Urban Agriculture

Teresa Mares gave our class a great presentation, handout and field trip on Urban Agriculture and
a tour of nearby P-Patches this week. I was surprised about the size of the gardens in the urban
neighborhoods. The I-5 bridge was in the background of pictures I took. I was also surprised
about the long waiting list and long time it took to get a spot in the garden.
The history of Urban Agriculture and recent struggles in California were informative.
There should be real estate made available for Urban Gardening. I think it raises the value of the
neighborhood it’s in.
Even though we were warned of the bee’s nest on the North side of the garden, I walked
by and freaked out when I saw I was right next to it. As long as you don’t bother the bee’s they
won’t bother me! I hope more Urban Garden’s come to fruition. There are lots of places a
garden would look better than concrete in the city.

Human and Animal Boundary Shift

After reading Pollan and Taussig, I think there are many ethical concerns we should think about it
our power to alter the genetic code of other species including cows we eat and drink milk from.
Genetically modifying cows to fix a problem may cause other problems we didn’t have before.
The line between animal and human is changing because the boundary between them is beginning
to shift due to new bio-technologies.
The original line between humans and cows was organic. The line is changing because
new machines for production of milk and bio-technology changes cows genetically. This is a
concern and is important because humans and babies drink the milk from the genetically altered
cows. Diseases that we were once able to kill may become immune and attack humans if we
biologically change animals we eat. I believe in un-tampered, natural milk for those I love and my
consumption.

Homegrown and Respect of Food I Eat

I went away on Memorial day weekend and missed last weeks blog entry. The entry suggestion
was discussion of Pollan and if it has made an influence on me about my ethics of eating meat.
My relationship with food has changed because I pay more attention to labeling of products I buy
in the grocery store. Organic vegetables, hormone free cows for milk and meat and cage free
chicken are labels I now understand better.
I’ve made resolutions about changing my food habits by planning on growing a garden and
growing my own vegetables to eat. Onions, strawberries and green beans are going to be my first
products. Any vegetables that I can’t grow myself I’m going to buy at locally grown fresh fruit
and vegetable markets. It may be slightly more expensive but after class discussion, I agree its
OK to spend more money on food because its important to my health. Locally grown fresh fruit
and vegetables will taste better.
I thought class discussion was interesting about before eating meat, acknowledging the
animal is respectful. It’s not necessarily praying, but thanking the animal for providing food and
sustenance for myself is a acknowledgment that could be made. I certainly think animals raised
for human food should be cared for and raised and killed without torture. I recommend “A Day
No Pigs Would Die” as a book I thought of during class discussion relevant to this issue. It’s a
good book that I read when I was younger.