9. Reflection
- Alida Muongchan
- Aug 10, 2020
- 2 min read
Hi, I wanted to do a little updated reflection on why I'm deciding to grow food and why I should continue, partly for me to look back on.
I like food, I mean who doesn't right. There's so much story that can be put into food by its flavor, texture, temperature, color, smell, and so forth. Food also keeps me connected to my culture.We eat because we need energy, we need to be nourished, but if this were the only case, food wouldn't have developed into the fancier things that exist now.
Walking into the store, there's always a variety of the types of foods that you want for all seasons of the year. It wasn't until taking the classes that I am now did I realize this was a false utopia. The reality is that a large amount of these foods are actually transported from other countries. How could I not have realized this sooner. I'm late and embarrassed to be realizing this in my 20's. However this reminds me of why I'm taking this class. To educated myself on how little I actually know. I never knew there was such things as seasonal foods that existed. I was surprised to find fruits like watermelon, peaches, and apricots are only now In season for August and not necessarily July and June.
According to our world in data, food production takes up at least a quarter of carbon emissions. Food traveling and transporting these items only add to the problem. Though meat is one of the biggest contributors, we won't get into that here. Hence eating local is a recommendation that can be helped by individuals but we learn that this isn't always an option due to pricing.
The gardening that I am starting to get into is a proactive step to bettering the environment and myself. Planting obviously gives back scientifically in creating more CO2, reducing carbon footprint, cleaning the air, cleaning the soil. It provides nutrients as food. It can be placed strategically to reduce noise pollution, create shade, the possibilities are endless. But it's also great for people. It offers a sense of calmness, reduce stress, exercise, gets you outside breathing fresh air and sun with the plants, it also gives a goal to accomplish and work towards, along with patience. The possibilites are endless and I have so much more to learn if I want to be a good grandma at gardening.
Sources:
Comments