Thursday, May 5, 2011
Service Learning Project
Garcia talks of Texas children who are hungry and others who are obese. Texas is one of the top states in child obesity, ranking as the 7th highest in America. However, Texas only ranked 49th (almost last) in having reliable food aid for children who are 18 years of age or younger. Due to the fact Mrs. Curn cannot keep a job, she can only afford cheap foods. These kind of foods happen to be the highest in calories and are usually all processed foods. Just as Garcia explained, most families live in areas know as "food deserts". These areas lack the natural produce that are so readily available in supermarkets. Mrs. Curn and her kids live in an area where the only food they can get within walking distance, since they do not have a car, is at the convenience store or fast food restaurants. As a result, Mrs. Curn and her kids are slightly over weight and would be considered, by definition, as obese. Obesity is unhealthy and can result in health problems and possibly death.
In regards to the George Carlin video on youtube called "stuff", Mrs. Curn had plenty of it. Carlin talks, or more appropriately jokes, about how we always want more stuff. Even if we already have the things we need, many of us feel we need more. This can result in hoarding. The feeling of needing more and more tends to make our houses cramped and more cluttered. Mrs. Curn always felt she needed more things, even if she could not afford them. As I talked to her during some one on one time, she told me that if she didn't have all those things, she would be even more empty inside than she already is. She hoards to fill the gap caused by the death of one of her children. This was very saddening to me, a part of me got a glimps of how hurt she still was. She talked about how everyone regards her things as crap, but to her each item has a meaning and each item is useful to her in its own way. This takes me back to Carlins video when he says, "How you ever noticed how other people's stuff is shit, but your shit is STUFF?" Mrs. Curn is so distraught and unattached, she can't see that all her things, or "stuff", are making her home unlivable for her three young children and how her spending money on things she doesn't need takes away from allowance that could be spent on healthier food for her children. Healthier food would help the health of her children tremendously. It's very disheartening to see a mom so depressed, it blocks her from realizing the most important thing in her life right now is not her things, but her children and their well being and health.
Service Learning Project
I chose to volunteer at Our Daily Bread which is a local charity organization that collects food and prepares meals for the unfortunate Monday through Friday. During my service there I did many things such as wash and prepare fruits and vegetables that we used in the meal we made for that day. When it was time to serve them I couldn’t help but notice that the people I was working with were adopting the Christian Marxian ideal presented by Hardin. They were being “a brother’s keeper” by trying to help every last one of those needy people into our lifeboat. While this is a very generous act that this organization provides, I don’t necessarily see it as the best solution, it is just a temporary fix. If they keep taking in more people their lifeboat will eventually sink just like Hardin suggests. He says it “sounds nice, but…good intentions are no substitute for good performance”. Our Daily Bread needs to “teach these men how to fish” instead of just “giving them a fish”. While I was serving the needy I realized that there was a dramatic increase in the number of people there versus the last time I volunteered, which was about a year ago. This was depressing to me because our country is always so quick to help out other countries in need rather than fix or solve our own problems first. In the 12 Myths reading by Holly Poole-Kavana the tenth myth brings this issue up. According to Poole-Kavana all of our aid goes to foreign entities to support things like free trade and free market, instead of being used to clothe and feed our hungry here in the U.S. After they finished eating their lunch I helped wash all of the dishes (they use dishes instead of Styrofoam and plastics to help out the environment and the help keep a count of how many people they serve). Some of the needy people stayed there the entire time while others ate and left. After all of my duties were done I decided to mingle around with them. I was even invited to play a game of checkers, which I lost. After volunteering, I was even motivated to volunteer to work their charity booth selling some of their guest’s artwork at the Arts and Jazz Festival, however it was rained out. I do intend to volunteer in the kitchen again on Fridays though.
All in all my overall experience volunteering at Our Daily Bread was very eye-opening. I was able to see just how little some people have and how lucky I am. This class helped me realize that hunger and starvation is still a very big issue not just in our country, but also in other countries all over the world and we need to address it, fast. After all, “Food is our most basic need, the very stuff of life” (Shiva pg. 5). To deny someone of that necessity when you have it to give is cruel.
SLP Mercy for Animals
Our Daily Bread
Before our Environmental Issues class, we started to discuss world hunger and how that the numbers have increased drastically within five years. But I could not grasp the concept in why this was happening to the community. A lot of people and families were on the street and in third world countries it was just a regular thing that some families were living on the streets. Some of the reading that we read in class about world hunger for example, “12 myths about hunger,” and “Stolen Harvest,” by Shiva; I saw that third world countries were suffering dramatically compared to the United States. When I went to Lebanon last summer, I saw so many families that were on the street and were doing anything to get by just for that day; if it wasn’t from selling products like gum, it was begging, or even stealing from open markets in the street so they can just feed their children at night. You also have children scavenging for food or finding some type of money just so they can take it home to their parents so they won’t be beaten at night for night bringing anything. It was sad to see it and it hurt have to see children at that age go through that. So in a sense for me to get a better grasp on this concept and to answer all my questions I decided to go volunteer at a soup kitchen in Denton, TX called Our Daily Bread that is located in St. Andrews Protestant Church. It began at 9:30 in the morning and there we started to prepare for lunch that was served at noon. Liz was the head chef of Our Daily Bread, she gave everyone different task that needed to be completed so everything can be ready to go at noon to serve to the community. There is met a couple of people that have been in this program for about fifteen years and are members of the church as well. They say they enjoy giving back to the society and helping people in need because seeing people smile and grateful that someone is out there helping them out. Shiva explained in his story that most gave up their lands or harvest because of the debt the family was in, and that what could help them. “The starving Bengal peasants gave up over two thirds of the food produced, leading their debt to double.” They had no other choice but give up crops, which this leads them to have nothing let at the end. Which kids and families are left starving because no food was left? In the story, 12 myths about hunger that “food is always available to those who can afford it- starvation during hard times hits only the poorest.” And one way they worded it in the story is that, “trapped in the unremitting grip of debt, or miserably paid.” I didn’t realize how many people there were living on the streets or in shelters because of debt or financial issues they were dealing with. I talked to some people, to find out what happen to them and a lot of them were there because they lost their jobs and one issue to another started to arise and in a sense they lost everything. It was hard for some of them to talk about these issues and others just needed someone to talk to because in a sense they saw someone wanting to hear and listen to them. In the 12 myth it states that, “we have had a net loss of over a million jobs here in the U.S. while in Mexico has lost 1.3 million in the agricultural sector alone and hunger is on the rise in both countries.” Hunger from one third to two thirds of the population because people have been too poor to buy the food grown on their own country’s soil. One thing that people don’t realize as in a society we only can help so much, which in a sense we don’t see the bigger picture like on lady named Jackie said while we were preparing food. The United States, the world is growing were ever you are, generation is growing. Kids and being born, homes are being built and in a sense that means we are going to have to feed more mouths. Shiva quotes, “worrying about starving future generations won’t feed them. Food biotechnology will. The world’s population is growing rapidly, adding the equivalent of a China to the globe every ten years. To feed these billion more mouths, we can try to extending our farming land or squeezing greater harvests out of existing civilization.” It just made me start thinking what will happen, with just the food we prepared at the soup kitchen and food and supplies that all these different places donated, it can only last for so long because it will come to a point it won’t be enough for the society. Honestly I can say I really enjoyed volunteering and helping out people that truly needed it. It is something that I would love to do in the future, just by helping out and showing that I care and grateful for what I had and just to make a difference in someone else life.
SLP PROJECT: ANIMAL SHELTER
Erik Ewing
SLP PROJECT
I recently volunteered at the Denton County Animal Shelter and it taught me a lot about the treatment of animals. I love animals and going to this place to volunteer was an excellent activity for me. I got to play with all the dogs and see all of the animals that the place had to offer. They made me clean the animal’s cages, and I even got to take some of these awesome dogs out on a walk. I also got to see the hurt animals that were soon to be put down or die of natural causes. This really saddened me since I thought maybe there would be more someone could do to help out these poor animals. I realize they are in cages most of their time at the shelter and getting them out made me feel better about their living situations. I believe that Francione would disagree with the animals living conditions in the animal shelter since he states that “We deprive them of sleep, keep them in solitary confinement, and cage them for most of their lives.” Even though there is love at the animal shelter I do agree with Francione’s opinion on the matter since the animals are fed rarely and kept caged for a lot of the day. I noticed this when I walked through the shelter while volunteering and saw animals packed in cages down a hallway. This would not be fun for humans so why would we think it’s ok to treat animals like that. This also agrees with Francione’s ideals since he believes humans think of animals as property and not living creatures. He goes on to say that people believe “animals are nothing more than things despite the many laws that supposedly protect them.” I like a quote from Kant’s reading on “Duties to Animals are indirect” when he says “for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men.” I believe Kant is trying to say that we have corresponding duties towards animals just as a house pet would have towards its master. In these animal shelters, from what I saw, the place was run very short-handed and did not have enough staff to care and tend for these animals that have a right to live a normal life. In addition, Kant shows a great point when he says that “animals develop humane feelings toward human beings.” If this is true then why are we treating the animals with such disrespect like at these shelters? I realize that these dogs and cats would be out on the streets if it weren’t for shelters, but I know there is a more humane to go about treating them when they should be treated like a human in the first place. Montaigne makes a good point in his reading on “Difference does not Justify Domination” when he states “In the vanity of our presumption we prefer to owe our superiority to our own powers rather than to animals.”As humans we have a certain thought in our mind that we are superior to every other living thing. We should not treat these animals badly, or not take enough care of them, just because we believe we are more superior.
These readings and my volunteer work helped show me how badly some animals are treated in these shelters. They should not be locked up in cages so closely together, and I can even relate my experience to some of these author’s writings.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Niger Delta Oil Spills
In Nigeria today, people are being harmed by the continuous Oil Spills that are occurring every year. About three hundred of spills occur every year, causing up to six hundred gallons that are being spilled in the time period of fifty years now. Environmental Justice is wondering why anyone hasn’t stopped this and who is responsible for the crucial act. Oil companies in Nigeria have consistently blamed oil spills on poor farmers and fisher men and women; which in some cases this may be true. But a great deal of spills are due first to pipes which are old and rusted and irregularly maintained; and secondly the fact that the many pipelines run over ground in front of built up areas even in front of people’s homes and are therefore more vulnerable to accidental damages. Their denial of responsibility also ignores why the pipelines are located in highly built up areas and near to fishing ponds, creeks, and farmlands causing them to live in toxic waste. Since the pipelines are located in these general area it are threatening the wildlife of species and animals; causing fish, turtles, and birds to live in harmful and deadly environment, the pollution is destroying the livelihoods of many of the twenty million people living there, and damaging crops and fueling the upsurge in violence. Instead of having a Restorative Justice and government to say that is enough and wanting to rebuild its country and save everything that is endanger; the Nigeria government is earning profit from the oil industry, about sixty percent of the oil profit that is made from the oil companies are supposed to go to the government and forty percent goes to the oil companies. They say that Nigeria government is supposed to donate the percentage that they receive to the Delta, but they are claiming that they haven’t received a dime from them. Which is leading to believe that the government of Nigeria is pocketing the money for themselves, because number prove to say about three hundred billions of dollars in revenue has disappeared and is not able to trace where it went. Then one half of the daily oil production that is earned goes to the United States, so in a sense the Nigeria government and the United States benefits from this act that is occurring right now.
The Distrubutive justice is aware of the crisis that is going on to Nigeria, but instead of wanting progress and development in the country they are sitting back and doing nothing of what sort. By wanting good in a society, deontological ethics need to come into play. In the reading “Environmental Justice,” Figueroa states that when the environmental justice takes a burden or an effect on the environment it leads to movement and development to occur. “Examples of environmental burdens include exposure to industrial pollution and hazardous materials, unsanitary or unsafe working conditions, the exploitation and loss of traditional environmental heritage, and the depletion of essential natural resources. Environmental benefits include access to clean, safe environments at home and at work, and access to nonindustrial milieus like national parks and forests and regional open-space preserves.” Why hasn’t the government stepped in and put a stop in this? Many environmentalists has been wondering the same thing, knowing that the homes, and general popular areas were consisting of major pipelines for oil, you would think that they would not build homes there but instead they did causing crisis and life’s to be in danger. EPA wanted to put a stop to this since toxic waste and pipelines were affect the environment, but capitalism played a major part because they were receiving money so in a sense they did not see an issue. Figueroa relates to the issue by saying, “Homeowners Association, which sparked the national antitoxic movement by forcing state and federal agencies to relocate more than 900 families from their neighborhood, which had been built on top of 21,000 tons of buried chemical waste.” In Summers perspective in “Environmental Justice,” it discusses that we can look at different issues and the level of thinking a human has. “Living together in a community creates benefits and burdens that exists only within community, and we cannot account for community benefits ad burdens solely in terms of individual rights and responsibilities.” By saying the government did not stand up and put a stop to the oil spills, there is only so much a community can do without causing issues. In a sense will this crisis ever end and someone will stand up to what is right, even though this has been going on for fifty years now. Will the animals and humans be able to survive in a country that is polluted and contaminated?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z3UfehL5JU
www.worldweatherpost.com/2011/01/27/shell-refuses-to-pay-for-nigeria-oil-spill-pollution/
Friday, April 15, 2011
Criticism of Mansanto
Monsanto has some good ideas on how to fix the worlds agricultural problems such as food output. They believe that they can fix our agricultural problems by providing people and communities with better tools and innovation, increasing output per acre, and reducing the amount of land, water, and energy needed to grow the crops. But Monsanto is forgetting some of the important issues with food production such as our food export and import system and food dependency. According to one of the videos from class, many countries are not only not given the proper tools, but they are having to either sell most of their crop in the export system leaving themselves with little to nothing to feed themselves, and/or they are stuck in the food dependency circle. The food dependency circle refers to the circle of growing whatever is in demand at the time and not necessarily the crop one needs for themselves. But with our market the way that it is, demand can shift instantaneously from say cotton to pineapples. So the farmer that was harvesting cotton will no longer get the most money for their crop and it is now useless. The video argues that we need to change our whole import/export marketing system, and this would help our agricultural problem. Monsanto has some good ideas, but they forgot about theway our market works. If our market system was to change; however, Monsantos ideas could definitely benefit our agricultural system.
Monsanto PR materialAdditional material
Friday, April 1, 2011
Farm animal cruelty
In the first piece I feel that Beating and stabbing cows with a pitch fork is no better than the conditions with in a farm factory. Most animals with in a factory farm are already placed in horrible conditions in which they fight with other animals causing death or health problems. There are other forms of cruelty to the factory farm animals that are around the same level. In an article by Jim mason and Mary Finelli called "Brave New Farm", they describe the harsh realities of factory farm conditions. For example, many chickens are caused stress by their by "the crowded,poorly ventilated sheds.[Because of this] Birds pecked each other to death and ate their remains...[this] could be reduced by burning off the tips of chickens' beaks with a blowtorch"(Mason 159). Usually this causes chickens pain for many months or longer. Chickens have lots of nerves within their beaks. This action of debeaking causes longer pain than beating an cow. Another example of cruelty near the same extent is among veal and "beef cattle" practices. After a day of having been given birth to, many calves are taken from their mothers and placed in veal crates or wooden stalls. They are "confined to a space scarcely larger than his own body, and is tied at the neck to restrict movement further"(Mason 162). These calves are practically starved for a living to keep their skin white because that is a higher valued product. The reason the neck is tethered is because the farmers do not want them to eat the iron from their own secretion. The skin will turn more brown and have less value in the veal market. For beef cattle, they call "be dehorned and branded, and males are castrated, all without anesthesia"(Mason 162). Castrating and dehorning without pain killers can be just as painful or more compared to the beating of the cows in the video. Abuse at the Ohio farms are bad but they are no better than the conditions at a CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation).
The perspective of Both articles show that the people in the video and article relate to Aristotle.The men who killed the calf can be seen in Aristotle's "Animals are for Our Use". Towards the beginning of his writing, he says that "for tame animals are naturally better than wild ones, and it is advantageous that both should be under subjection to man; for this is productive of their common safety: so it is naturally with the male and the female[female being the calf]; the one is superior, the other inferior"(56-7). A cow is looked at as a tamed animal for the necessity of providing food for humans. Due to this explanation, The men in the article see it fit to steal and eat a cow because cows are used as a main source of food and are inferior to the men. Also using this to critique the video, Because humans make use of cows and see them as inferior, it does not matter how cows are treated. I do not agree with this view because just because some "tame" animals like the cows are used as a food source and seen as nothing more, does not mean we have a right to treat them that way.Singer who wrote "All Animals are Equal" would say that these animals are being seen in a speciesist view point. This means that people value one animal over another based on their belonging to a certain species. The men who killed the baby calf would fit this description because they chose the cow because it is seen a source of meat due to the United States preferring beef as one of its main sources that are daily consumed. If they were camping they could have found different types of animals in the area that could have just as edible as the calf.
These perspectives are just one way of viewing these articles on farm animal abuse. Animal abuse publicized by news is just as bad as many conditions animals live in on factory farms. Also due to the idea that a cow is meat, we look down on them and that can be seen as a speciesist view on the type of animals we eat in the United States.
Links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUhm9mctSwc
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/05/02/2766704-hungry-ny-men-accused-of-stealing-eating-calf
picture of debeaking:
http://www.liveexportshame.com/photos/welfare/Debeaking.jpg