Organic Food is stocked on selves in local grocery stores. There are even specialty stores such as Whole Foods and Trader Joes who claim to just sell organic or all natural products. In co ordinance with this movement I have bought into this phenomenon. However, through the efforts of some thorough argument from a computer nerd I have begun to think more critically of this organic label. It seems that organic food is somehow a fad. People are willing to pay more money for organic food maybe because it is more healthy for them, but they might also be buying it to fit in and to look cool. Is organic food become the new status symbol? Will dinner guests treat you differently if you cook with an organic chicken, or organic tomatoes than just the run of the mill produce? The real question here is organic food a substitute for actually cutting down on junk food? American's are by far the most overweight individuals in the world. Most people, myself included indulge in junk food, and yes feel better that we use organic food. It's a trade off. If you have junk for lunch, then you feel better about eating organic food for dinner.I'll admit that is my train of thought. My real challenge is to completely eradicate this junk from my diet. No more junk food, maybe then I will feel okay about not buying organics. I am going to leave with more point to ponder, when did this movement become such a wide spread phenomenon? Is organic food the answer to the insane amount of pesticides used by farmers? I say instead of insisting for pricey organic food, we demand cleaner farming practices for all food. I mean nobody wants to ingest chemicals, and we have a right to eat food from the ground not from the factory.
So I couldn't vote today. I know what you are probably thinking, I was too lazy to go out and vote, or I had class, or I was just busy, but this was not the case. I applied for an absentee ballot in early January only to be told that I was not a registered voter in New York. This statement is completely incorrect being that I voted in the fall of last year for local New York officials. So because I was technically not in "the system" my absentee ballot was sent in too late to vote in the primary election, which is very very frustrating! I really was looking forward to supporting my candidate. I just hope that Obama wins the nominee and I can actually vote for him in the general election.
In other news, I was thinking about environmental organizations and how they are structured. I can think of about 20 national organizations that deal with the same environmental issues and yet they compete against each other for popular support. Most organizations rely on what is called canvassing to get public support. Canvasing involves in essence, petitioning for money and support. Instead of rallying for a common cause, these groups are pulling people apart. Some even speak badly about other environmental organizations.
I understand their need for public support. I get it! They need people like us to support their organization, to pay their workers but they focus too much time in signing up members then actually solving the crisis they stand for. I had once thought that working for a company like Environmental Action was valid, but all I did was stand on the street and get people to sign up as members. I would assume that most of the money received from these members goes to pay the salary of people petitioning to get the money in the first place. This is completely and utterly retarded! We are not solving any crisis by this method of organization!
This is my proposal. More people need to stop giving money to these organizations and actually participate in them. I mean, they need to volunteer their time. I know that I am not the most saintly person and I don't dedicate all my time to volunteering, but I do my part. I clean up local streams, and plant trees and try to get my friends to do the same. Instead of dishing out that 5 dollar bill when people ask for your support this is what I dare you to say.
" I would really love to help you out, is there anything that I can do besides give you money? Are there any local programs that you are working on?"
The response that you get is usually no, which is a complete let down but at least they know you are interested, and if enough people demand local participating besides digging into their pockets, they will reform the way they see canvassing.
Also environmental groups need to work harder to have a common goal. Bring together, not divide is the opportune moto.
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So Obama made a speech today at UMD, and I was mystified. I have never been to a political speech before, or one that I have enjoyed rather. Obama spoke with so much conviction, I was stunned. His policies are great and I can't wait to support him in tomorrow's election. Well I hope I can vote that is. I applied for an absentee ballot and I am not sure if it is too late to vote.
In other news; according to my soc textbook, between 1945 and 1970, cities, states, and the federal government spent $156 billion constructing hundreds of thousand of miles of road, but only 16 miles of subway were built in this entire country. 80 percent of federal transportation funds goes to highways. And according to Lazare, "It is estimated..that a nickel trolley fare in turn-of-the century Chicago brought a typical worker within reach of an estimated forty-eight thousandsd jobs. A century or so later, that same worker would have to invest thousands of dollars in a car."
So, what does this mean. It means that traffic jams are getting much worse, and it is estamiated that drivers typically spend 40 hours a year stuck in traffic. Also cars contriube 25 percent of global warming emissions. Instead of focusing on building public transporation systems we are building more and more highways. There are twice as many cars than people in America and people are moving farther and farther away from their work. The cycle perpetuates, more commuting time, more cars, more pollution.
Policy should be inforced to invest in cleaner technology. Cleaner technology that would be more efficent and rapid that sitting in loads of traffic. I could have much more to say about this issue, but I will save it for a later date.
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So ten minutes after I had written the last blog, I decided to get some dinner. I order a calzone and went to go pick it up. Walking in, I noticed the stack of plastic bags looking quite menacing. The guy behind the counter hands me my food with a plastic bag attached to it. I tell him I don't need one, but he just shrugs and doesn't take it off. I ask again, and he tells me that he is just going to throw it away if I don't take it. Furious I walk out with the devil in my hand and feel very guilty. I reused this bag for my trash in my room, but I can't shake this resounding feeling of guilt. I wish people would look at you crazy for carrying plastic bags instead of refusing to take them. Please forgive me for being a complete hypocrite, I needed to make this confession though. And I did reuse my bag, so don't hate me too much.
I have been itching to start a blog for a while and felt that I never would get around to it, or would never have anything of interest to say. However, this blog will be dedicated to voicing my current frustrations with the way the world deals with environmental issues. I will also occasionally add details about my current whereabouts and what I have been up to.
For the first topic I want to tackle, I have decided to talk about plastic bags. Plastic is widely used. You see it everywhere especially stores. And because it so accessible people believe that they can just use it without feeling guilty about the amount of waste that plastic actually has on the world. Why do we feel that it is necessary to double bag our groceries? I have always wondered why that is even an option. First of all, if your going grocery shopping you should bring a bag with you. You can get a cheap grocery bag from trader joes or wholefoods or just use a backpack, but if you do forget this bag in your car, or at home, why double bag your groceries? Are we that afraid that our groceries are going to burst through plastic? Most of America drives, so what we are really doing is using twice as much plastic for groceries to be transported from the parking lot to our comfortable SUV's.
I do realize that I am being completely stereotypical here, but plastic bags are my personal enemy. My new years resolution was never to use a plastic bag again, to virtually refuse to get one unless it was absolutely necessary. I am currently trying to think of another option to throw my trash in though. Currently plastic is the only feasible solution out there, but I am open to possibilites.
I believe that people should get a discount for bringing in renewable bags. I am not talking a substantial discount but at least more than 10 cents per bag that the customer carried in. Also plastic bags should be taxed. They are already doing it in Ireland, so why can't we start? I believe per plastic bag they are taxing 39 cents, which has pretty much wiped out plastic bag usage. People need an incentive to stop using plastic bags and if we tax plastic, there will be less of an inclination to excessively re bag items. Also grocery stores need to have a paper bag option. What ever happened to that question paper or plastic? Now its like one plastic bag or two? Also Whole Foods has just announced that they will stop carrying plastic bags permanently on earth day of this year. Which has made my day. Stay tuned for tomorrows discussion on text message usage.
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