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Sustainability
Freshman Inquiry
Oct. 14, 2010
Jeff Fletcher
Logistics
• Field Trip, Zenger Farms
– Oct. 21 (2pm to 6pm at latest)
– http://www.zengerfarm.org/
• New Reading due Oct. 21
– Transition to College Writing Ch. 4
– Omnivore’s Dilemma Ch. 8, 9
• Sustainability tour—how did it go?
• Upcoming 1 on 1 Meetings
• Association for the Advancement of
Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
Conference
Important Themes
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National Eating Disorder
Natures way vs. Industrial/Corporate way
Omnivore's Dilemma
Domestication by Humans; or
Domestication of Humans
• We are corn
• Dramatic Increase in Corn Yields
• Corn anatomy and sex
Groups Consider
• Characterize the old and new systems of
farm subsidies for corn.
• If your group was in charge, what would
be your farm subsidy program?
Typical Market for Farm Goods
• In demand, prices good, grow more, surplus, prices
drop, so plant even more, even more surplus, even lower
prices
• What type of process is this?
– Tragedy of the Commons when individuals are not coordinated
– Also example of a positive feedback
• Changing role of farm subsidies and regulation
– To help farmers keep prices high enough to plant next year
– 1973 Change: To help keep prices low by paying farmers directly
• 1920 25% lived on farms
– Each could feed itself + 12
– Now each farmer feeds 127
Other Important Concepts
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French Paradox
Food chains
Eating a ecological act; a political act
Natural Food (what is natural?)
Industrial Food
More calories in than out
Naylor Curve
Systems
• Natures Cycles
• Systems Ideas:
– Positive and Negative Feedbacks
– Open and Closed Systems
– Causal Maps for "Cheap Corn" (later)
Corn and Corporations
• Cargill and ADM buy 1/3 of corn in
America
• 3/5 of grown corn goes to feed animals in
factory farms
• “Industrial thinking over logic of evolution”
• 4 companies butcher 4/5 cows in America
Diseases From Food
• Besides diseases of overconsumption and bad
diets
• Most common foodborne infections (from CDC)
– Bacteria: Campylobacter, Salmonella, and E. coli
O157:H7
– Viruses: Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses.
– Occasionally foodborne, infections by Shigella,
hepatitis A, and the parasites Giardia lamblia,
Cryptosporidia, tapeworms.
• Foodborne toxins
– pesticides, herbicides
– Natural toxins:
• Bacteria grow on food: Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium
botulinum. Harmful even after cooking and bacteria have
been killed
• Other: poisonous mushrooms; poisonous reef fish
• Fungi that grow on foods, e.g. peanuts