M6.4 Blog: Industrial Farming

·       Your thoughts about the vanishing of bees (what else have you heard/seen about this issue?)
Vanishing bees made me very sad!!! It was interesting to hear how honey bees contribute to the food that is put on our table. Also hearing that there has been missing bees around the world from Taiwan to Italy to the United States they are disappearing and no one knows why. I thought it was interesting how honey was used as medicine in ancient times. It was very sad to hear how one method of treating bees is how they are given some sort of sugar syrup and taking their honey away and generations of bees are being fed the equivalent of junk food.



·       Dirt!: The Movie 
Overall, I thought the movie was interesting. I learned some new things in regards to compost and others freshened up my memory. It was interesting to hear how the back of a pick-up turned into a lush green garden. After months of just sitting their compost revealed what can do with wind, rain and snow along with trash.

·       Were you able to discover if there is a factory farm near you? Were you already aware of farms near you? What do you think about this? 

I discovered the closets farms are in Marin County for Dairy and layers in Santa Cruz County. I was aware that there are dairy farms in the North Bay as some local grocery stores carry milk that comes from Petaluma. As for layers in Santa Cruz county I had no idea. I googled what a layer farm is because I have never heard of it. It is a poultry farm that raises poultry for egg production.

·       Composting: Do you currently compost? Have you composted in the past? Do you know anyone who composts? Would you consider composting, after learning about its benefits from the movie? 

Yes, I currently compost. San Francisco was one of the first cities in the country to begin composting. Many cities started following the compositing trend that was started here. Before composting became law in San Francisco my family never composted. We simply threw everything away all together in trash. Not once was there a thought to separate the trash. Most people I know compost here in the Bay Area. Once you leave California, that’s where things become interesting. My family in Houston, Texas has no idea what composting is. Not till a few years ago they began recycling. If I was not composting already I would take into consideration what I heard from the makers of the dirt: the movie.


Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 10, 2018 at 9:10 PM

    The vanishing bees also made me (and scared!). It's crazy to me to think about how fragile our ecosystems are, and since they often operate invisibly, we don't understand the damage we can cause by disrupting them. I'm also a proud San Francisco composter! It's great to live in a progressive city.

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