Blog #13

A big way the success of farm to school program success is measured is by gauging the amount of students who adapt their diet via the programs. A big initiative of farm to school is to introduce more variety into the diet of young people. More variety typically means more fruit and vegetables which means a healthier diet. In most farm to school programs observed, students did in fact begin to add more variety into their diet. This also occurs through the education portion of farm-to-school. When students are taught more about where food comes from they are more likely to enjoy a bigger variety of vegetables. Farm to school is still relatively small but is growing rapidly. 

Farm-to-school programs increase the amount of local food served at schools. This is positive because it allows schools to bolster local farmers and vice versa. In addition, in many cases local foods are perceived as fresher as well as safer, thanks to media-attention-grabbing outbreaks of food borne illnesses attributed to the industrialized food process. Educational opportunities that tie-in the local food are abundant as well. If students are given the opportunity to visit the actual farm that produces the food they are served at lunch, it will give them a unique perspective about food production and possibly inspire them to continue to be curious as opposed to passive and ignorant regarding their own diet and nutrition.

Blog #11

Some regulations require expensive upgrades in infrastructure, land or machinery that small and medium sized farms simply cannot afford. For example, Berry says in Kentucky recently, local slaughterhouses were required to make expensive alterations. Most could not afford them and were forced out of business. According ot the Food Safety and Modernization Act, however, new plans are being implemented to better cater to small and midsized farms.

It was hard for me to choose a side in this dilemma with the information I was provided. On one hand, it seems like there should most definitely be more regulations in all areas of food production- even if it drives the cost of food higher as Berry argues (the cost of food being relatively low anyways). But are these regulations meant to help the consumer, or to cater to big corporations? Berry’s examples seemed to vague for me to tell for sure, but what I can tell is that there must definitely exist some kind of middle ground regulation-wise that keeps small and midsized farms running in a way that is up to par with government standards, without driving them out of business. Even if that means that consumers need to start paying more for their food, I believe it is worth it.

Blog #8

One example of a class-action lawsuit brought against the USDA is when women farmers sued it in 2001. They claimed there to be gender discrimination within the delegation of farm loan programs. I think the plaintiffs in these lawsuits were justified. For instance, when one Floridian woman farmer tried to apply for a loan to start a farm, she was told that there were no applications available. Her husband, on the other hand, was easily able to access an application. This does not undoubtedly point to gender discrimination, but it certainly implies that there could be. Later, when she was specifically told by an FSA loan officer that women cannot run farms is when it becomes clear that there exists blatant gender discrimination. This situation happened to her not once, but twice.

One potential solution is that there could be better screening and hiring regarding the employees that possess the power to process these loan applications. According to this case study there seem to be too many disturbingly sexist men at the helm. By making sure these officers are less discriminatory there will be less discrimination.

The attacks against the USDA are most certainly justified. It’s incredible that the comments being made by the employees were being made in the past 30 years.

Blog #7

Darcy Freedman & Bethany Bell, “Access to Healthful Foods among an Urban Food Insecure Population: Perceptions versus Reality” 

Little has been done to gauge nutritional education, but from the statistics that Freedman and Bell have looked at, it is seems as though people have a very accurate perception of what kind of access to healthy food they have. Both the perceived reality and the actual reality is that people living in low-income areas do not have the same kind of access to healthy food as those living in higher-income areas. Part of this reason is because low-income areas are more likely to be populated by convenience stores and small markets as opposed to big chain grocery stores. Big chain grocery stores contain a much healthier variety of food than the aforementioned stores. 

Carrie Draper & Darcy Freedman, “Review and Analysis of the Benefits, Purposes, and Motivations Associated with Community Gardening in the United States”

Firstly, the resurgence of community gardens will encourage those in the community to have direct knowledge and experience about how food is produced. This will lead people to be more inquisitive about where the food they purchase in stores comes from. By producing fruits and vegetables, community garden participants consume more of these as well, according to the text. In addition, in youth-oriented gardening programs, youth participants have a more varied preference for different types of vegetables than those youth that were not participants. Community-wise, these gardens also function as a ‘safe space’. They are safe areas in the community and even encourage communication between members of the community that normally may not communicate with one another.

Blog #6

Q1: What do you think are the most feasible means of changing industrial meat production like CAFOs to align with green principals?

This is a difficult question to think about feasibly because it seems as though industrial meat production needs a complete overhaul. The research on CAFOs reminded me of a statistic I read recently, that American's simply eat way too much meat. Specifically, about 50% more than the recommended daily amount, and about twice as much as people in other countries. (source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/08/13/too-much-protein-diets-_n_1772987.html) Simply, we can (and, according to those statistics, should!) produce less meat and consume less meat as well. 

What I found particularly alarming that was discussed in both the reading and the documentary we watched last week was the manner in which meat production has been vertically integrated. The generally poor treatment of animals in this industry is a sad, but well-known fact, but many humans pay a toll in this process as well. I think meat producers should subsidize more of the costs that are incurred by CAFOs so those people can earn a living rather than amassing more and more debt. This could be accomplished through government regulation. Regulation could also require corporations to give farm owners a little more say in the way their farms are run, but this would be more difficult to make happen.

Again, though, what really needs to happen is for the meat production industry to be completely changed. 

Q2:   Of the types of farms in the reading, which are the most green and why? 

Doko Farm's animal pasture seemed to be particularly green, mostly because my reading of it was juxtaposed with reading about CAFOs. Animals at Doko Farm are not loaded with antibiotics, and are allowed to roam free outside rather than being cramped in lightless, crowded stalls. 

Doko also acknowledges residential areas around it. It prides itself on managing itself in a way so that nearby residents are not bombarded with dangerous and overwhelming smells from the farm.

Doki