Eating lower on the food chain

Reasons for eating lower on the food chain to think about:

The animal industry uses massive amounts of water and land. Roughly 70 percent of the grains grown in the United States go to feed animals, who eventually become food. This takes up much of the arable land that could be used to feed people directly. It takes ten times the fossil fuels to produce a calorie of animal food as it does to produce plant food.

Eating lower on the food chain will lower resource use and allow more people to live at a comparable standard of living. As it is now, some people eat steak (high on the food chain), while others starve. Eating lower on the food chain (not eating steak) could allow everyone to eat.

A study by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Defense Fund revealed that breast milk of vegetarian women contained significantly lower levels of pesticide residues than that of meat-eating women.I think if we care about children growing up this could be a lot of help for the future.

Course outline/Action Competence Models

The encourage approach to teaching/learning is to make the interested in what they are learning. It was said that if we knew the importance and the outcomes and what we are learning then we would be motivated to learn and i agree.
I think that our teaching/learning approach links with the model bacause we have done practical exersices and we make our own assessment which will interest us.

Ways i practice sustainability

recycle
havent driven as much as i have in the past
now i know about sustainability i can start considering options

To be honest i dont really practice sustainability much at all in my life but now im more educated about it i can make a start.

Pre-Course Questions

1. Explain the concept of Sustainability

I think the concept of sustainability is keeping a balance as well as we can of the scarce resources we have left and the amount of it being used. It is trying to make a system type world that will make it last for future generations.

2. Share your views on social equality, including culture and religion

I think when it comes to people treting other people, everyone should be treated equally in any situation. People shouldnt be mistreated or frowned upon for anything to do with culture or religion or their background. In saying this ,people also cant expect to praised or specially treated because of their religioin or cultural background or ethnicity. No one should be bias to anyone because of different values when it comes to social equality

3. Share your views on the natural world

My views on the natural world is, it is scarce and nowadays rarely used.It is slowly going to be faded if we dont look after it.

4. What do you consider to be important for our world and our species?

At the moment there are a few things we as humans need to focus on to keep our world and our species. Greed plays a big part in the madness of our society. Everyone worshiping money especially the big corporations are damaging other people and nations due to a great unequal distribution in money.So if we can eliminate or reduce greed this may have great effect.
Nations rising against nations will surely contribute to ending our world and due to us excessively using resources faster than what the earth can produce for us there will be shortages in daily needs to survive.These are things i think we could watch out for.

What were the critical moments for you?

A moment this week that had stood out to me was the paragraph about advertisement and who is telling us what to do and what to buy. It was a good issue to discuss and type about and made me think about people and how big of an influence media is.
Finding out people's behaviour and humans everyday actions leading to damaging the world including ourselves is enough motivation for me to learn.

Every day we are exposed to a barrage of information, advertisements, and stories in newspapers, on billboards and on television… information that tells us what is important in the world… advertisements that tell us about our priorities in life… and billboards that encourage us to want more. It may seem all too easy to just accept what we read and what we are told… But stop and think about what is really being said?… What are we really being sold?… What are the real messages?… Who is telling them and why are they telling them?… Who benefits from these messages?
Next, reflect on your own thoughts and perceptions… What assumptions are you making about the messages you read and hear?… How do your personal values influence these perceptions?… How has your family life, culture, gender or faith shaped the way you interpret these messages… the world?"

In my opinion it is true that everyone is buying into advertising and what the world is showing us. I think people should make their mind up about their own priorities in life and not have to be told what they are. Every one is selling themselves short to obtain material things because its all that being shown all over the world. No one is really stopping to think about what is happening and we are not benefiting from this. The people that are influencing the world with their advertising and media are benefiting.

Three-step reflective framework

STEP 1: Take notice&describe the experience

1.The line agree or disagree activity was effective for me.
The picture match up excercise was also effective for me

2.It was very thought provoking because we all got to see that we had different ideas and decisions about everyday thoughts and values.

3.It showed me that what i do has an effect on the bigger picture around me and it made me think about stepping back and looking at things outside of my normal life.