Natural Made Dyes
12 years ago
Thursday, October 22, 2009
feedback on feedback
With the feedback that we got from our proposal I think was good and everything, but I didn't really find it that useful. I didn't find it that useful because I know what we are doing for our senior project and I know that it might not come off on paper quite that well but I know what we are doing and its going to be good. It was good though to hear what other people thought.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
WHat is HEAC
So one of the questions that we got a lot on our senior project proposal was 'What is HEAC and what does it stand for?"
"Healthy Eating Active Communities." Healthy Eating Active Communities. 22 Oct. 2009 http://www.healthyeatingactivecommunities.org/
HEAC- Healthy Eating Active Communities
Healthy Eating, Active Communities is a six-year, multi-million program sponsored by The California Endowment. It aims to fight the growing childhood obesity epidemic in California and to develop state policy changes that will reduce the risk factors for diabetes and obesity.
We plan to incorporate HEAC into our project because we are going to look into school lunches and childhood obesity too.
"Healthy Eating Active Communities." Healthy Eating Active Communities. 22 Oct. 2009 http://www.healthyeatingactivecommunities.org/
HEAC- Healthy Eating Active Communities
Healthy Eating, Active Communities is a six-year, multi-million program sponsored by The California Endowment. It aims to fight the growing childhood obesity epidemic in California and to develop state policy changes that will reduce the risk factors for diabetes and obesity.
We plan to incorporate HEAC into our project because we are going to look into school lunches and childhood obesity too.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Chemical Agriculture vs. Organic agriculture... p.s. im not late
Stephanie Santiago
Chemical agriculture vs. Organic Agriculture
There have been multiple debates about both. One being, chemical agriculture is not right they’re poisoning our food and that organic agriculture is right, it’s the way that it should be, natural. Chemical agriculture has been seen as the evil kind of farming where as the organic farming is being seen as the way to go, since it’s seen as all natural. There are pros and cons to both ways of farming.
Chemical farming started with the development of growth regulators. Growth regulators were a product of World War 2 technology; ammonium nitrate became ammonium nitrate fertilizer. The growth regulators helped farmers control pests from getting on their plants. Due to the increasing population farmers needed a way to grow food and grow it fast. Thus the requirement of commercial fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides were born. Insecticides kill insects, and they usually contain phosphorus and chlorinated hydrocarbons. Insecticides down degrade easily and they can accumulate in your body too. Fungicides kill fungi on crops and such; they are most of the times sprayed directly on the part of the plant that we eat. Fungicides also contain traces of metals like copper and mercury. Herbicides kill weeds they work by blocking the plant’s metabolism. The amount of the different pesticides that the agricultural chemical industry is about 45,000, to 50,000, 600 of them being active ingredients .
Organic agriculture, the USDA National Organic Standards Board defines Organic agriculture as:
"An ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain, or enhance ecological harmony. The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people. ”
This type of agriculture is the oldest technique of farming and was the only way of farming until chemical agriculture was introduced in WW2 . When it became more known to people that chemicals were having a negative effect on the environment and on the consumer’s health, people started recognizing the benefits of eating organic food.
So there are two options to chose from organic farming or chemical farming. Both sides can easily be argued. They both have pros and cons.
Chemical agriculture pros being they produce a lot, it doesn’t take as long as organic farming. Chemical agriculture they use machines to produce plants faster. It also doesn’t take that long for the plants to grow since they are using all kinds of fertilizers to make it grow faster.
Organic agriculture pros being its poison-free, tastes better, and last longer. Being organic means it’s free of harsh pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. Organic food also tastes better since it’s grown longer and the nutrients and sugar have more time to make it into the plant. It also lasts longer because the plants are nourished naturally so they can, as a result, be stored longer. Now the cons of organic farming are limited productivity, use of no GM crops, requires lots time and you need to be skilled. It takes more time for organic farming to produce a lot because they don’t use big machines that might diminish the soil life and soil fertility, which is key for organic farming. Organic farmers don’t use GM crops. GM crops are otherwise known as genetically modified or engineered crops, for example there are some crops that are engineered to resist pests or tolerate herbicides. Being an organic farmer requires a lot of time. Organic farmers have to interact with each plant and see what it needs and what it doesn’t. It also requires a lot of skills; you need to know how to farm, for one, because organic farmers don’t have any help from pesticides, fungicides and herbicides.
It is easily seen how organic can topple over chemical agriculture, on the pros and cons list. But is it reasonable for all of us to switch from mostly chemical agriculture just to organic agriculture? Most likely no. Chemical agriculture creates large amounts of food in short amounts of time where as organic agriculture isn’t like that, it’s the opposite. With a population of 6,706,993,152 , and counting, chemical farming seems to be what we need.
Chemical agriculture vs. Organic Agriculture
There have been multiple debates about both. One being, chemical agriculture is not right they’re poisoning our food and that organic agriculture is right, it’s the way that it should be, natural. Chemical agriculture has been seen as the evil kind of farming where as the organic farming is being seen as the way to go, since it’s seen as all natural. There are pros and cons to both ways of farming.
Chemical farming started with the development of growth regulators. Growth regulators were a product of World War 2 technology; ammonium nitrate became ammonium nitrate fertilizer. The growth regulators helped farmers control pests from getting on their plants. Due to the increasing population farmers needed a way to grow food and grow it fast. Thus the requirement of commercial fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides were born. Insecticides kill insects, and they usually contain phosphorus and chlorinated hydrocarbons. Insecticides down degrade easily and they can accumulate in your body too. Fungicides kill fungi on crops and such; they are most of the times sprayed directly on the part of the plant that we eat. Fungicides also contain traces of metals like copper and mercury. Herbicides kill weeds they work by blocking the plant’s metabolism. The amount of the different pesticides that the agricultural chemical industry is about 45,000, to 50,000, 600 of them being active ingredients .
Organic agriculture, the USDA National Organic Standards Board defines Organic agriculture as:
"An ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain, or enhance ecological harmony. The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people. ”
This type of agriculture is the oldest technique of farming and was the only way of farming until chemical agriculture was introduced in WW2 . When it became more known to people that chemicals were having a negative effect on the environment and on the consumer’s health, people started recognizing the benefits of eating organic food.
So there are two options to chose from organic farming or chemical farming. Both sides can easily be argued. They both have pros and cons.
Chemical agriculture pros being they produce a lot, it doesn’t take as long as organic farming. Chemical agriculture they use machines to produce plants faster. It also doesn’t take that long for the plants to grow since they are using all kinds of fertilizers to make it grow faster.
Organic agriculture pros being its poison-free, tastes better, and last longer. Being organic means it’s free of harsh pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. Organic food also tastes better since it’s grown longer and the nutrients and sugar have more time to make it into the plant. It also lasts longer because the plants are nourished naturally so they can, as a result, be stored longer. Now the cons of organic farming are limited productivity, use of no GM crops, requires lots time and you need to be skilled. It takes more time for organic farming to produce a lot because they don’t use big machines that might diminish the soil life and soil fertility, which is key for organic farming. Organic farmers don’t use GM crops. GM crops are otherwise known as genetically modified or engineered crops, for example there are some crops that are engineered to resist pests or tolerate herbicides. Being an organic farmer requires a lot of time. Organic farmers have to interact with each plant and see what it needs and what it doesn’t. It also requires a lot of skills; you need to know how to farm, for one, because organic farmers don’t have any help from pesticides, fungicides and herbicides.
It is easily seen how organic can topple over chemical agriculture, on the pros and cons list. But is it reasonable for all of us to switch from mostly chemical agriculture just to organic agriculture? Most likely no. Chemical agriculture creates large amounts of food in short amounts of time where as organic agriculture isn’t like that, it’s the opposite. With a population of 6,706,993,152 , and counting, chemical farming seems to be what we need.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Vermicompost Do's and Dont's
Vermicompost
Do:
Stale Bread
Apple Cores
Orange Peels
Lettuce Trimmings
Coffee Grounds
Non-Greasy Leftovers
Vegetable Scraps
Fruits
Eggshells
Teabags
Paper Coffee filters
Shredded Paper Towels
Pumpkin
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Don’t:
Citrus Fruits
Meat
Fish
Fat and oily foods
Garlics
Onions
Spicy Foods
http://earth911.com/blog/2007/04/02/composting-with-worms/
http://www.writeseniors.com/compostworld/how.shtml
Friday, October 9, 2009
"Community Compost Network - About Us." Community Composting Network. 9 Oct. 2009
Benefits from community composting:
- Less waste going to landfill
- Training, Employment, and volunteering opportunities
- Topsoil structure preservation and improvement
"Farming, soil management, reduced input costs, lower chemical rates, balanced soil nutrition, bioremediation, compaction, runoff, contamination." Farm for Profit. 9 Oct. 2009
- Compaction
- Not as much water penetration
- Not as much air space with results in low oxygen content
- Soil Erosion
- Water Runoff
- Limited Root growth
- Increased chance of contamination
Chemical Agriculture started with the development of growth regulators which were a product of World War 2 technology
Economic pressures on producer continue to increase demanding volume in order to continue farming. These factors created a situation requiring the use of commercial fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides which are still present on the agricultural scene at an increasing intensity.
"Chemical Farming." Nutritional Supplements. 9 Oct. 2009
"Effects of chemical agriculture." Organic farming and food in India. 9 Oct. 2009
- The constant use of artificial fertilizer, together with a lack of crop rotation, reduces the soil's fertility year by year.
- High yield levels are produced by applying large quantities of artificial fertilisers, instead of by maintaining the natural fertility of the soil.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Farmer in Chief
Today we had a seminar. The seminar was based on the reading Farmer in Chief. Now I read this article and though it was interesting and I liked how we as a class got a chance to discuss the different parts of it. We all together got to discuss how farming could help a lot with a lot of different things. Such as food and farming can effect climate change and health care.
As I was reading the article I had some comments and questions:
When Michael Pollan said, " The era of cheap & abundant food appears to be drawing to a close."
The Comment that I had was Its not like it was going to last forever, we should've known it was coming.
"Food is a starting point for climate change, energy independence, and health care crisis"- My question was, What else is it a starting point for?
Is having cheap food something that works for everyone if it is then whats keeping it from not staying the same?
What are some signs that oil-based food is coming to an end?
I think that some interesting topics came up one that everyone seemed to be talking about is that people dont have the time and patience to farm and make there own garden but I disagree. I think that there's the another part of it has to do with money. Not all people are going to have money to buy tools or to waste on seeds and water.
As I was reading the article I had some comments and questions:
When Michael Pollan said, " The era of cheap & abundant food appears to be drawing to a close."
The Comment that I had was Its not like it was going to last forever, we should've known it was coming.
"Food is a starting point for climate change, energy independence, and health care crisis"- My question was, What else is it a starting point for?
Is having cheap food something that works for everyone if it is then whats keeping it from not staying the same?
What are some signs that oil-based food is coming to an end?
I think that some interesting topics came up one that everyone seemed to be talking about is that people dont have the time and patience to farm and make there own garden but I disagree. I think that there's the another part of it has to do with money. Not all people are going to have money to buy tools or to waste on seeds and water.
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