Dollar Menu Reflection

In the Great Depression the United States farm subsidies had started. It was to give farmers a guaranteed low price for certain crops that could be restored every year. In this day on the federal government spends $35 billion each year subsidizing crops. It made corn and soybeans really low in price so that more people will produce food with them and more people would buy them. Meat and food producers now took corn and soybean and created food products out of it to make a big profit from supermarket buyers. The price of soft drinks decreased by 23 percent, while the price of fruits and vegetables increased by 40 percent. This made me realize that that is why more people buy more cheap, sugary, unhealthy food and drinks than vegetables and fruits because of the price. People do not want to spend more money on healthy food. Plus unhealthy food taste better. 

I believe that healthy eating is a right, a responsibility, and a privilege because everyone ONLY has one body in our temporary life and no one wants to die now, even if some may want to, deep down they do not. We need to take care of our body because our body is one of the reasons why were living, it supports us. Eating harmful or deadly things will kill our body and ourselves.

My diet is very different from my grandparents when they were my age. My grandparents ate healthier food like fruits and seafoods and some meat. While I ate some seafood, more pork, beef, and basically more meat. I also drink sugar a lot. But I try to control myself, I drink milk and organic juice sometimes and a lot of water. I eat vegetables and soup and I LOVE Pho!!!

Right now nothing stands in the way of my family and I eating healthy food. We choose to eat the food we love but at the same time we mix it up with healthy food like vegetables, soups, fruits. Also we make smoothies almost everyday with fruits and yogurts. But we do not buy organic food at all because I do not think it is necessary, because food does not determine our life. We all die in the end. 

Parking Lot Data

My group and I divided into two; one group was me and my partner and the other group had three people. We looked the diversity measurement of Community B (Outside Rows/White Street) and wrote down the different types of cars, from a Nissan to a BMW, and counted how many there are. There were 20 different type of cars. My partner and I found out that the most amount of cars are Toyota and the least amount of cars are Saab, BMW, Volvo, Jaguar, Acura, Chrysler. I would assume these car were less because they are much more expensive compared to a Toyota. In the other group they had the same cars except for five others (Cadillac, Infinity, Mazda, Lexus, Chevrolet). In Community A (Near Building/Back Lot), the most amount of cars are Toyota as well. That is what is common between Community A and B. I think Community B is more diverse than Community A because in Community B there are 20 different types of cars but in each type of brand there are plenty of cars. I think Community B would have an experience of human disturbance because of its populous amount of different types of cars. Toyota dominated severely because in total from both Communities there are 50 Toyotas and I am not surprised with this data because as earlier I said Toyota is much cheaper. 

Aquarium Reflection

When my class and I went to the Boston Aquarium to learn about the ecosystem of aquatic animals. Personally I am an animal lover and every time I have gone to the Aquarium I always go look at the penguins first because I have always wanted to touch them and have them as a pet. I learned that the penguins make a high pitched whistling noise to signal for feeding. They also make noises to communicate with one another with either talking or for mating. I also learned plenty of biodiversity because the aquatic ecosystem is filled with different kinds and types of animals. They also have different colors. One of the people who worked in the Aquarium also talked about the corals as one of the biggest animal in the ocean and they provide safety towards other animals. This reminded me of the time when I learned about coral reefs because of the different plants or animals living in different either harsh or cool area. I also realized that the sting rays do not sting if you touch it carefully. I was surely terrified to touch them, especially the sharks. I also learned that the anaconda can live with a set of animals or insects without it eating them. 

Save an Animal: Chimpanzee

Recently people have been entering the territory and lands of the chimpanzees. They originated from Africa but were in 25 countries. In five countries chimpanzees are already gone and five more countries, they are endangered. The threats towards chimpanzees are habitat destruction, hunting, and disease. The diseases that humans have and are contacted with chimpanzees can be very lethal to the chimpanzees. There are 2,000 chimpanzees living in the United States, 850 are in laboraties (for experimentation), 250 are in zoos, 600 of them live in sanctuary, and 250 are in entertainment industries. People are destroying chimpanzees' habitat because of their self-desire of building new civilizations (cities, roads, buildings, etc). Almost all of each continent is filled with plenty of people and plenty of growing communities and cities. I bet you when that people who are destroying their homes look at the chimpanzees they feel no pity or sympathy for them because people do not see that it is the chimpanzees' homes that they are destroying. I know some people who eat chimpanzees and that is also a reason of hunting. We can save chimpanzees by first stopping the deforestation and stop being so greedy on land. We can also rescue those chimpanzees who are left in the wild and put them in a safe environment where they are taken cared of every single day. But these people who will take care of them would be the ones who are committed to it by heart, we do not want people who are just in it for the money. People can also inform others on what is going on with chimpanzees and how we all can solve it. 

Resources:

• Chimpanzees FAQS: Jane Goodall Institute of Canada
• Konica Minolta: Endangered Animals

Cornucopia of Choices Reflection

People nowadays thinks that when they hear about corn it is all about the yellow corn in a cob, but no they should not think about that because today corn is EVERYWHERE. It is in all the food we eat, it is on the ingredients. It is everywhere because corn is cheap and producers found ways to make use of it. They include high-fructose corn syrup, saccharin, xanthan gum, etc. United State Farmers plant approximately 90 million acres of corn each year, according to the National Corn Growers Association. Field corn is fed to livestocks as well. For example, chickens, pigs, cows, and more. They feed them corn so that they will grow fatter faster. The typical American meal like the fast food restaurant also contains corn. United States is the number one corn-growing country in the world. 

People can be informed better about what is in the food they ate is by ingredients, as well as an open public look on companies who create these foods. That way people in the public can just take a tour of what the companies are doing to the animals or what they put in the food.

People have the absolute right to know what is in their food because it is our freedom to know. We want to know whether or not the food we eat can be deadly, allergic, or plainly unhealthy. And maybe also people would actually recommend companies how to make food feel and taste better.

Having 90% of our food containing corn or soy in it is a problem because how about if there are some people who are allergic and they feel sick and may lead to death. What would happen to the companies? They will get blamed. Corn is also full of sugar and can make you fat. Corn is a grain and all corn is GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms). The people who are responsible for telling us what is in our food are the companies that are creating them.

From Seed to Supermarket & The Veil Reflection

Tinkering has gone out of its way! Now in our generation the definition of tinkering is by genetically modifying organisms (genetically modified organisms or GMO), which are developed by transferring genes and their traits from one organism to another. The pros of GMO is increased yield, enhanced nutrition, and increased drought resistance. The cons of GMO is antibiotic resistance, human health impacts, unintended transfer of genes through cross-pollination, loss of biodiversity, and the control of world food production. In 2011 the Supreme Court decision upheld a company's right to patent seeds and caused a ban of saving genetically modified seeds. Some people believe that companies should have the right to patent genetically, while others disagree because they believe the companies has a certain power. In 2004 the Congress passed a law called Cheeseburger Law, which makes it illegal to sue food companies for obesity and other health effects. In March 2009 a new labeling law was created which required foods to have an originated ingredients.

There are both positive and negative impacts on companies owning the genetic information in the seed. The positive impact is all towards the company. I say this because they feel as though they are in control or in power of genetic information on where the food originates. The negative impact is that customers and buyers do not know where there original food come from. If people do not know where their food come from and they eat or drink it and they get sick they will blame the market and the market will blame the companies. Everyone wants to know where their food comes from because nowadays food is deceiving. 

This situation compares to downloading music from "free"sites because nearly everyone has downloaded apps, movies or games and even music illegally (some pirate games) and we do not know where those websites originate from. All we know it could send us to jail if we are caught because pirating is definitely illegal. They also create virus and can spill out your information without your permission. 

My family does not really have a tradition but there is a filipino tradition where the younger children or younger people has to bless their elders by putting the elder's back hand to their forehead. It is a sign of respect. But we also have a superstition (that I do not really believe in) that involves protection from Black Magic. My family and I have to wear gold, silver, and diamond jewelries, because it is a way of protection from "Black Magic". I do not mind people following my "tradition". 

The companies who genetically modify seeds should be more open to their buyers and customers and to earn their people's trust. Honestly I wish they would write down the procedures of how they make our food. But we all that will never happen because companies are sneaky sneaky people. 

The pros of people who have been in the industry and becoming a regulator worker for the government is the money they earn. They would most likely earn plenty of money especially from the government. The cons of it is that they can be sued for hiding information of where food comes from and it makes them look bad.

Fast Food to All Food Reflection

I am an animal lover but I am not biased. America loves animals. Typically the mainstream animals; dogs, cats, bunnies, hamsters, etc. Especially dogs! Majority of Americans love dogs because every man's best friend is a dog. If a dog was to be mistreated or neglected, people soon defend the animal, and fight for their rights. Yes it is a very awful thing to hurt a dog, but people has also forgotten that the food we eat are also animals. Just like dogs in China are a source of food for the Yulin Festival. We are disgusted by that because of how close we are to dogs that we do not consider them technically an animal anymore, they are our family. We forget that the chickens, pigs, cows, etc in the farms are also animals who have feelings and should be equally treated like dogs and cats. This reminds me of Charlotte's Web because in that movie the farm looked like what a farm should look like. Farm animals should be loved, cared, and taken good care of. They should have the freedom to have their own space, see the sunlight and sunset, and to roam freely. I have watched an animal channel where some farmers take good care of their animals until they die off, and that is when they are made as food. So, of course animals no matter where has a say in this, even if they are the pandas. 

By Richard Lobb of National Chicken Council says in the film, "In a way, we're not producing chickens, we're producing food." I think this means that most, approximately ninety percent of farms goals is to make animals, like chickens, gain so much fat in a matter of time, so that it could provide more food. They only care about the food that the chicken will turn out to be, never what the chickens feel. 

I believe that the most effective people to oversee the treatment of chickens (and animals) is the government because the government can ban mistreat on farm animals and create a large amount of fine if a person did mistreat a farm animal in any way. The government should also inspect monthly on these farms once the law is through. Once a month, every meticulous details, in case some farmers are sneaky. If the farm animals are happy, then I am also happy and I would not care if the cost of chicken or food rises a little. But they also have to think that why would you raise the cost of food when every people of the United States pay taxes every day and every year!! Yes I get it it is for the improvement of our lands, but if there was a very considerate, full-heart, politician or whatever that can give SOME money for improvements, but they never use their own pocket money. What is more hilarious is that America is not even slowly paying off the HUGE amount of debt from China. I just do not understand!
 

Day After a Victory Over Ebola, Sierra Leone Reports a Death

ScrAPES#17: Day After a Victory Over Ebola, Sierra Leone Reports a Death

by Dionne Searcey and Sheri Fink

January 15, 2016

In the early year of 2015 there was a virus that originated from Africa called Ebola. It effected tons of people and killed them. Some were cured by scientific medicine, others weren't. The Ebola was announced over after a couple months, and now a couple months after that there has been a dead body that was discovered effected with Ebola in Sierra Leone by the World Health Organization. The victim of the Ebola virus was a woman and the World Health Organization still do not know how she received it. But they have a theory that there can be small flare-ups of the disease existing due to the virus staying the bodily fluids of some survivors. Dr. Thomas R Frieden states that the woman had dozens of significant contact when people who might be at risk of Ebola. He also stated that the woman might have not predicted that she had Ebola because there are plenty of fevers every year.

This is interesting to me because every time I hear about Ebola I don't really know what to think about it. It's horrible that people in third world countries has to suffer more now that virus like these happen. Ebola came out of nowhere in 2015 and supposedly it's a very deadly virus, yes it may be, but I still have second thoughts about it. There is also rumors going around that the government created the virus to distract people, so that they do not know what secrets the government is doing or planning to do. Half of me says that the government created it because I always wondered how they created cures so easily and fast, at least for me it was kind of fast. If Ebola is 100% real, then it is a very life threatening deadly thing for humans because as I remember it is very easy to receive the virus if you are near one who has it.

This is important to the environment because this is one of the many things or causes that will cause human extinctions, to be honest. If a large amount of people worldwide had the virus, it would be an easy widespread disease. And maybe scientists and doctors do not have enough medicines for the effected one. This virus and all the other viruses; zika, malaria, etc they are all a mini cause of the sixth extinction. People will most likely die and our death rates will increase drastically.

Resources:

• Day After a Victory Over Ebola, Sierra Leone Reports a Death

Zika Warning Spotlights Latin America's Fight Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases

ScrAPES#16: Latin America's Fight Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases

by Simon Romero

January 17, 2016

The Latin American or Caribbean countries are facing a bountiful amount of Mosquito-Borne Diseases. Brazil has deployed soldiers to wipe out habitats where mosquitoes lives. Colombia is discharging mosquitoes that are treated with a bacteria that restricts their capacity to spread disease. Mexico is examining the first vaccine against dengue fever (a mosquito-borne viral disease occurring in tropical or subtropical areas). The United States advised pregnant women to delay their travels to more than a dozen Latin American or Caribbean countries, including Puerto Rico, where mosquitoes are promptly enlarging the reach of Zika (the virus linked to a surge in cases of infants born with brain damage). The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), stated a debate across Latin America over the growing vulnerability to mosquito-borne diseases. A Brazilian tourism minister, Henrique Alves, argued towards the CDC that the Brazilian authorities were taking measures to prevent Zika from expanding widely, though there are approximately 3,500 cases of microcephaly, an extraordinary condition linked to Zika in which infants are born with abnormally small heads.

Baby effected with microcephaly.

This is the "ugly" people.

This is the "pretty" people.

This is interesting to me because this is the first time I have heard of Zika or other mosquito-borne diseases. When I read this article the first thing that came into mind when I saw the words mosquito and disease was Malaria, which is a disease caused by a plasmodium parasite transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes. When I used to watch tons of Wild or Animal Planet shows, mosquitoes were proven to be the highest animals or insect to kill humans because of Malaria. I cannot believe that Zika would have an effect towards babies who were born with due to contact by the pregnant mother. How can a baby develop a small head through a mosquito? Recently I watched a video from a youtuber called Top5s and I watched a video about how the future would turn out to be. One of them was that humans will develop ONLY two races; the ugly and the good-looking. The ugly had a small head and a very disgusting looking body. While the good-looking had a bigger head and eyes, no hairs, etc. It also said that the human race will only be one, which is tan. This makes me wonder whether or not the Top5s' theory on the future of humans is true due to Zika. Is Zika deadly and can be treated?

This is important to the environment because of the mosquito-borne diseases increases widely can effect more pregnant women and effect other countries. If a pregnant woman was to travel to one of the Latin American or Caribbean countries and get infected by the microcephaly and did not know and traveled back to the United States, there might be a possibility that the woman will spread it in the United States. And if majority of the population of the world got infected by the microcephaly, the new generation of children will be different. If babies with the disease can survive successfully then there might be two kinds of children. That is ridiculous. The disease can also effect the population because the population may decrease IF it is not stopped.

Resources:

• Latin America's Fight Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases
• 5 Predictions For The Human Race by Top5s 

Rare turtle, Thought extinct, Reintroduced

ScrAPES#15: Rare Turtle, Thought Extinct, Reintroduced

By Michael Casey

April 13, 2015

In Myanmar there used to be a rare turtle named Myanmar roofed turtle (or Batagur Trivittata) who was found supposedly extinct in 2001; when Platt and U Win Ko discovered a single shell from a recently killed turtle. Approximately ten years later, the Myanmar roofed turtle were found at a wildlife market in China and the ponds of a pagoda (a Hindu or Buddhist temple or sacred building, typically a many-tiered tower, in India and East Asia.) in Mandalay. The three turtles created a captive assurance colony which was a cause of a program called a captive breeding program by WCS and the Turtle Survival Alliance. The program collected wild eggs and when they hatched the turtles automatically started breeding. The population so far for these Myanmar roofed turtles is at 600. The Myanmar Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Foresty established a new faculty in 2011 to increase the program's resilience to dangerous events, and to bring back the animals to their origins. Soon enough the villagers released 60 turtles who met the requirements of being big enough for survival because the smaller turtles had a least likely chance to survive. The turtle population decreased over the years due to the persistent threat of habitat loss.





This is interesting to me because recently in class we were learning about invasive, native, and extinct species. IF the Myanmar roofed turtles were extinct for at least a decade then that makes me wonder if setting them back out to their environment will change any web that has occurred in its environment. For example if the Myanmar roofed turtles had a predator ten years ago, would the same predator find interest in them? Maybe the Myanmar roofed turtles either migrated to a new environment OR they were close to extinctions like the Rhinos. 




This is important to the environment because lately in this generation there are many animals and plants that are going extinct, endangered or near to become an endangered species, but of course not humans. That is kind of funny because it seems like humans are taking over everything. It is kind of sad too. Anyways, this comeback from the Myanmar roofed turtle is kind of a surprised because it may or may not effect the environment. I do not know whether or not the environment need all the animals that extinct or are threatened to extinction to be alive, or maybe it is for the good that they are gone. If there were severe changes towards the Myanmar and its lifestyle, hopefully it would adapt.




Resources:
Rare turtle, Thought extinct, Reintroduced into wild

Smog So Thick, Beijing Comes to a Standstill

ScrAPES#14: Smog So Thick, Beijing Comes to a Standstill

by Edward Wong

December 8, 2015

As everyone knows China is an extremely populous country and also pollutant. In Beijing, people were alerted when there was a poisonous air quality which resulted to close schools, factories, and motorists off the road. The government issued a report stating to people to be careful with their health because of the hazardous air. This is the first time China alerted a red alert on their severe air pollution. The municipal air quality index read 308 which was considered very harmful to the United States standards. Even though the Chinese government is taking action, people are still criticizing the poor environment China has to offer.




This article is interesting to me because as I already know China has the most populated people in the world, but I did not know that China's environment was very ugly due to its severe pollution. I only found this out recently, maybe a year or two ago? China is one of the strong, wealthy countries, but what is a very wealthy country when its environment is crap? China can at least present itself nicely. They have plenty of money but is not taking much action to decrease pollution or is it too late? I question how people survive living in China because it is so hazardous that I expect an amount of death. If I lived in China I would stay home and probably just go out for grocery shopping because I would not want to be breathing a like-able toxic air.




This concerns China's environment very much and also others. It concerns China's environment because as said before this is EXTREME pollution and EXTREME health risks. Their plants and animals will die or is already most likely dead, and lastly their people. Who wants to die? No one wants to die. China is slowly to moderately killing planet Earth simply because they wanted a better economy. They ignored pollution and pollution took over them. How much more if the world ignored global warming? Soon global warming will take over us and we will die. People start believing when things are falling apart.




Resources: 
Smog So Thick, Beijing Come to a Standstill