ROBYN REES

Civic ecology: Building community through environmental stewardship

12/12/2010

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I'm not going to focus on food-centred economies today, as was promised at the end of my last entry (sorry!). But, if you are interested in this, check out these great LETS (Local Exchange Trading Systems) links!

I'm currently finishing up two of my Human Environment 400-levels, Environmental Management and Urban Ecology, and I'm finding some really interesting links between them. So instead I'm going to address these links through a discussion about urban agriculture's potential in contributing to sustainable urban communities.  It seems a critical way for urban planners and environmental managers to cooperate.

There are a few things that need to be made clear before I get to the crux:

Since the industrial revolution, the global human population has been growing exponentially - from about one billion people to over six billion people today. Think about that! It took thousands and thousands of years for the human population to reach just one billion people, and only the last two hundred for the population to increase by five billion people!

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All these people (along with our cars, homes, and insatiable consumption habits) put A LOT of pressure on the planet's natural resources, and release TONS of waste for the planet to absorb. And think about what this means for the food system!
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Over half of the world's population is concentrated in urban centres, and are indirectly interacting with the environment. Because urban dwellers are living in a human-made world, and not directly experiencing the effect of their activities on the environment, a city-nature divide has formed in many people's minds. This mental divide causes people to see these two as separate - the city as an insular environment, not affecting the "pristine" nature so many admire, and nature as external to the city, capable of being overcome by technological advancements.

An interesting concept in urban ecology is that of the city as an organism, relying on inputs from nature and releasing outputs into nature. This cycle of consumption and waste production is called the urban metabolism. With today's global economy, enabling us to consume natural resources from all over the planet, we are experiencing global problems - the most dire of which is global climate change.

There are ways for us to lower cities' contribution to global climate change, and civic ecology is one of them. My simple definition of civic ecology is, "the combining environmental management with community building." Basically, it's about groups of urban citizens getting together to improve the ecology of urban spaces, whether it be through watershed restoration, community forestry, or community gardening.

Community forestry and gardening increase the amount of green space in cities, which lowers the urban heat island effect.
Increasing green space has so many natural advantages: increases evaporation (has a natural cooling effect), absorbs carbon dioxide (lowers greenhouse gas emissions), purifies air, provides storm water control, and the list goes on. Not only that - green spaces, especially in the form of community gardens, increases all forms of community capital. Check out this great elaboration of community capital while thinking about the context of community gardening:
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It's so simple that I don't think any further explanation is required!

If you live in Montreal and want to get involved in some community greening (and become environmental stewards!), check out the Urban Ecology Centre. And, of course, if you're a Concordia University student, get involved with the Concordia Food Systems Project!

See you there! :)


(Click on the pictures to see where they're from.)
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How we pay for our food: It's not all about money

11/1/2010

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So many of us opt for the cheapest food possible. When it comes to buying produce, many people will choose the cheaper, industrial farmed veggie over its organic counterpart. We all have budgets to abide by, right? Of course. But how come the food that requires the most amount of energy to grow, that travels the farthest, and that is the most processed and packaged is the cheapest? There's a bunch of reasons: subsidies, cheap labour, and mass production.
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Industrialized food is cheaper, but the cost is being diverted. We are paying the price, in other ways:

(1) Human Health
Industrialized and processed foods are less nutritious. The health risks associated with processed foods (almost always high in sodium, sugar and starch) have become more widely understood. But even simple foods like produce lack nutrition when they have been grown using industrial processes - they have not been nourished by healthy soils and their natural vitamin content has been diminished by chemical-use. Here's more about this from food guru, Michael Pollan:

(2) Human Rights
In North America, so much of our food is harvested by immigrants who are being taken advantage of. These migrant workers often live in and work under inhumane conditions - all for under minimum wage. Part of the money we save when we buy cheap food is at the cost of these farm workers' dignities. It's just plain unfair.

To learn more about this social justice issue, visit Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW).
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(3) The (one and only) Environment
The larger the farm the larger the subsidy. Does that make any sense? Not to me, it doesn't. The largest farms these days usually have the greatest net worth to begin with, since they've been cutting all kinds of costs in disregard for the environment (See my previous blog, "Sustaining Food: An environmental perspective," for more on this). So while the smaller farms that are more likely to be nurturing the ecosystem services, essential to life, are being starved out of business, these big multinationals are being spoon fed.
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Right, so when we buy cheap food, we are costing the environment dirty, pesticide-laden water, an atmosphere full of greenhouse gases, and a life-cycle gone haywire. But guess what - this all comes back to us. We have to pay more in the long-run to clean this mess up. Meanwhile, we are suffering the consequences of a degraded environment.
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We are in debt to the environment, and the interest is compounding - fast.
Next time, I will talk about sustainable food economies and communities. Until then, try thinking about what you're really paying for when you buy organic - nutrition, farmer's rights, and ecosystem services.
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The Carbon Food Print: How our food system is contributing to climate change.

10/23/2010

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The term carbon footprint is pretty well-known these days. But just in case you haven't heard, it is basically the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by human activities. Recently, a new and related concept has emerged: the carbon food print, which I'm sure you can deduce is simply the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by our diets. And no, I'm not talking about flatulence (at least not the human variety).
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Okay, so let's get serious. Yes, it's true that a diet high in red meat is related to large emissions of the most potent greenhouse gas, methane, from cow flatulence, but there is a lot more to this issue than that.
How did your food get to your plate? How many machines used how much energy to plant, and harvest it? What amount of pesticides, which are petroleum-based by the way, were sprayed on it? How much energy was used by the manufacturers to transform it into its final product? How far did it have to travel to get to the store? Did it need refrigeration in transport, and at the store? How did you transport it from the store to your home? How much food waste, which releases gases when breaking down, did you put into the the landfill? Honestly, I'm probably even missing something (if you can think of what that may, please write it in the comments!).
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It's a pretty complex issue when you break it down like this.

Some ways to lower your carbon food print:

(1) Eat local, or better, hyperlocal *
Eating local cuts down on food miles, the number of miles your food has had to travel to get to your plate. A lot of locavores sprung up when the book 100-mile diet was published in 2007. Now, there is a new movement of hyperlocavores, people who eat food they grow themselves - the ultimate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

(2) Eat organic *
Food that is grown organically never involves petroleum-based pesticides. Enough said.

(* See my Aquaponics Technical Description (coming soon!) to learn about this organic food production method that can be used to grow food locally.)

(3) Eat a diet low in animal products
Alright, so there's the cutting down on the flatulence issue. But it's not only that: SO much energy is put into producing feed for livestock. That's a lot of energy consumption!

(4) Compost!
When food breaks down, it releases methane into the atmosphere, which contributes to global climate change. So, compost your food waste instead. Live in an apartment? See my instruction set on how to vermicompost indoors (coming soon!) to get started.

These are pretty basic. If you want to figure out your own carbon food print, check out the Low Carbon Diet Calculator.

I realize that eating local and organic can be (okay, it is) more expensive, but think of the expense on the environment and your own health. Plus, climate change seriously threatens our food system by creating extreme weather events like drought and severe storms that damage crops. How much more expensive is food going to get when it becomes in short supply? Think long term, not short term. Thinking short term got us into this problem in the first place.

More on the real cost of food next time. Until then, if you would like to better understand how our food system is dependent on oil, watch this:

FoodPrint from Charla Barker on Vimeo.

One last thing: if there are any food-related terms that you haven't understood, check out my Food Studies Glossary for definitions.
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Sustaining Food: An environmental perspective

10/23/2010

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Food connects us with our environment - it represents our direct physical dependence on nature. When we eat, we are actually ingesting the environment!
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Without a healthy environment we cannot have healthy food, and without using ecological practices to grow our food, we cannot have a healthy environment. It is an endless, and beautiful cycle.

Industrial agriculture ignores this cycle. It's all about getting the most out of the environment, without any regard for what the environment actually needs to be the most productive. This is, obviously, completely counterproductive. Industrial agriculture is characterized by monoculture, pesticide-use, and GMOs.

Monoculture, the mass production of one plant species, both depletes biodiversity and encourages the invasion of pests. Certain pests are attracted to certain types of plants, and once they start feeding, they reproduce and spread like wild fire. In a whole field of one type of plant, pests have a field day, literally. And so, what is a quick fix for pests? Pesticides, of course. Supposed long term fix? GMOs, or Genetically Modified Organisms. Geneticists thought they were being smart by creating seeds that deter pests, but they've really messed things up. Watch this cheesy, but really comprehensive video called "The Story of Food" to understand (don't get turned off by the crazy beginning, it gets better):

The Story Of Food from USC Canada on Vimeo.

What else can we do?

Well, permaculture is a way to grow food that helps the environment thrive. It's about observing the environment and using its natural variation and tendencies to our advantage, by actually improving the environment. Through agriculture, we can truly be stewards of the environment.

An interesting practice used in permaculture design is companion planting. Different plants absorb and release different nutrients from and into the soil, affecting its composition. So, companion planting is all about growing the plantsthat "fix" the soil for each other close together, so they can encourage each other's growth. This method also deters pests, by making it harder for them to find the plant they're looking for. Plus, the other plants nearby may be poisonous to it. Want to try it? Here is a list of companion plants.

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If you're interested in learning more, or even becoming certified in permaculture design, check out my amazing permaculturalist friend Graham's website, P3 Permaculture Design, for information on workshops and courses.
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The Food Movement: From the ground up

9/18/2010

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Perhaps I just wasn't paying enough attention before, but it seems that the food movement has officially exploded. Everywhere I turn, people are talking about organic food, local food, farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture (CSAs), community gardens, rooftop gardens, home gardens, "WWOOFing" (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms), and collective kitchens.

Perhaps the Concordia Food Systems Project internship that I worked on this summer transported me into a world where food is again central, as it was, and as it should be. But no, the food movement is thriving - I'm sure of it.

Food brings people together, whether it's through growing food or eating food - communities are built around food and food builds communities. Food is the basis of our social, economic, and political systems. And most important, food unites us as a species: every human, regardless of age, sex, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, needs food every single day. 

What's pushing people to think more about their food? Where it comes from? What's in it? The food system is in serious danger, that's what.
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Food has been industrialized to the point where its production is environmentally destructive, and its consumption is biologically dangerous. Pesticides are getting into our waterways, and into our bodies. Genetically modified organism (GMOs) are all over the place, the effects of which are not completely certain, but it's not looking good. Also, the way foods are being transformed, being pumped with a quadrillion additives is out of control - these chemical compounds (like carageenan, aspartame, soya lecithin, maltodextrin, and even "natural flavour") are in so many of the foods most of us eat everyday - it's hard to avoid them.

The problem is that food production is being controlled by huge multinational corporations, more concerned with making profits than taking care of people and their environments. If you don't know what I'm talking about, please watch Food, Inc.. As the website claims: "You'll never look at dinner the same way."

But that's depressing. Let's get back to hope, back to action for change, back to the food movement.

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Food sovereignty is what's important: people being able to choose how their food is produced and what's in it. To achieve this, many people, sick of waiting for industry or legislation, have turned to growing their own food. What makes it more exciting is that there's an urban movement - the urban agricultural movement, and this movement is alive online. To share this movement with people, I included a bunch of food movement videos on the Concordia Food Systems Project's YouTube page I put together this past summer.

But my ultimate favourite, and something I'm really excited about, is the trailer for Edible City. This film is revolutionary, and extremely inspirational. See for yourself:

Edible City Teaser from East Bay Pictures on Vimeo.

So, what do you think?
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    Robyn Rees

    This blog started in 2010; entries were written assignments for a Pro Writing class. Keep posted for updates in 2013.

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