Estero Island Historic Cottage and the Matanzas Pass Preserve

Why don’t we teach local history in schools? It is important to know about how our local society has developed over the years. I started to think about this issue when we visited the Estero Island Historic Cottage. It is the first time in 13 years of living in Fort Myers that I hear about Estero Island's history. The trip was fun and the stories of our guide were very interesting. I learned a lot about the history and the changes of Estero Island. In the last 80 years there has been a lot of changes in the community and the development of the island. my favorite part of the trip was the lemonade and the cookies we were given by our guide right before going to see the mangroves. 

We had an opportunity to walk around the Matanzas Pass Preserve. It is a beautiful natural habitat and is home to many diverse species of animals and plants. During the summer it is very difficult to walk because of the mosquitoes. They were thousands of them and i thought we were not going to make it out of there. Beside the fact that is was really hot the mosquitoes made it very difficult to appreciate the nature around us. Our guide did mention that mosquitoes are a problem during the summer but I never expect it to be that way.   

Food, Inc.

The way people eat has changed dramatically in the last fifty years. Food, Inc. was an awesome video that everyone should watch. It was very informative and it made me think about the way I see food in America and what I want to eat for now on. The video talks about many issues in the production of food in America. One of the biggest issues that made a big impact in my life is the production of processed meat and the way animals get treated. For instance companies are feeding cattle corn because is cheaper than grass and it gets them fat quicker. Cows are supposed to eat grass. Changing their diet and feeding them corn is not safe since it could give cows E Coli and the meat can be deadly. Also the conditions cattle are raised are not very clean. Food, Inc. shows videos of how cattle are treated and it is surprising how the FDA is allowing cows to live in such conditions. The FDA is supposed to keep our food healthy and care about our safety but food companies are producing meats that contain E Coli and Salmonella and the worst part is that these food companies and the FDA are aware of this problems. How can they get away with producing bad meat that is getting sold in super markets? Another animal that is being abused is chickens. After the decline of tobacco many farmers turned into chicken farms. They are feeding chickens hormones and steroids in order for them to be bigger. Chicken are twice as big in less time than 20 years ago. They weight so much that it is difficult for their legs and organs to hold their weight. The conditions chickens are raised in are also not very healthy or clean. Food companies are not producing chickens they are simply producing food. Instead of farms we should call them factories. People demand affordable foods and scientists have figured out how to make it possible. Most people do not know cheap food can also have a high cost. The bad thing is that food doesn’t have the same amount of nutrients anymore. Even when we try to eat healthy some of the food we buy has been genetically transformed and we are not getting the nutrients we need.      

Echo Video

Give a man a fish and it will feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and feed him for a life time.

Echo is an organization teaching farmers how to grow food in their environments. They helps farmers learn about affordable agricultural technologies.  Echo helps find solution to problems like not enough rain, or too much rain, or poor soils and teaches the farmers how to overcome their farming issues. Echo study new techniques of agriculture that is helping farmers learn about fertilization and irrigation. Echo is helping 180 countries feed the poor around the world.

There are four major components of Echo believes. First is problem solving. Different environments around the world can grow different crops. Echo studies how to grow crops in different environments and teach farmers learn the new techniques on agriculture. Another component is providing seeds. One pack of seeds can even feed a whole community.  One seed that was introduced to many farmers is the Meringa plant. They also call it the miracle plant because it grows almost anywhere and contains many nutrients. One of the reasons why farmers are suffering hunger is because the lack of education. Echo’s goal is to educate and train farmers around the world that lack the education of agricultural techniques like irrigation and fertilization.  Last component is networking. Working together with other organizations helps having more people work at educating poor farmers learn better ways of agriculture.

Chapter 1 and 2

Chapter 1 Charting a New Path to Eliminating Hunger describes three major shifts that farmers, scientists, donors, agribusiness executives, and the global community need to consider. First shift needed is to develop new seeds as the solution for hunger and poverty. Second shift suggests the best way to ensure that everyone gets enough to eat is to change what kind of food is produced and improve its distribution. The U.K. based Soil Association encourages less meat production and use more environmentally sustainable agricultural methods that do not rely on petroleum chemicals. Also produce more local and regional foods. The third shift is to make food aid more cost-effective by purchasing food from nearby countries. People in Africa are dying from hunger. There are organizations developing ways for farmers to produce more food for their families to avoid hunger. It is an issue that has been taken seriously for many years and hopefully world hunger will be reduced to zero.

Chapter 2 Moving Ecoagriculture into the Mainstream talks about what Ecoagriculture is about. I wasn’t aware of the term until I read this chapter. Ecoagriculture is a landscape approach to natural resources management that tries to find a way to sustain agricultural production, conserve biodiversity and support rural livelihoods. Reading about different kinds of agriculture has expanded my interest in agriculture. It is important to have Ecoagricluture to help farmers increase their production. It is remarkable to think how world organizations are trying to help farmers increase production. 

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is beautiful park located in Naples, Florida that has 14,000 acre of wildlife. This sanctuary contains the largest remaining virgin Bald Cypress forest in North America. I had the opportunity to visit the sanctuary with other peers from school. Even though it was raining, I could tell Corkscrew Swamp is a place full of wildlife. We spent about 2 hours total walking down the boardwalk and we saw snakes, baby alligators, hawks, birds, owls, trees, giant grasshoppers, and more. I really enjoy taking trips like these one because I am a person that likes to enjoy our ecosystem and enjoys trip out in the wild. I would recommend the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary to anyone. We learned a lot about how the sanctuary that I didn’t know before. Apparently the rain affects the park and the wildlife. There are different kinds of plants that grow when the Swamp is not full. As soon as the swamp grows some plants disappear till next summer. Now that is rainy season it would take about 2 months for the trees to be under water. Also, The Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary supports an active research program focusing on numerous ecological and natural resources management-oriented issues throughout Southwest Florida. The Sanctuary provides an ideal location for research, as natural conditions are pristine and land use is not changing rapidly. I really enjoyed visiting the Sanctuary specially because everything we saw there today is out of my every day routine. I saw animals and trees I have never seen before. Overall it was a great trip. 

ECHO Field trip

I’m on my way to school excited about the field trip to ECHO. I’m not even going fast and I get pulled over by a police officer. After 20 minutes of waiting he gives me a ticket for not wearing my seatbelt. I wasn’t worried about the ticket. I was worried of missing the bus that was taking us to ECHO. Fortunately the bus waited for me and I was able to go and experience the amazing place of ECHO. ECHO is a wonderful place full of life. I enjoyed walking around learning about soil, fruits, vegetables, animals and more. I was shocked to see the variety of fruits and vegetables available in the same area. I learned that the main reason ECHO exists is to help farmers around the world how to be more productive. For instance some countries in Africa are suffering of hunger because their soil is not fertile anymore and it produces less food. African countries not only put up with the drought, now their soil is losing nitrogen that makes the soil not produce food. ECHO studies ways to have more production in agriculture. Then someone can teach farmers around the world how to become more productive even in bad climate conditions. The problem African countries are having with their soil is serious. It is necessary to find other ways of producing food when the soil if not fertile anymore. If some things don’t change there will be a lot of people dying of hunger in the next few years.     

Affluenza

Spending money is very easy, especially if it is not ours. Credit card companies let us borrow money with some interest and that makes us think we have more money than what we really have. People do not think about when they buy something it costs more than the retail price. There are taxes we need to pay and interest if you use a credit card. The U.S. has the biggest consumption in the world. Fortunately not every country has the same rate of consumption.  If the rest of the world would consume the same as the U.S. then the planet would not have enough room for all the waste produced every day. Another problem is the pollution that a production causes. Many fabrics release toxics into the air which pollutes our environment. I believe shopping is fun. However; if I can’t afford something I don’t buy it. Normally I save money until I can afford it. If I could afford shopping every day I believe I could. If that was the case someone would say I suffer of affluenza. Affluenza is known as the disease of consumerism.  A disease that can make many family lives miserable if not careful. A disease that is harmful and contagious. Some of affluenza’s symptoms are low self-esteem, depression, a loss of future motivation, an inability to delay gratification, a false sense of entitlement. In my opinion affluenza is just a made up disease. Someone came up with a name so they could blame why they go shopping everyday or why they are 20 thousand dollars in credit card debt. Filling our credit cards to the limit and not affording the payments is not a disease. Is the lack of knowledge and education some people were not careful about. Some people let society influence their lives instead of making they own decisions about who they are and what they buy. Overall I believe affluenza exists in people minds. If some people need to be labeled as a disease so be it. It’s easier to blame someone/something instead of taking responsibility of our actions. So let affluenza exist.