Week 10: Response - Dirt

The movie wasn't as "eye-opening" this week, mostly because learning about permaculture and how humans were destroying the topsoil was something we had already touched on in class.  Some key point about the movie still really resonated with our group.  Realizing that playing in the dirt was becoming a thing of the past was definitely a sad moment, because the ties you can form with nature as a child are more important than ever, especially with the careless destruction of the forests and soil around the world.  Maybe if a few more kids were playing outside and getting dirty, there would be some more empathy for nature itself.

The discussion about home gardening was also interesting.  Our group never realized how much really goes into planning out something we originally considered so mundane like a garden.  Dealing with the angle of sunlight, as well as the type of soil, seems like common sense, but it is easy to overlook.  Sadly, with the gated communities being a part of almost every Floridian's life, the eventual garden for our group has a while to come to fruition.  Luckily, we'll get a chance to be ready for the day that we can finally create our own garden.

Week 9: Response- Chemicals and Pesticides

The video was an interesting way of showing how synthetic and possibly harmful a lot of things we consume and use are.  Between the pesticides, artificial sweeteners, and other chemicals pumped into all of our processed food, it's no wonder we have so many varied health problems.  The growth of health problems is troubling, especially because a linkage toward the chemicals has fallen to the wayside.  As genetics can almost be ruled out, the cause must be environmental and there's only one thing that we have changed in our environment.  The discussion on cheap, natural pesticides was also interesting, because I had used the natural remedies to kill some roaches in my garage.  I was glad that I had gone down a path that was the least harmful to the environment and my home.  See this relevant article that suggests that such chemical use may be transgenerational:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/12/02/pass-it-on-lasting-danger-toxic-chemicals/
You may be harming your grandchildren as well as yourself by chemical exposure.