Posts

Reflecting on the Environmental Geography of My Meal

Image
This meal is as follows: 1 Boneless Ribeye Steak from Whole Foods Market Organic Valley Cultured Pasture Butter Maldon Sea Salt Spectrum Culinary Organic Sunflower Oil The component of this meal that has the potential for the greatest environmental impact is the ribeye steak. Factory farming is one of the greatest environmental pollutants in the United States, as well as the rest of the world, and most beef is sourced from factory farming. However, the way in which this specific steak was produced mitigates any possible damage to the environment and offers solutions to both global and local problems. To begin with, it is organic. Organic farming is significantly better for the environment than “factory farming” in many ways. First and foremost are the stringent criteria used by the USDA to determine whether or not a farm qualifies as organic:  1. Their product must be “produced without the use of genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge.” 2. Their farm...

Recent Meal

Image
My breakfast this morning consisted of five eggs (scrambled), one medium avocado, five ounces of ground beef, and 1/4 ounces of butter. (Salt and pepper added to taste). 5 eggs (scrambled): 506 calories 5.5 ounces of 85% ground beef: 330 calories 1 medium avocado: 234 calories 1/4 ounce of grass fed butter: 56 calories Total calories: 1,126 This is a high fat, high protein breakfast, intended to properly fuel high intensity activity and promote weight gains. The eggs provide protein, the ground beef provides protein and fat, the avocado provides fat, protein, carbs, and fiber, the butter provides fat. This will  last me until the evening, when I will eat another similar meal, with higher carbs and lower protein. Macros: Carbs: 19 grams Fat: 88 grams Protein: 66 grams   Link to similar diet plan Exactly what the above breakfast looks like:

Battle of the Bag

Image
The one local impact of plastic bag waste that I found particularly concerning was the level to which it was affecting animals. I, like most people, have seen the advertisements in which a sea turtle or bird is entangled in a plastic bag or soda rings. However, I wasn’t entirely aware of the level to which plastic was affecting these animals. The sea turtles in Texas and the cows in India that were dying from the ingestion of these plastics served to highlight the issue, as the amount of plastic in the digestive tracts of these animals was mind boggling. The method of managing plastic bag waste that I found to be the most interesting was the SWAT team in India, dedicated to enforcing laws against thin, single use plastic bags. I found it particularly fascinating simply because of the uniqueness of the situation. Nowhere else in the world has a law enforcement unit specifically tasked with plastic bags, and this situation in India is a warning to the rest of the world of the negati...