Farmer in Chief Reflection

After reading the article I thought it was very thought provoking. Although he brought up many good points on why we need to change our eating habits or the ways to go about changing our food resources, I thought the solutions he provided were very unrealistic on a large scale. I think the main reason why people don’t particularly care about where their food comes from or how its made is because they are uninformed. I think in order to get food to a place where it is more natural instead of industrialized the first step we need to take is to inform the public and make it more aware such as promoting it through commercials like the “non smoking” people do. I think the best we can do right now is inform people. During the discussion in class, much was brought up about people having their own garden so they can grow their food and cook it themselves and in turn be more “healthy”. To me, that seems unrealistic because I feel not everyone is going to want to plant their own garden or maybe not everyone cares about the health risks that come with eating fast food everyday. The main problem with trying to fix the food industry and making it more organic and healthy is that people are going to do what they want, and what they want is connivence. If they have the money then I’m sure they would much rather go out and buy a meal then spend two hours making it.

Another point that he made in the article was about the cost of shipping food to different places in the world. In the article I remember him talking about how they catch fish in Alaska, send it to China to be filleted, then send it to California to be bought and consumed. That is very impractical. My question is why do they do that? Why can’t the fish be filleted here? I’m sure there are people in the U.S that know how to fillet a fish. I would think that the cost to do all that labor here in one country would be cheaper then sending it to another and back.

I agree with his idea of teaching younger children how to make more health conscious decisions when it comes to food. I think what we need to do is teach the future generations because they are the ones that will see more of the after effects of our actions now and maybe be able to stop them. Investing money in school programs so that they can teach children in school would be a good way to get children learn about this. Or maybe not even teaching them how to grow a garden but rather how to pick the more healthy choice while in the grocery store buying food. Either way think its the future generations that we should be informing.

After all this reading I feel like I read stuff that I already knew. Unfortunately, I probably won't be planting a garden anytime soon but I think I will definitely teach my children to be more healthy when it comes to food.

Questions From the Garden

-How is the irrigation system coming along?

-Are there any gophers that can eat our plants? If so, what are we going to do about it?

-When are we going to begin planting?

-What if our plant doesn't grow fast enough?

-What if our plant doesn't grow at all?

-Do we have all the tools needed already?

-Is the shed securely locked?

-Is it true that the canopy of a tree is also how far the roots grow?

Special Assignments Groups

(Shed/Organization)

For our special assignments group we are in change of keeping the tools and she organized, as well as keeping track of each tool and make sure it is returned to its correct place in the shed. We plan on doing this by having each person check out the tool they are going to be using by putting their name, what tool they have, what time they checked it out, and what time they checked it back in. We realize that there maybe multiple numbers of a certain tool (such as a shovel) so we plan on taking colored tape and taping it around the handle and in that case you will put what color shovel you have.

For the shed itself, we still plan on putting shutters on the windows, cleaning up the inside more (getting all the dust and dirt out of there), putting some sort of lighting, and organizing the tools so that everything can be found easily and there is easy access to it.

For our experiment, our special assignment group plans on doing something with waste. We plan on having two different plants grow in little pots, one growing organically with nothing but organic material and the other grown in more of an industrial fashion with the use of plant enhancements etc. We are going to log what happens and see how they differ. Our question will be "How does a organic plant differ from a plant that is treated with waste grow?"

Reflection and Questions on National Geographic Reading

From reading the article, it gave me a new insight on what it is like to grow our own food and how people and other countries grow their food. Something that really struck me in the reading was the section where it talks about the farmers in India and how people are now dying from cancer and other various diseases due to the pesticides and how the water is no longer a good quality drinking water. It’s really sad how they have to suffer through that and to top it off the farmers are in debt.

Something else I found striking was how scientist want to plant crops that are modified so that they don’t have to use as much fertilizer to grow the plant and that can withstand time without water. I think that would be a great idea because then it would give plants a better chance to survive instead of dying and that could be food for people. Because it sounds too good to be true I want to know the downsides to these plants. Are they’re any? Are we currently working on mass producing more plants like this? If not, why?

I think one of our main problems with growing anything is still our reliance on fossil fuels. I remember reading somewhere in the article about how farmers still need fossil fuel based fertilizers in order to grow their plants. I think what we need to work on now is how can we press forward growing these plants without solely relying on fossil fuels? Is there a way we can use another source for fertilizer that is just as good, if not better then fossil fuel based ones? Is there a natural fertilizer we can use only on our plants so that we can grow them? Is it possible to use material found strictly only in nature to grow what we need to grow so we don’t have to rely on any human source? I think those are the questions we really need to focus on now in order to be able to continue growing food to feed our growing population.

Annotated Bibliographies and Our Plant

We plan on planting a bean plant for the 28 day growth project.

September 15, 2009

Farm Implements

"John Deere Launches New Tractor Line, Forage Harvester and Other New Equipment." Farm Industry News. 15 Sep. 2009 <http://farmindustrynews.com/farm-equipment/hay/0820-john-deere-launches-2010-equipment/>.

This article talked mostly about the new design of the John Deere farm equipment. He is currently making these items that he already has better during the down time in the rescission. Although this article isn’t primarily about different types of farm implements it does explain thoroughly about the farm equipment he makes and how they work as of right now. I though it was an interesting article because I find farm equipment to be something that is very important when working on a farm, without the right tools your farm is essentially pointless. So basically with this article it talks about the different type of farm machinery used and how it works.

Waste

"GreenerChoices.org | Electronics Reuse & Recycling Center." GreenerChoices.org. 15 Sep. 2009 <http://www.greenerchoices.org/ele

“Experts predict consumers will be replacing equipment more often in the future, leading to greater waste.”

This article was primarily about electronic waste; meaning waste in the form of electronics such as computers, television sets, cell phones, etc. I thought this was a good article to read because it gave statistics that were explained. From what I know, electronic waste is especially bad for the environment because of the toxic chemicals found in them and what they are composed of. They also cause harmful health risks for humans as well. I think that this is an important issue because I think when it comes to someone’s electronic they don’t think so much about recycling it but more of just throwing it in the garbage which can lead to dangerous effects.

Fair Trade

"TransFair USA | Fair Trade Overview." TransFair USA | Home. 15 Sep. 2009 <http://www.transfairusa.org/content/about/overview.php>.

“Fair Trade Certification empowers farmers and farm workers to lift themselves out of poverty by investing in their farms and communities, protecting the environment, and developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace.”

I thought this was a good brief article to read about fair trade because ti gives a good summary what fair trade is and what the benefits from it are. It uses simple, easy to understand vocabulary that makes it easy for readers to understand why fair trade is a good thing and who benefits from it exactly. Something that I read in the article that I like d was reading about fair trade workers are not laborers who are under paid or they re not child laborers. i thought that was a good thing to understand about fair trade farms because I think a standard stereotypical thought about farms is that the workers are in fact underpaid and work longs hours for it, it was nice to read that that is not the case here.

Senior Project

When watching the different presentations I didn't learn anything new I didn't already know, however when researching climate and atmosphere I did learn more about air pollution and how it is formed. I didn't read too much about how it affects our food and water but I think it would be interesting to look into that further and maybe incorporate that into my senior project in some way.

I also think the industrial food vs home grown organic food would also make for a good project. I think it would be interesting to learn more about how different the two actually are such as how a dorito differs from an actual fresh made tortilla.

Plant Research

Amanda Alipio

Period 1 and 2

Research on Plants to Plant

Tulip

-The tulip is a flower that is part of the Liliaceae family.

-They are a spring flower but are a cold weather flower. Although they only bloom in the spring they need a period of cold weather so they can rest between each blooming season. The tulip grows from a bulb that needs to be chilled before it is planted in the ground.

-They need to be planted in soil that has good drainage, it is also recommended organic material and fertilizer is mixed in with the soil it is planted in.

-Although the plant blooms in the spring I have researched how to force the flower to bloom during the time you want. In order to do that you would need to plant the bulbs in a place where it is cool and kept moist, then moved to the sunlight when the plant starts sprouting up around two inches.

-Tulips don’t need much space width wise, the sprout up to be about eight inches tall.

-When the bulb is planted they should be close together but not touching each other, maybe one or two inches apart.

-It is recommended that organic material and fertilizer is mixed in with the soil for the tulip but it is not required. Bone material is another idea for nourishment. Other then that, the soil just needs to be kept moist.

-The tulip likes neutral soil.

-This plant needs to be watered often enough to keep the soil moist. Maybe everyday by the sprinkler.

Interesting Fact- There are over 3,000 different varieties of the tulip

http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/aboutflowers/exoticflowers/tulips

http://www.gardenguides.com/plants/find-plant.asp?q=tulip+flower

Poppy

-The poppy is a flower.

-Poppies can grow in almost any type of soil. They can grow in warm weather conditions and grow fairly fast.

-They are grown from seeds.

-There are many different varieties of the poppy and they come in different colors such as yellow, white, red, pink, yellow, orange, and blue.

-It doesn’t take long for poppies to grow. They can even withstand droughts. They bloom during midsummer.

-It is recommended that this flower has at least eight inches in room to grow depending on which type of poppy you are planting. They can grow to be twelve to eighteen inches high.

-They should be fertilized once a month to keep them growing at a steady pace.

-Poppies prefer slightly acidic soil.

-This plant should be watered at least every other day by a sprinkler. Although this plant should be watered it can go without water because it is a drought tolerate plant.

Interesting Fact- In some areas of the world, such as parts in Europe, the poppy is considered to be a weed.

http://www.gardenersnet.com/flower/poppy.htm

http://www.gardenguides.com/plants/find-plant.asp?q=Poppy+flower

Third Choice- Calla Lillies