Flash Presentation

My Title-Animal Welfare Discrimination

My question- How are factory farms producing enough meat to keep the prices down?

My thesis- The benefits of the cheap meats do not outweigh the inhumane treatments these animals have to suffer through every day.

Most shocking fact- Corporately owned factory farms, producing food at a rate of, “400 cows, 1,100 pigs and 12,000 chickens every hour” according to Sustainable Living’s article Family Farms.

My conclusion- Overall factory farming is not the way to go; we need to support the ideas of humane farming which is better for the animals as well as the environment and us. Animals should be able to run around as much as they would like; free range farming is always the better option. There are better ways to treat animals and still have a good business. Farm animals should be treated differently and all of the bad treatments can be prevented by feeding animals proper diets, not having them in stressful situations their entire life and giving them room to grow will prevent most if not all of these problems. It would be hard for people in the U.S to find farms that raise and slaughter animals humanely, but with a little research it can be done; a website that can be used to do this is http://www.eatwellguide.org/ , it will give you things from farms, farmer markets, stores, and even restaurants.

Connecting with Nature

Birds Nest

For my project I recreated after multiple attempts, a nest! My process was a long process of trying out different materials to see which ones worked best; my ending product’s materials consisted of mud, hay, and tall straw-like plants. I thought of this idea when I was driving home and in the Rite Aid sign there were birds’ nests which reminded me of the many drives to visit family in Massachusetts and always trying to find the eagle’s nest that was on top of a telephone pole.

After getting pretty frustrated struggling to make a nest out of twigs, and old moss I decided to try out mud. I found that mud by itself was too soft to form so I first took a pile of mud and added hay from a farm down the road from my apartment, which made it much firmer like I was hoping for. After that I took a tall mug that I lined with parchment paper outside and placed a hefty amount of the mud in it. I then took another piece of parchment paper and placed it on top of the mud, placing a small tea cup onto that and pressing it firmly down, which I then brought inside and placed near the heater.

Once the mud was firm enough to hold its own shape I let it carefully out of the mug, while it was still forming to the tea cup placed it back down to harden some more. I then added some old hay, and the straw-like plant to get the look of a nest more than the look of a pile of mud. By doing this I recreated a nest. I then took some garbage and filled the nest, sort of making it look like the “bird” created the nest to hold the garbage. I am not sure exactly what my message is supposed to be but if there was a message I’m trying to show through this project that it’s just, we have so much to contribute to in this world, and why make one of our biggest contributions the garbage we leave behind, recycling and keeping the world clean can prevent this contribution.

Maple Sunday Adventure!

Elizabeth Gregory

Extra Credit

Maple Sunday

On Maple Sunday I explore the state of Maine on family owned farms, and maple houses. I started off my day at Mystic Valley a maple house run and owned by my friends! The steam from cooking down the sap was amazing filling the whole place with a smell that I recognized as sweet popcorn. From there I went to a large family owned maple house in Wilton where you could tell they did the maple syrup for the money and not the love for it. They had machines to do all the work all they had to do was bring in the sap and turn everything on, however I did enjoy this place because they had yummy cotton candy that they make out of the syrup! I then traveled to Strong, Farmington, and New Sharon to four more maple houses looking at the different processes and asking them why they wanted to do the work to make maple syrup. My favorite answer to this question was from a man in Strong who said, “It reminds me of my dad, I miss him so much and when I was younger we would go out and collect the sap together and just talk like a father and son should do. Those were some of my fondest memories.” I knew right then and there I had to buy some maple syrup from him! Overall my adventure on Maple Sunday was pretty fun, it was my first year going and I think I might go again next year it also helped me to connect with the area that we live in more.

AMV Overview

AVM Final

Animal Vegetable Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver, I learned that there is more that we can do to help out in our communities. My family always grows a garden but nothing nearly big enough to feed as for an entire year unless we were only eating tomatoes because they grow like wild flowers and always have enough to go around! It would be pretty neat to try the eating local for a year plan, just to see if you would save money or feel better about yourself for helping out your own community though. Overall “Animal Vegetable Miracle” was not my favorite of books but it had many great ideas and recipes in it and I would definitely see if any of Kingsolver’s books were better, dragging on about things like asparagus just didn’t and couldn’t pull me into the book.

The Three Sisters

Koviashuvik Field Trip: The Three Sisters

When learning about this field trip I was not looking forward to it, thinking it was going to be boring and I was just not sure what to expect. After the drive and pulling over to the edge over the road, there was no turning back. When we got there and I saw a man working in the garden I thought he was crazy; what would be growing this time of year? He came over and greeted us with a very friendly smile and started to explain to us exactly what goes on at the Local Living School. He introduced us to the three sisters something I had never heard of before, beans, corn, and squash I knew each thing separately but never together. When he told us that the three sisters are known to only survive together on the same mound I strangely enough thought of my two sisters and myself. We hate each other most of the time but if we didn’t have each other then we would be missing out on a lot of things. Overall the trip was fantastic, I enjoyed everything about it and their home is lovely and very inviting!

Posts

Final AVM Note:
Overall, the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver was a very interesting read. I really enjoyed learning about the environment she lived in before she moved. Arizona seems like a very cool place, but I could not see myself living there. It is completely different from Maine and it made me appreciate Maine a lot more than I already do. Growing up in the woods my whole life, I couldn’t imagine living in an area with very little trees, snakes, lizards, and more. I would love to visit a place like that, but if I plan to live off the land, Maine is a better option for me. She explains her environment by saying, “The desert that day looked like a nasty case of prickly heat caught in a long, naked wince.”
Throughout the book, I enjoyed the added stories by Steven Hopp and Camille Kingsolver. I also liked the recipes scattered throughout the book. It gave me good ideas for things I might want to try to cook. Kingsolver’s way of writing keeps reader’s attention and makes you want to read more. I like the way she writes and how she tells her story. One of my favorite lines was, “the corn stretched eagerly toward the sky like a toddler reaching up to put on a shirt.” I liked that line because you can picture in your head the corn stretching up, tall as can be, and you can also picture a toddler reaching for a shirt above them. It paints a cool picture in the reader’s head of what she is trying to explain. She also talks about a healthy way of life and gives us information about healthy eating. Healthy eating is the main topic of this book and Kingsolver provided great insight into a different way of living.


Koviashuvik Field Trip:
When I was first aware we were going on a field trip to a “local living school”, I didn’t know what to expect. After a 20-minute drive out of Farmington and a small hike through snow, mud, and more, we arrived at Koviashuvik. There was a small clearing in the middle of the woods that had piles of wood, gardens, solar powered greenhouses, underground food storage area, and a small home with a swing set attached. Once we met Chris and his family, he began to talk to us about the school they have there and his way of life. I personally found it very interesting and can see myself living quite simply as well. The simpler way of life is not as common today as it used to be. Living in a world where technology is a huge part of people’s everyday lives, people now are very dependent on it to get through the day. Some don’t see it as a bad thing; however, I feel when we are so caught up in work, money, and technology, we become less concerned with things that actually make us happy like family, friends, and such. My favorite part of the trip was when we got to take the parsnips out of the garden, wash them in the pond, cut them up, and then cook them with sunflower oil and corn flour. After it was done, we all got to try some and I found it pretty delicious. It had a very natural and real taste to it. I enjoyed the trip very much.

From Fast Food to Slow Food FLASH PRESENTATION

You hear fast food is taking over the United States and the world, but have you ever heard of slow food? The Slow Food movement is what I focused on in my research paper. The Slow Food movement was started in Italy in the mid- 1980's. Nowadays, it has supporters around the world in 150 countries. There are over 100,000 supporters of the movement around the world whose goal is to connect to good food with the commitment to their community and environment.

The first goal is to defend the biodiversity of food. This means protecting the various plants and animal species in the ecosystem. There are Slow Food farmers who save the plant and animal breeds from extinction.

Another goal of the Slow Food movement is to create networks to connect people. It connects cooks, farmers, consumers, and youth. The Slow Food movement has teamed up with the Terra Madre (Mother Earth) network which is used to spread ideas about the movement around the world.

The third goal of the movement is taste education. This is the idea of getting to want to know more about food, what they are eating, and how it is made. The Slow Food movement sponsors school gardens, tasting events, & tours of local farms so people can better understand their food.

The last goal of the Slow Food movement is to connect the consumer to the producers. This has become more prevalent lately with the use of Farmers markets and local farms. Try to make people realize their environment can produce everything they need if you know the right resources.

Today, we live in a fast paced world where at least 75% of Americans eating at a fast food place at least once a week. The Slow Food movement is raising awareness of the importance that food has in our culture and lives.

Nothing Beats a Fresh Egg

Question: What I would like to learn more about are the health, and environmental benefits that are received by raising your own chickens?

Findings: Through my research I have found that: By raising your own chickens you can help the environment by cutting down on the fossil fuel use our country uses. By having chickens you would not need to buy eggs and all your chicken meat from the supermarket, where the food has traveled on average 1,500 miles. I have also found out that having your own chickens is much healthier for you as a person who eats the eggs and chickens. According to Ephost, "The pastured eggs were found to contain 10 percent less fat, 34 percent less cholesterol, 40 percent more vitamin A and four times as much omega-3 fatty acids compared to the standard values reported by the USDA for commercial eggs. (Numerous studies suggest that diets high in omega-3s can help protect against heart disease, mitigate the effects of Type II diabetes and otherwise benefit the human body's immune responses.) The pastured chicken meat (with skin on) contained 21 percent less fat, 30 percent less saturated fat and 50 percent more vitamin A than the USDA standard.” There has been more studies like this which have shown almost the same results.

Conclusion: Through my findings of the research I have found that overall raising chickens is better for you and the environment. By always having eggs you don't have to go to the supermarket all the time to buy the commercial style eggs that have been shipped hundreds of miles. With the tests that have been done one can see that the better egg is from the fresh pastured egg.

Buying local:

Helping out the Economy In your community

Burning question: What are the economic benefits of going local?

Findings:

· Many local businesses are going local even though you may not know it, Ken’s place in Scarborough buy fresh produce and all seafood that’s within two miles of the restaurant.

· Owner Dave Wilcox said “ That he uses 2,000 pounds of potatoes a week from Aroostook County.

· When I asked Wilcox if he believed in supporting his local economy? He said, “Yes, because every dollar spent so much of it comes back to the town”.

· It’s easy to grow vegetables at home, even if you live in a small apartment.

· By growing vegetables or buying them locally at a farmers market you are going to have less preservatives that could make an impact on your body.

· Schools in Maine are going local, looking at Bate College theywere given money to start buying food locally. Christine Schwartz, director of dining services, said, “ The dining-services department has also started buying local fruit in season (which is relatively short, given Maine’s climate) and quick-freezing it to use throughout the year. Employees froze 150 pounds of blueberries for students to eat this winter”

Conclusion:

As we can see from experience or a little bit of research, going local and helping the economy at the same time is not that hard. Everyone should try doing it. In the long run it may make an impact on you as an individual or a group of people but only if everyone started going local would it make a dramatic impact on our economy and society.

Research Essay Flash

Title: Have It Your Way?

Question: Is agribusiness as beneficial as it appears to the majority of the public? How does it affect small farming, our health, and the environment?

Findings: Agribusiness isn't nearly as ideal as it seems to our society. My research revealed a variety of negative consequences to humans from this focus on business rather than healthy food production. Local farming suffers when we support agribusiness, as does our health and the environment, in nearly every way. We should spread awareness about the damage agribusiness causes, and work to change food production so it focuses on local food production again.

FLASH Presentation

Title: Health and Nutrition Education in Schools for Youth

Question: How are elementary students (kindergarten through sixth) being educated about the importance of eating healthy and what is being done to provide them with healthy options in school?

Findings: Schools throughout the nation have been doing their part to educate students on eating healthy. Many schools in the United States require health education. Schools who can financially support it, have “Farm –to- School” programs which support local farms by purchasing high quality foods for the students. However, it takes more effort to prepare the food and can be hard to make food for larger amounts of students. Also, some schools have gardens to educate students on where their food comes from.

Conclusion: Although many schools are taking big measures to make sure students know why eating healthy is so important, not enough is being done. Childhood obesity is still a prevalent topic in the United States today. If we want to see our children grow up to be healthy individuals, schools in the younger grades need to do their part by educating the students but more importantly parents should teach their children about the topic too.

Locavore

"Burning Question"- What are the positives about eating organic food?

Most Important Findings-

• Organic farming creates more jobs than other farms.
• More sustainable.
• More varieties of plants.
• No preservatives.
• Jordan's Farm.
• 

Conclusion- Being a Locavore not only helps keep you healthy, and enjoying everything that is in season, it also helps keep up the popularity of organic farming and the opportunities it gives to other families with working.

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture

What are (the benefits of) CSAs?

v Community Supported Agriculture is a model system of agriculture, that focuses upon the importance of local harvest, distribution and commitment.

v CSAs farms sell shares to community members who ultimately provide the necessary financial support in order to harvest productions.

v CSAs create equal risk among shareholders, because the entire harvest is divided between the number of shareholders each member is given an equal amount and thus risk is evenly distributed.

v CSAs principle focus upon local production and distribution enables for a strong, healthy, local economic security that ensures local regional strength.

v The products grown by local CSA farms is guaranteed pesticide-free and infused with natural nutrients, offering a safe, healthy alternative to chemicals of the global production of food.

v CSAs also help to reinforce a personal understanding of food and its origins, a fact that is highly disregarded under the current food culture of the United States.

While performing research I realized how difficult it must be to spread the word of the benefits and sustainable advantage of systems such as CSAs. Prior to reading Barbara Kingsolver’s  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I have been exposed to the terrors of the global food system, but I had been left in dismay, feeling quite helpless. In contrast Kingsolver’s memoir touches upon the calamities of the global food system, while compassionately offering insight and suggestions, answers and potential solutions for the catastrophic, yet drastically increasing problems that threaten our food distribution, and entire environmental conditions at large.

The local commitment benefits consumers as well as farmers, creating, securing and maintaining a personal, sustainable system that harvests and distributes products to local shareholders. 

Alexandria Valente

Flash Presentation

College Students and Their Ability to Support Local Food Markets

Burning Question:
Is it possible for a UMF student to take on a challenge of eating locally for an entire year such as Barbara Kingsolver did in her book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle?

Findings:
The most important findings I came across while conducting research on local food markets are that supporting local food markets is not only beneficial to health to both humans and animals or the environment or even benefit the local economy, but eating locally can benefit your wallet. If one were to buy local foods for 365 days based on the USDA food proportion guides, it would cost roughly $3,125 whereas purchasing a school year meal plan of 15 meals per week it would cost roughly $3600.

Conclusion:
Because of the restrictions for on-campus residents at UMF, taking on a challenge of eating locally for an entire year can be problematic. So, as an alternative, it has been proposed that students challenge themselves to eating one local meal per week. This would only cost $270 a week and would save

2,400,000 miles of transportation from industrialized foods.

Organic foods and Athletes...

The Burning Question(s):

It's a complicated task to find the optimum diet to meet your athletic needs. People are always looking for an edge and to be healthier. Nowadays more and more people are turning to organic foods and many active people want to know if there are nutritional benefits for athletes to eat organic foods?

Why should athletes eat organic foods?

The Most Important/Shocking/Revealing Findings:
Nutritionally the benefits of choosing organic foods over conventionally produced foods are very slim. From research studies have found that the nutritional benefits are insignificant and wouldn't do much to help the athlete. So what other reasons are there for why athletes should choose organic foods because the cost is often higher?


Organic foods are safer for the body, where conventional produce may have been grown or produced with pesticides, antibiotics, and other chemicals people don't want to be putting in their body. 
Safer for the environment. Organic foods are grown and produced in ways healthier for the environment. Athletes choose organic foods to be more environmentally conscious and the agricultural practices help preserve the environment.
Safer for animals. Organic meat products must come from animals raised without the use of antibiotics, growth hormones, or any synthetic substances. 

Conclusion: There are reasons for why athletes should include organic foods as part of their diet, but they may be different for each athlete. Nutritionally the benefits are close to insignificant and with the higher cost of organic foods; athletes look elsewhere for reasons. Organic foods being safer for your body, the environment, and animals are often the reason many active people choose to include organic foods in their diets.