After recording all that I consumed in a week, it became obvious that I did not know where anything I consumed came from. Nor do I know how it was distributed to me, or where it went when I was done with it. These facts were nowhere to be found! I have a very paternalistic eating schedule. I wake up, eat cheerios and milk, and then eat a premade lunch and dinner at my fraternity house. The only things I even see with a label are the cheerios and the fat free milk. What about all the other stuff I eat? I not only do not know where my food comes from or where my waste goes, but I have no idea what I am putting in my body (which is a scary thought). However, I do feel I eat considerably healthier than many students who live at McDonalds and Jack in the Box, injecting fatty foods and sugary drinks.
After watching The Story of Stuff I started thinking about not only what food Americans consume, but what we use and discard regularly. Firstly, I realized that I make little effort to recycle. I began to wonder how many other students were as careless in their rubbish removing practices as I am. No one in my house recycles, and I imagine my house is an accurate sample of Washington State’s population. Another idea I began to think about after watching The Story of Stuff is how regularly Americans replace perfectly good electronic equipment. Just look at IPods! Whether it’s the IPod Shuffle, IPod Nano, IPod Touch, and so forth, Mac seems to be coming out with a new IPod every month. Classic IPods are rarely seen, and portable CD players seem to only be found in antique shops. It is amazing how unconsciously Americans replace televisions, computers, cell phones , and other completely useful, yet slightly older, electronic equipment.
I realize now that Americans must change how we consume “stuff.” Awareness is the only way people will grasp the significance of their destructive ways and motivate change.
January 28, 2009 at 2:12 am |
It’s quite frightening to look at how much food we consume without thinking about where it came from, who packaged it, what chemicals were used while it was processed, etc. For all we know, all of our Cheerios were dumped on the ground in a processing plant and swept up into a bag and sealed without a second thought.
January 29, 2009 at 6:34 am |
I wonder if that kind of thing happens. How would we ever know if it did? We don’t even know where most of our stuff comes from. It makes you think about health regulations too. We have a ton here in the US, but what about all this stuff that isnt from here? Do we know what we are even putting into our bodies? I found a moth in my cheerios once…dead of course but it was just when I opened it…that made me think!
January 29, 2009 at 7:42 am |
On the comment about the electronics we throw away – I know in my own life I have gone through my fair share of electronics that were perfectly good just not my favorite, and I”m usually pretty good about this kind of stuff! I’m not really the kind to get a new cell phone because it’s in fashion, but that doesn’t mean I’m not on my third phone in about 6 years. Guess it’s something for us to think about.
January 29, 2009 at 8:04 am |
I agree. Pre-packaged foods can be deceiving and even unhealthy themselves. Unless you take the effort to look into it, you really don’t know where the food is extracted from, processed, and packaged… which each leave a lot of room for contamination and deliberate use of harmful chemicals. Also, the fact that these packaged foods waste so many resources Just in the packaging is horrible, as well as the poor sweat shop workers who do all this for unsustainable wages.
I think that buying fresh organic foods, which are closely monitored and ensure that you are not putting poison in your body, is the best option to take. Buying in bulk is also a good idea to eliminate extra/unneccessary packaging and is often times a lot cheaper to buy foods this way. I prefer to go to winco; I was just amazed at all they had to offer in the bulk section. Still, be weary on your choices!
I am looking into Fair Trade products for my blog topic, and so far I believe that buying Fair Trade products such as coffee, chocolate/cocoa, tea, sugar, fruit, rice, flowers, wine, etc. will aid in your personal health (since producers are again closely monitored) and will help eliminate slavery/”sweatshop” workers as it is an organization that ensures fair prices for producers and employees.