedom that should be guaranteed by our United States Constitution. However, the U.S. Supreme Court, stacked by Donald Trump and the Republican Senate he enjoyed during his tenure, is looking the other way due to favoritism by their heavily Christian base, a religiously based policy that is infringing on my religiously protected freedoms. And we’re not alone in this policy. All over the world, women are being denied access to safe medical care because of religious belief systems that they should not be able to seek out basic care like annual pap smears, birth control, or even get treatment for STIs because the local religious communities view women as less-than. So, I, personally, would like to spend a lot less time talking about how religions affect foreign policy and more time doing something about it. And I think that the time for religion interfering with women’s bodies has come due.

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Grade: 50/50

Professor Comments: None

Regarding SOS 300

NOTE: 

The professor of my SOS 300 class has requested that I do not post my papers online for this term. Hence, the previous post is the last paper you will see for this class. 

Sorry readers!! 

SOS 300 - Module 2 - “Place-Based” and “Problem-Driven” Worksheet

 

Module 2

“Place-Based” and “Problem-Driven” Worksheet

 

Name: 

Instructions

Save this worksheet with the title of SOS300 Module2 your last name, first initial as a Word document. Please fill-in the following table and submit through Canvas (NOT as an email). 

Expectations:

Justify and substantiate your opinions, claims, and perspectives with examples from the module materials and from your experience, as appropriate. Show evidence that you are able to draw from and synthesize the materials covered in class, and that you were able to bring your own personal insights to these materials.  Use at least 5 reference sources (you may include course readings and/or videos) for support. Please edit and proofread before submitting. 

Directions:

Fill in the table below:

Question 1: Location	(2pts) Choose one location or where grew up for most of your childhood OR where you currently reside:   ·        Tacoma, Washington, USA
Question 2: Identify a sustainability challenge for this place	(3pts) Briefly, cite any sources used:   Tacoma, a working-class city an hour south of Seattle, hometown of Ted Bundy, Sir Mix-A-Lot, and myself, is also home to a wide variety of industrial manufacturing plants that line the waterway of Commencement Bay, near the railways downtown, providing jobs for thousands of residents, and a distinct smell of rotten eggs that intensifies in the area surrounding the waterfront when the tide is low. Known as “The Aroma of Tacoma,” the unique smell is so well known that it has its own Wikipedia page (Aroma of Tacoma) and was the inspiration for a song (Torrence & Lemon, 1967)! The manufacturing plants that have turned Tacoma into the third largest city in Washington State have also heavily contaminated the waterway on which they sit, pouring hazardous chemicals into the bay, blowing toxic smoke into the air, and contaminating the soil surrounding the city with emissions of lead, arsenic, and other toxic chemicals that made Tacoma “ranked (as) one of the 10 worst toxic waste sites in the U.S. (Conradt, 2016).” Though Seattle is well-known for its commitment to sustainability, Tacoma was the wasteland left behind as her sister city committed to a green economy.
Question 3: Discuss how this challenge (or issue) is both "place-based" and "problem-driven”	(10pts) How is it place-based?   “The Aroma of Tacoma” is the product of the heavy industrial sites that line the waterway and is the result of “the industrial vapors (from the (…) various pulp mills, rendering plants, chemical factories, petroleum processors, and aluminum smelters), where they concentrate in the air above thanks to the geographical layout of the region (What Is the Tacoma Aroma? , 2019).” Due to its location on the Puget Sound, halfway between the State Capitol (Olympia) and the largest city (Seattle), and its reputation “as a depressed industrial city (What Is the Tacoma Aroma? , 2019),” Tacoma has become home to major processing plants and trade that wouldn’t otherwise be possible outside of the bay.   (10pts) How is it problem-driven?   Tacoma would not thrive as a city without the industrial plants that line the waterfront, stimulating the local economy. In an article for the New York Times, Pierce County Executive, Joe Stortini stated, that the odor from these plants is “an obstacle to economic growth,” noting that, “In order to attract new, nonpolluting companies to the area, the smell must go (Egan, 1988).” Due in large part to the rising cost of living in Seattle, Tacoma is experiencing an influx of new residents that are looking for a cheaper place to live, but they are slowly discovering that this once thriving port town has created a nearly 100-year legacy of pollution, despite efforts from the EPA to clean up the tide flats. “The stench of the pulp mills might be long gone, but the name and associations of Tacoma as a toxic industrial wasteland will linger forever (Morford, 2017).”
Question 4: Discuss the interconnections between your sustainability challenge, poverty and the environment	In two paragraphs (one for each), cite any sources used   ·        (10pts) Interconnections with poverty?   Tacoma is a mostly lower- to working-class city. Despite being the third largest city in the state and a mere hour away from a massive tech industry in Seattle, it is no stranger to poverty. Sir Mix-A-Lot, a product of the Tacoma urban ghettos, frequently discussed the impoverished and gang riddled areas of my hometown in his music. Having grown up in one of the city’s public housing neighborhoods, I have an intimate knowledge of the relationship between the local industrial plants and their effect on the economy. The plants provide jobs to people with criminal backgrounds who otherwise would not be able to work. The local economy always takes a huge hit when one of the plants closes its doors and demolishes its smoke stacks. According to Department of Housing and Urban Development data, “from 2010 to 2016, (…) the city added 7,200 people, and more than 75 percent (5,500 people) were in poverty (Miller K. , 2018).” Most of the population of Tacoma is considered “working poor” by the HUD, meaning that at least one member of the household works at least part-time.  In that same article, Miller discusses that “Tacoma appeals to the working poor (even if they work elsewhere) because of services such as free health care, subsidized housing, parks and youth programs (2018).” The fact that the area surrounding the industrial plants is largely subsidized and lower-income housing is not an accident. It happens all around the country. As described in a 2016 Fortune article, this phenomenon is called “environmental racism (Sherman, 2016).” One would think that waterfront property would be exclusively for the rich, but in Tacoma, the residential areas surrounding Commencement Bay are largely populated with people who are one missed paycheck away from being homeless. This is likely the reason that the pollution problem went largely ignored for as long as it did – it only affected poor people and minorities.   ·        (10pts) Interconnections with the environment?   The plants that have contributed to “The Aroma of Tacoma” have also left a lasting impact on the environment. Industrial plants “scattered enough (lead and arsenic) in the soil and dust of the region that state officials still consider it a public-health threat (Nunnally, 2015).” While the levels of lead and arsenic in the soil will not immediately cause health problems, the levels are high enough that Tacoma has undertaken efforts, with the EPA, to replace the soil in certain parts of the city. Amy Hargrove, the state Department of Ecology’s soil program manager for the smelter cleanup said, “This is out, still, in the soil, and it’s going to be out still in the soil 20 years from now or 30 years from now (2015).” In addition to the toxic chemicals blown all over the area, there has been significant damage to the waterway by industrial runoff and emissions. Commencement Bay, “once a rich tidal shore at the mouth of the glacier-chilled Puyallup River with lovely views up to 14,410-foot Mount Rainier (…) is a toxic nightmare, full of deformed fish and sediment thick with chemicals that have been dumped in the water for more than a hundred years (Egan, 1988).” Sporacle concluded, “the Tacoma Aroma is caused by some 100 years of industrial development around the tide flats of Commencement Bay (What Is the Tacoma Aroma? , 2019)” The distinct odor of the city, and the butt of many jokes, is not just unpleasant; It is the direct result of major environmental pollution in Tacoma.
Question 5: Discuss a sustainable development solution to this problem	(10pts) Describe a proposed or current solution in progress, cite any sources used:   There are many efforts going on in the city to reduce the pollution. In addition to collaborating with the EPA to replace the soil of homes near the bay that were considered dangerous enough to warrant soil replacement, there have been massive undertakings to clean up the area. As reported in Mental Floss: “In the 1980’s, the cleanup of Commencement Bay was placed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities list. The EPA spent 25 years working with businesses and the community on various initiatives that would help restore the bay—and their efforts were largely successful. In the 1990s, the Simpson Tacoma Kraft pulp and paper mill, one of the biggest air pollution offenders, (upgraded) their mill, which was responsible for a massive output of stinky sulfur (Conradt, 2016).”   In 1983, the EPA designated the Tacoma waterfront a “Superfund Site.” Collaborating with Washington Department of Ecology, and the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, the EPA is:   “demolishing remaining buildings and structures; excavating soil and slag from the five most contaminated source areas on the site; disposing of excavated soils, slag and demolition debris in an on-site containment facility (OCF) (…) capping contaminated sediment; armoring the shoreline of the plant site and slag peninsula against erosion; monitoring impacts of Project Area cleanup on groundwater and off-shore marine sediments; integrating cleanup with future land use plans; and dredging and capping contaminated sediments in the yacht basin (United States Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.).”   In addition to the efforts of the city, the state, and the EPA, owners of these industrial plants, like the Simpson Tacoma Kraft pulp and paper mill, are moving towards more environmentally friendly manufacturing and refining processes, which have not only helped the smell, but are helping to prevent further ecological damage. Though the vision of a “Green Tacoma” is still a long way off, businesses and residents collaborating with the governmental bodies presiding over the cleanup and revitalization efforts on the waterfront have accelerated efforts towards the common goal of a healthier and more vibrant city.
Question 6: Discuss barriers to implementation, the role of policy and government, and the role of civil society in your above proposed solutions	In four paragraphs (one for each question). Cite any sources used.   ·        (10pts) Barriers to implementation?   The first barrier is always cost. As referred to above, the Simpson Tacoma Kraft pulp and paper mill “has spent $250 million to upgrade its environmental performance and keep it competitive in a time when many other mills have folded (SIMPSON MILL: Aroma of Tacoma is almost history, 1999).”  Given that the state of the environment, most notably the smell, is already a detriment to attracting new businesses, the fact that these businesses would have to spend more money to make their operation compliant with current EPA standards is almost cost-prohibitive to the owners of businesses that would like to set up shop on the tide flats.   Another barrier is public awareness. With the new influx of residents looking for an affordable place to live, many are simply unaware of the damage done to the environment. In the Derrick Nunnally article (2015), the subjects of the article were only made aware of the environmental hazards by a neighbor. There has been an attempt to raise awareness of the environmental concerns in Tacoma by Pierce County and Washington State, but the efforts are easily missed. As the population booms due to a lower cost of living and a convenient commute to Seattle, it is becoming harder and harder for government agencies to stay on top of who does and does not know about the pollution. There is a strong need for the City of Tacoma to inform and involve the community in their efforts to clean up the waterfront more actively. Not enough people moving into the area are made aware of the potential health hazards of the pollution or how they can remediate the damage to their property. For that matter, not enough current residents know the extent of the pollution. Though we all know about the smell, and we know that the mills along the bay are the cause, we are not actively made aware of arsenic, lead, or other toxic chemicals in our soil. For the City of Tacoma to attract new businesses, retain current residents, and appeal to new ones who are being priced out of Seattle, there is a need to think outside the box when attempting to involve the community in cleanup efforts. The lower- and working-class residents (especially minority residents) may not be able to access a computer or the internet at home, proving that the city needs to start thinking about alternative ways to involve them in the bigger picture of a happy, healthy, green Tacoma.   ·        (10pts) Role of policy?   The city has long buried their head in the sand about the environmental devastation caused by their industrial powerhouses. Former Mayor Doug Sutherland stated, “It's not a stink or a stench. It's an unpleasant odor! Most of the stench originates from certain out-of-town writers (1988).”  It took the EPA getting involved for real change to happen. Since the EPA designated the waterfront a “Superfund” site in 1983, the city has undertaken massive efforts to clean up the mess from industrial plants, mostly because Tacoma finally realized that the legacy was one where the odor of the polluted waterfront was discouraging potential new business from settling in the area, businesses that could provide a lot of jobs to the local citizens and fresh income to the economy. Since the EPA got involved, the City of Tacoma has passed numerous resolutions attempting to reverse the damage done and prevent pollution on this scale from happening again. In October 2008, the Tacoma City Council created The Sustainable Tacoma Commission, a division of the Office of Sustainability, to enact the Environmental Action Plan (Resolution 39427) which aims to create five- and ten-year sustainability goals. This Action Plan provides direction for the city to sustainably manage future development, rehabilitate and renovate older structures to become more sustainable, and involve the community to make Tacoma a green city by 2050 (City of Tacoma Sustainability-Related Resolutions, n.d.). This kind of anticipatory thinking, however, requires collaboration with the community and businesses to be successful, since none of the resolutions are actual laws on the books. Involving the community in novel ways would go a long way towards ensuring a future for the Tacoma waterfront, and the city as a whole.   ·        (10pts) Role of government?   Everything I’ve read up to this point, and my own personal experiences growing up near the Tacoma waterfront, seems to point to the idea that the federal government had to get involved for Tacoma to make changes with regards to the devastation that created the unique smell in the air. Designating the waterfront as a “Superfund” site according to The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) provided much needed financial support and resources necessary to begin cleaning up the toxic waste causing the unique odor, raise awareness of the massive extent of environmental damage done by these industrial businesses, fund projects aimed at cleaning up the residential areas around the waterfront, and clear the red tape involved with completely overhauling the policies that once enabled such a beautiful area to become so polluted. Sadly, it took the federal government getting involved before the city even made the attempt to repair the damage done.       ·        (10pts) Role of civil society?   One of the biggest challenges to cleaning up the waterway has been public awareness. The State of Washington Department of Ecology, working with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, Public Health of Seattle & King County, and Thurston County, began a massive awareness campaign intended to alert residents to the potential health hazards caused by the pollution in and around Commencement Bay as well as potential solutions that incorporate the needs of the residents with the desired outcomes for the environment. They offer free soil testing and cleanup to residents whose property contains unhealthy levels of arsenic, lead, and other toxins (Dirt Alert! - Tacoma Smelter Plume in Pierce, King, and Thurston Counties, n.d.). The City of Tacoma has adopted several resolutions aimed at creating awareness of sustainability issues in the community and providing resources to residents who would like to help the city achieve its goal of full sustainability by 2050. In my experience, the people most affected by these resolutions – the impoverished and underemployed – do not pay much attention to matters of the city council so the city council needs to meet them where they are, engage in a dialogue about community involvement, distribute information on resources provided by the city, and work with the current residents in the impacted communities to find new ways of getting the public involved with a matter as large as the pollution problem. Meeting these often overlooked people in the middle and taking their concerns into consideration would only serve to accelerate the vision of a sustainable Tacoma into a reality.  While a poor person may not have time for city council meetings and may be largely unaware of city council resolutions aimed at improving the quality of life in Tacoma, there are many other ways in which the public at large can help the government clean up the city. The city just needs to attack the problem of “The Aroma of Tacoma” from all sides, focusing on a holistic approach that involves all residents, their abilities to contribute, and appealing to their sense of community, rather than posing hypotheticals on paper aimed at attracting wealthy white people and their fat pocketbooks, while ignoring that a large chunk of their population is being poisoned for being unable to afford a less-polluted area of town.
Bibliography: Provide five sources used (i.e. cited in your responses) Follow APA format	(5pts) Bibliography Aroma of Tacoma. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aroma_of_Tacoma City of Tacoma Sustainability-Related Resolutions. (n.d.). Retrieved from City of Tacoma: https://www.cityoftacoma.org/government/city_departments/environmentalservices/office_of_environmental_policy_and_sustainability/policies Conradt, S. (2016, March 09). The Aroma of Tacoma: Why One Washington City Is Known For Its Stench. Retrieved from Mental Floss: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/76682/aroma-tacoma-why-one-washington-city-known-its-stench Dirt Alert! - Tacoma Smelter Plume in Pierce, King, and Thurston Counties. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://dirtalert.info/ Egan, T. (1988, April 06). Tacoma Journal; On Good Days, the Smell Can Hardly Be Noticed. Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/06/us/tacoma-journal-on-good-days-the-smell-can-hardly-be-noticed.html?auth=login-email&login=email Miller, K. (2018, April 14). Tacoma gets poorer as others prosper. Retrieved from The News Tribune: https://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/article208656359.html Morford, M. (2017, July 19). Don't Tick-off T-Town. Retrieved from Tacoma Daily Index: https://www.tacomadailyindex.com/blog/dont-tick-off-t-town/2441123/ Nunnally, D. (2015, November 07). Three decades after the Asarco smelter shutdown, its toxic legacy surprises Tacoma newcomers. Retrieved from The News Tribune: https://www.thenewstribune.com/article43503663.html Sherman, E. (2016, February 04). If You’re a Minority and Poor, You’re More Likely to Live Near a Toxic Waste Site. Retrieved from Fortune: https://fortune.com/2016/02/04/environmental-race-poverty-flint/ SIMPSON MILL: Aroma of Tacoma is almost history. (1999, January 14). Retrieved from Kitsap Sun: https://products.kitsapsun.com/archive/1999/01-14/0043_simpson_mill__aroma_of_tacoma_is_.html Torrence, J., & Lemon, D. (1967). The Aroma of Tacoma. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw_3aC-avjc United States Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Superfund Site: Commencement Bay, Near Shore/Tide Flats Tacoma, WA. Retrieved from Environmental Protection Agency: https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=1000981 What Is the Tacoma Aroma? . (2019, October 20). Retrieved from Sporcle Blog: https://www.sporcle.com/blog/2019/10/what-is-the-tacoma-aroma/

 

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Grade: 100/100

Professor Comments: "Sir Mix-A-Lot, Ted Bundy, and yourself" ???? Very thorough worksheet, and I appreciate the additional citations. 

SOS 117 - Bits and Bobs - Selected Comments from the Module Short Answers

 Module 5 - Short Answer

Question 1: 

Give and describe at least one example for each of the following:

1. Food being used for bonding between individuals.

2. Food being used to distinguish social groups or identities.

3. Food being used to strengthen group affiliation.

4. Food being used as a status symbol(s).

5. Food being used for politics.

6. Food being used to achieve specific social objectives.

Your Answer:
1. A great example of food being used for bonding between individuals is when a grandparent uses a holiday meal to coerce her family into coming to visit. As Thanksgiving looms, my mother-in-law has already invited us over for a holiday meal as we have not seen them in person since before the Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent quarantine began. Though she works in a highly infectious job, with an elderly spouse, and we are not wanting to catch Covid from her, we have already politely declined the meal, citing a variety of reasons other than the fact that she works in an environment where positive Covid tests happen on a regular basis. I know she just misses us and wants to see us for the holiday. But we've been holed up in the apartment (except for essential trips) since March because neither of us want to take the chance that we happen to be in the 1-3% who die from Covid, or the 20% who have severe, lifelong effects when we have already lost friends to the illness.

2. In the video, I was actually interested most by the pizza rivalry between Chicago and New York City. Having only ever been to NYC, but having a deep dislike of the "Chicago-Style Deep Dish" pizzas that I have tried at seemingly authentic restaurants, I kind of like watching my New York friends argue with my Chicago friends about who has the superior pizza. It's almost a badge of pride for them.

3. As a Jew, I love how the laws of kashrut separate Jews from non-Jews, and how unique the cuisine of the Ashkenazi Jews is compared with the traditional American diet. We feast on days that are not on a typical American calendar, using food as the primary reason to get together. We eat things like gefelte fish, smoked salmon (lox) on bagels, and my husband has now introduced a variety of Ashkenazi dishes to my (convert) palate, just as I have introduced him to my traditional soul food meals, reinvented to meet the standards of kashrut. We also enjoy Halal food, as we have determined that Halal meets the same standards of kosher.

4. In one of the videos this week, a NY based caterer attended and fully catered a very lavish wedding. To me, local should mean cheaper, but this meal looked very fancy. When my husband and I met, as a show of wealth, his mother took us to this upscale restaurant that served rabbit stew with quail eggs. I tried to pick the "safest" option on the menu and still ended up with this gaudy mess of a meal that I just couldn't adapt to. I much prefer the poor shtetl food of my husband's grandparents than those "display of wealth" meals that his mother is so heavily fond of.

5. In my family, we use food to smooth over differences, unite the family, and welcome newcomers. It doesn't matter why you're fighting, you come to Sunday dinner. We'll settle this over roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and cherry pie, with the whole family gathered around her huge dining room table. Hurt feelings are quickly whisked away in the brown gravy. Unkind words are remedied with a good piece of chicken thigh. We're still a family and family sticks together.

6. One of the social objectives mentioned in the film was that food can be used to encourage solidarity. When I first took my husband to meet my family, my grandmother made him a large serving of her favorite meal: liver and onions. Frankly, my sister and I ended up making "curry chicken" (another poor man's adaptation of an international recipe that was picked up abroad), because neither of us gets that "down home comfort" from liver and onions. But that was literally the only meal that she knew how to make that would be loved by a Russian, as much as she (an Irish Catholic) loves. She wanted to welcome him into the family, so she served him a meal that would make him feel more at home than if she'd served the traditional Irish feasts that I have grown up with.

Module 5 Lecture: Food & Culture: Non-Nutritional Goals Through Food (n.d.). [Motion Picture].

Professor Comments: I enjoyed reading each and every one of these, Kathleen! I appreciated the thoughtfulness and details, and all the connections from class to "real life."

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Module 6 Short Answer

Question 2: 

Excluding taste and cost, discuss at least three influences on food choice(s).

Your Answer:
There were only 5 mentioned in the reading: taste, cost, convenience, advertising, and the eating habits of friends and family.

The first one the pops out to me is convenience. It's much easier to pop over to Kroger at 7pm for a head of lettuce and a few tomatoes than it is to chase down the local farmer's market at 7am on a weekday. We would prefer to just pick up an apple off a shelf than to pick one from a tree during "business hours."

Advertising is another big player. When I went to high school, we had several vending machines with brand names on them, brands we recognized from watching television, that showed us it was cool to drink coke, or eat Cheerios. I'm reminded of the commercial for Life Cereal where "I'm not gonna eat it. Well I'm not gonna eat it. Let's make Mikey eat it. Mikey will eat ANYTHING." And then Mikey does, and it's delicious, and now we should all run out and buy Life cereal. I will admit that, as a kid, that ad did me in and I ended up with a box of Life cereal, which I hated. Probably because I'm not Mikey.

Finally, the eating habits of friends and family. As the book mentions, if there's soda around and kids watch their parents drinking soda, they're more likely to drink it too. If they see their family eat apples, they're more likely to eat apples. And in the video on obesity, we see a pair of identical twins, separated at birth, where one grew up eating high fat foods in her Catholic family while the other was basically a vegetarian in her Jewish family.

Chase, L., & Grubinger, V. (2014). Food, Farms, and Community: Exploring Food Systems. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England.

Diet and Influences on Food Choice. (n.d.). In Teaching the Food System. The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.

Diet: A Look at Processed Food, Nutrition, and Obesity in the 20th Century (2011). [Motion Picture]. Infobase. Retrieved from https://digital-films-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=43516

Professor Comments: "Probably because I'm not Mikey." I laughed. :)

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Question 4: 

In the context of federal school meal programs, what are "competitive foods" and why are the controversial?

Your Answer:
Competitive foods are the foods sold in vending machines and snack bars at schools that have almost no nutritional value. When my husband began teaching, not only were there 6 vending machines in the school cafeteria (which didn't even serve very nutritious food to begin with), but there was an store-like office where students could go purchase chips and candy. When I was in high school, we had Fruitopia machines, and two candy/cookie/chip vending machines.

They're controversial because they promote obesity in kids, by offering snacks with zero nutritional value, at rock bottom prices, to entice more kids to buy more candy instead of eating the carrot sticks offered at the lunch counter.

I'm happy to report that his current school doesn't have a vending machine, but they do have a little store filled with fresh fruits and veggies for kids to snack on as they like. All for free.

Food Environments (Background Reading). (n.d.). In Teaching the Food System. The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.

Professor Comments: Wow! Where is this utopian-like school? :)

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Question 8:
1. What are the two goals (or levels) that "Farm-to-School" programs aim to achieve?

2. Give three examples of "Farm-to-School" efforts.

3. Discuss two challenges obstructing "Farm-to-School" programs.

Your Answer:
1. The farm to school program aims to increase the use of healthy, locally sourced food in cafeterias, and to educate kids about where their food comes from.

2. According to our textbook, Vermont lives on Mars or something compared to the rest of the United States, as they are the pioneers of the Vermont FEED (Food Education Every Day) program, and lead the way in collaborative projects that incorporate local farming into schools, not just through farming tours, but by establishing their own gardens, teaching children about plant growing, and helping them enjoy the fruits of their labors.

Vermont also has GMFTS (Green Mountain Farm-to-School) which has grown from a small operation to now serving over 24 school communities in the state.

And the third example of why Vermont lives in 2320 is the Burlington School Food Program, which proved that kids will eat just about anything you throw at them, including full grown carrots, rather than just baby carrots.

3. The main challenges as I see it is that there's so little to gain by the farmers. Yes, they get to help the community, educate some kids, maybe help them make better eating habits (and the textbook describes how some of them do post-program) and maybe that's enough. But they lose money on the venture. They also have to deal with Big Mac eating parents who wouldn't know what to do with a full grown carrot, and they have to teach these kids from scratch as we're so far removed from the farming process that my little niece once told me that milk doesn't even come from a cow; it come's from the store.

Chase, L., & Grubinger, V. (2014). Food, Farms, and Community: Exploring Food Systems. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England.

Professor Comments: "Vermont lives on Mars" and in the year "2320." Kathleen, I audibly laughed out loud. :) For Part 3, also difficult to measure the "impact" of all this education/effort, etc.

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Question 10:
1. Describe three kinds of agritourism activities.

2. About how much annual income is agritourism estimated to generate for U.S. farms?

Your Answer:
1. In the wonderland that is Vermont, there's skiing, maple syrup sugaring (?), and plenty of corn mazes, hay rides, pumpkin patches, and and even u-picking can be an agritourism activity.

2. The book says (on page 171), "According to the U.S. Census of Agriculture, 23,250 farms provide agritourism and recreation services valued at $566 million." Later on down the page, "Research using a broader definition of agritourism estimates that $800 million to $3 billion a year is generated for U.S. Farm income from agritourism activities." Schnepf Farms alone pulls in just over $900k last year because of its agritourism. And let's not forget Napa Valley and its $11 billion contribution to the California State Economy (p. 174)

Chase, L., & Grubinger, V. (2014). Food, Farms, and Community: Exploring Food Systems. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England.

Professor Comments: Again, "In the wonderland that is Vermont" :) Agritourism is big business, isn't it? (Or can be.)

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Module 7 Short Answer 

Question 10: 

Describe three "innovations" or future scenarios as presented in "Tomorrow's Food." What did you think of each of these in the context of food system sustainability?

Your Answer: 

The first one I enjoyed learning about was the miracle berry. I think that with Climate Change now changing the growing cycles of food, and potentially making sweet foods (like strawberries) taste a little bitter when picked because of the growing cycle changes, these miracle berries are going to go a long way towards decreasing our reliance on cane sugar, potentially ending the obesity crisis we studied a few modules ago, and allowing us to enjoy tarter varieties of fruits that we already know and love.

I loved learning about all the edible fungi as meat replacements. Despite my desire to rid the planet of the social ills of the meat industry, I still happily chow down on meat products on a regular basis. For me, what I loved is that these fungi could be grown in a tenth of the space needed for a cow, and supposedly they taste very similar. That's the problem I have with a lot of meat substitutes: they just don't have the flavor profile or texture of the actual meat. But this one looked very promising.

Finally, my least favorite: crickets. I actually have a very intense phobia of crickets so I would never just pop one into my mouth, no matter how desperate I was for food. But seeing them whipped up in flour, as flakes... I could almost see a cricket meat replacement on the horizon. And while I absolutely hate crickets, I would love to see more of them used in food, especially given how nutrient dense they are. Maybe one day we will have a cricket and horse burger with a side of Cod Tail.


Tomorrow's Food: Episode 1 (2015). [Motion Picture]. BBC Worldwide Learning. Retrieved from https://fod-infobase-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=124998&tScript=0

Tomorrow's Food: Episode 2 (2015). [Motion Picture]. BBC Worldwide Learning. Retrieved from https://fod-infobase-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=124999&tScript=0

Tomorrow's Food: Episode 3 (2015). [Motion Picture]. BBC Worldwide Learning. Retrieved from https://fod-infobase-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=125000&tScript=0

Professor Comments: "Maybe one day we will have a cricket and horse burger with a side of Cod Tail." You never know :)

SOS 117 - Stakeholder Presentation - Meet Elizabeth "Liz" Spiva!

If you would like to know more about Liz or Fox Run... 

Instagram: @LadyNerdLiz 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foxrunfarmstead/ 

The Lonestead Podcast: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/966-the-lonestead-podcast-70909868/ 

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FoxRunFarmstead?ref=shop_sugg

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Grade: 100/100

Professor Comments: As ever, a couple comments on the rubric. This presentation was nicely representative of both your Interview and many of our course themes/concepts. Well done, Kathleen. 

Rubric: 

Slide Count: 5/5 - (no comments)

Time: 5/5 - (no comments)

Presentation and Narration: 25/25 - (no comments)

Graphics & Visuals: 20/20 - Lovely photos! Also quite kind of you to include links so interested folks can find and support her. We need more of these kind of gestures. 

Content: 25/25 - (no comments)

Sources: 10/10 - Very nice! This was one of the best aspects of your presentation, Kathleen. 

APA Citations: 10/10 - (no comments)

SOS 117 - Final Short Answer

How Big Ag is going to kill us before it feeds us.

Industrial Agriculture is big business in the United States. However, the methods used to produce the food consumed by over 321 million people is going to kill our land before it can even hope to feed our exploding population. Advances in farming technology have not made us immune to the disaster waiting to strike if we do not take better care of our soil and encourage more sustainable farming practices within the Big Ag Industrial Complex. It is estimated, by Stanford University, that we are losing about one-inch of top soil every year, mostly due to agricultural farming practices (Verso, 2015). If we are to have any hope of continuing to feed our growing population, we need to start by taking better care of our soil. “Soil is the foundation (of) farm ecosystems; we depend on it for most of our food supply (Agriculture and Ecosystems: Background Reading).” With Climate Change becoming a more urgent problem every year, it is critical that we confront Big Ag on their soil practices, or we risk losing everything.

While the purpose and goals of Big Ag are to provide as much food as possible in as small an area as possible, they do this by damaging the very soil that they are trying to use for crop growth. “The industrial ethic views agriculture as just another part of industrial society, in which commodities are produced at the lowest cost possible (Chase & Grubinger, 2014, p. 59).” Yet, the methods used to produce food commodities are costing us the health of our soil. Norman Borloug’s Green Revolution attempted to create a better way for us to maximize yields in smaller spaces by creating crops that could withstand drought, and grow anywhere, and be immune from disease and pests (The Man Who Tried to Feed the World). “The Green Revolution basically implies that food production is everything. It is the most important thing. And of course, it is extremely important. (…) But as we know now, agriculture is not just about supplying food (Agriculture and Ecosystem Services).” Big Ag must respect the land on which they grow to continue to provide food that feeds all of us.

The Dust Bowl did not happen in a vacuum. Farmers in the Great Plains used modern technology to over-till the soil, churning up over 850 million tons of top soil that simply blew away during the Great Depression due to poor soil management (History Brief: the Dust Bowl). “Soil health is incredibly important in order just to sustain our ability to feed, not only ourselves, but to feed the world (Living Soil Film).” It is absolutely critical that in the 21st century, we start looking closer at our farming practices and create incentives for Big Ag to adopt better soil health practices, or we are dooming ourselves to the possibility that the soil won’t be able to handle humanity’s intense food needs. If we fail, we are going to experience widespread famine as a direct result of not maintaining the soil.

One way we can improve soil health is by using organic matter to enhance the soil, rather than rely on heavy chemicals. “In many areas where The Green Revolution has been successful, the land is losing its value. It’s losing its quality and we have to regenerate the land (Agriculture and Ecosystem Services).” Restoring the land means that we need to restore the natural balance to the land, not by using heavy chemicals, but rather using organic matter and biomes. “If the soil life is health and the bacteria and the fungi can all work, they actually release all the nutrients that are naturally locked up in the soil and make them available as plant food for the next crop (Industrial and Sustainable Farming).”

Monocropping and overtilling are other ways in which soil health is lost. Crop rotation is an easy and simple way to further this goal. Instead of using acres of land to grow a single crop, Big Ag can diversify and start alternating between crops, allowing the soil to regenerate and renew after each growing season. As Darryl Soljan explained, “The Earth was really never designed to be a monoculture, to have just one species or a limited number of species in one place (Industrial and Sustainable Farming).”

It is absolutely imperative that we start convincing Big Ag to take their soil health more seriously or we are going to be faced with another famine equal to or greater than that of the Dust Bowl. If we plan to feed over 9 billion people by 2050, we need to start by taking a closer look at our soil health and nurturing it back to optimum health, both for ourselves, and for the world.




References

• Agriculture and Ecosystem Services (n.d.). [Motion Picture].
• Agriculture and Ecosystems: Background Reading. (n.d.). In Teaching the Food System. The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.
• Chase, L., & Grubinger, V. (2014). Food, Farms, and Community: Exploring Food Systems. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England.
• History Brief: the Dust Bowl (n.d.). [Motion Picture].
• Industrial and Sustainable Farming (n.d.). [Motion Picture].
• Living Soil Film (n.d.). [Motion Picture].
• The Man Who Tried to Feed the World (n.d.). [Motion Picture].
• Verso, E. (2015, December 09). Topsoil Erosion. Retrieved from Stanford University: http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph240/verso2/#:~:text=%22The%20estimate%20is%20that%20we,30%20to%2040%20times%20faster.

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Grade: 96/100

Professor Comments: A nice way to wrap up the course! Very best of luck with whatever comes next for you, and wishing you a wonderful holiday season! 

SOS 117 - Stakeholder Interview

My Stakeholder interviewee is Elizabeth “Liz” Spiva, owner and sole operator of Fox Run Farmstead, a 10-acre farm in East Texas where she raises cows, goats, chickens, ducks, guinea fowl, and geese. She uses the native vegetation around her land for various reasons including food for herself and her animals, and for her non-food products (like soap and other beauty products). She has developed a sustainable, (non-certified) organic, and ecologically diverse operation with the ultimate goal of becoming completely self-sufficient. She is also a certified nurse who works in a clinic part-time, assists her father on his cattle ranch, and is a full-time double major in Agricultural Sciences and Ranch Management at her local community college.

I selected Liz as my Stakeholder because she is a new farmer with an eco-conscious, sustainable mindset that uses horizontal relationships with customers and other farmers to sell and trade her products (Chase & Grubinger, 2014, p. 61), working on becoming a full-time farmer whose primary source of income and food security will come from the farm. Having the dream to one day become a small-scale sustainable farmer myself with no goals of selling more than I need to break even, choosing instead to farm for self-reliance, Liz was a natural choice to interview.

I created a list of twelve formal questions with multiple parts but used them mostly as a guide during our 2-hour long video chat. The conversation was very natural and evolved on its own to cover my questions. I sent her the questions ahead of time so she could prepare, but it ended up just being a friendly conversation about her, her life, and farming, which I really enjoyed.

My first question asked about the history of the farm and her background with regards to farming. With Liz being a new farmer, having just started Fox Run within the last two years, I felt it was important to find out how she ended up deciding to become a farmer full-time. Liz explained that she’d developed a passion for living off the land at a very young age so it was natural for her to transition from city life in California to rural East Texas, and that in doing so, it ignited her passion for becoming completely self-reliant. Her family has a history of urban homestead farming, “instilling the pioneer spirit” in her while living in California. Her dad has also become a new farmer, taking over operations of a mid-sized cattle ranch that is quickly expanding, and teaching her how to manage cattle in addition to her schooling.

I had to ask what made her decide to farm and what were her goals. She explained that, once she was on her own as an adult, farming became her means of healing. Starting Fox Run enabled her to apply the visions in her head into practical reality, deviating from traditional farming methods in her own way, and developing her own individual sense of purpose through farming. Though she still works as a nurse as a source of income while she builds up the farm (which Chase and Grubinger (2014) mention as common among new farmers), she spoke a lot about the differences between working with people and animals, mostly about how working with people can be draining, while working the farm gives her a real sense of purpose in the world. Chase and Grubinger talk about new farmers “simply start growing crops or raising animals and let their markets evolve (p.206).” This is basically what Liz is doing. Though she wants to keep it small and self-sufficient, primarily as a source of food for herself, she is also still navigating the marketing of her goods and services, figuring out what sells, to whom it sells, and what doesn’t. I asked if she ever plans to become certified organic, which she said wasn’t one of her goals, since she doesn’t plan to sell to the public. She also said that she doesn’t ever plan to try to compete with Big Ag because her focus is primarily on being self-sustaining and trying to compete with Big Ag would force her to deviate from her vision of the farm.

We talked about some of the challenges and rewards about working the farm, as well as discussing the practical matters involved and how that has affected her vision. She spoke about how bookkeeping and time management are some of her biggest struggles but that being able to create her own little slice of paradise in the middle of nowhere has really impacted her overall well-being. Between all of her obligations, I wondered where she found the time to manage everything. She joked that she doesn’t date or watch TV anymore, “So I have a lot of free time.” She also spoke about how having a strict routine has been critical. Liz said that she can just zone out and think about her classwork while performing her tasks from muscle memory.

I asked for the current head count of her animals and her plans for expansion, if she even had any. Right now, she has 4 beef cattle calves, 20 goats (with 4 of them pregnant), 46 chickens, 7 geese, a dozen ducks, a dozen guinea fowl, “and two squirrels that keep coming around to rob the chicken feeder.” She also has two dogs (Deeks and Katie), two housecats (Mischa and Purrcival), and her bottle baby, a Nigerian Dwarf goat named Navi. She surprised me by telling me that expansion is actually not one of her goals, and that she’s actively looking to reduce her head count to better afford her more time to devote to the restoration of the land and effectiveness as a farmer. I was curious how she manages so many animals and found out that most of her animals are completely free range. She’s trained the chickens to roost at night, the guinea fowl hang out in the trees or go into the coop when the weather is bad, and there are dog kennels out for the geese and ducks. But by and large, except for the property fences, her animals just go wherever they want. This could potentially cause a problem as she lives near a waterway, and her animals all have free access to it. The possibility that there could be too much animal waste and fertilizer in the water, creating threats to marine wildlife and even her own fowl (pp. 92-93) is a definite issue. We didn’t discuss this in this conversation, but I think that if the waterway started to be affected, it would affect her own flocks, and Liz would be the first one to put up fencing to keep the animals out, alleviating at least some of the problem. She’s already mentioned to me that she’s hyper-aware of the impact on the waterway, so at least she’s keeping an eye on it.

Then we talked about the agriculture, both her animal agriculture business and her utilization of native vegetation. It turns out that her biggest challenge with animal agriculture on such a small scale was deciding not to sell food products to the public at large. She went into great detail about the high cost of processing and selling animal products but has enough of a close relationship with a few customers that she’s been able to exploit some loopholes to sell them processed meat and dairy. Most of her farm customers are either new farmers themselves, or seasoned homesteaders who invest in the farm for mutual gain (as in the case of one customer who gave her two free goats, intending that, when one came of age, she would slaughter and process it for them). “Social capital goes a long way,” she said to me. Her biggest moneymaker is selling livestock outright, which was also a surprise. When she was unemployed in the spring, she said she made enough by selling the animals to keep her farm afloat for a little while. Coupled with the money she makes selling her quilts and soap, she was able to break even until she could find new employment. When it comes to the use of natural vegetation, she went on a rant about pesticides in your food and commented that she doesn’t need to go to the store when she has violet greens and curly dock in her backyard for a salad. I asked her how that started, and she commented that she turned to foraging as a way to stay off of social media and overstimulation. It has become one of her favorite tasks, saying, “What can I say, picking flowers makes me happy.”

She discussed plans to install a vegetable garden in Spring to lessen her personal food costs, so that more money can be diverted back into the farm, but says the hardest part is setting up the fencing to keep the goats out. She currently grows brassicas (mostly turnips and mustard greens) and clover with the native grass that the cows pasture on, using a homemade fertilizer pellet invented by her grandfather, and other native vegetation as a way to fertilize the ground without contaminating the nearby waterway, but doesn’t plan to grow crops specifically for the animals beyond what she already has growing and will plant for herself. To her, this is a waste of natural resources to farm crops over existing edible vegetation. She also went into great detail about her plans to acquire a better vehicle to help her handle the intense demands of farming in a rural area.

That led to a discussion on her non-food items. She talked about how she was inspired to create the deliciously moisturizing goat milk soap working as a nurse. Sadly, they are her lowest sellers, but her beautiful, heirloom quality quilts (which she has been making for almost 20 years now), usually made from thrifted or scrap fabric, are her biggest sellers, and almost all done by commission. She talked about how marketing has been a huge challenge for her, mainly because of time constraints, so much of her sales have been by word of mouth. She knows she’ll have to expand on that and plans to start selling at farmer’s markets in the future, as well as online, but right now, her current methods of sale are paying the bills while she focuses on other aspects of her life, so she’s in no rush.

For my last question, I had to cover the tech arena. For a 21st century farm, Liz likes running it the old-fashioned way, using electrified fencing, incubators, and heat lamps, but preferring to be as low tech as possible. She still vaccinates her animals and utilizes antibiotics when the goats injure themselves. But she spent a good while explaining to me the various herbal remedies that you can use for minor problems.

In our almost 2-hour long conversation, I learned a lot more about Liz, about small scale farming and homesteading, holistic remedies for everything from acne and psoriasis to poor blood circulation, intestinal parasites, and mild infections, and especially about goats. Liz discussed many of the challenges listed in our textbook’s chapter on new farmers, having inherited the land, but also being a first-generation farmer who is still learning the ropes. She has worked out some mutually beneficial horizontal relationships with other farmers and is trying to find a niche for her commodities for the larger market. Right now, though, the sense of pride she has in her farm, and the complete transparency she has with her customers is enough to keep the farm breaking even, which she considers a success.



References 

Chase, L., & Grubinger, V. (2014). Food, Farms, and Community: Exploring Food Systems. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England. 

Spiva, E. M. (2020, 11 22). Owner of Fox Run Farmstead. (K. J. Kagan, Interviewer)

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Grade: 96/100

Comments: 

Me (to the professor) - Had a hard time chopping this down to 3 pages. Sorry it's late. I had two finals yesterday and hadn't slept. 

Professor (to me) - Yes, synthesis can be quite challenging! But such a wonderful skill to possess (and practice). As ever, a few comments on the rubric. 

Rubric: 

Page Count: 5/5 - (no comments)

Interview Questions: 20/20 - Almost always best to let conversations (especially interviews) 'evolve' naturally. Reading this, it sounds like you guys had a wonderful conversation & covered a lot of ground. 

Introduction: 15/15 - (no comments)

What did you learn?: 20/20 - (no comments)

Sustainability Issues: 26/30 - Certainly not a superficial discussion! However, a few more connections to course materials would have strengthened this. You guys touched on so many of the topics that we have covered in class! 

Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation: 5/5 - (no comments)

APA Citations: 5/5 - (no comments)